After a long season the gardens are now closed for the year to the public, but season ticket holders are welcome to still see lovely autumn colour from the trees and will be for the rest of the month. Already some trees are dropping their leaves which gives us another job of gathering them up and storing them till they rot and will give us some lovely leaf mould. A fabulous free compost which becomes a wonderful mulch after a year or two. We also use it to add to the soil when we plant trees or shrubs, like we have been doing lately.
We have been given six large Japanese maples this year and have recently planted them on the slope at the top of the garden. We have taken the opportunity of planting more trees in this area as well as cutting down four conifers which were beginning to die. We have kept the multi-branched trunks so are going to turn them into seats as there is some wonderful views of the garden and beyond from this area. Planted too are a selection of Philadelphus or Mock Orange shrubs which have very scented flowers in the summer months.
A lot of new developments are being done throughout autumn and winter so hopefully when you visit next year you should see some surprises. We start the year in February with masses of snowdrops in flower and a new path through that area which leads onto some new plantings of Camellias. The bog garden is getting a makeover, and we are removing plants for a major replanting next spring. It is an area in the middle of the garden so is a very important area. Later in December we hope to revamp the area beyond the folly which has a zig-zag path up to the top. It is an area which is a haven for butterflies and we need to encourage more by planting more buddleias and other nectar rich plants.
The New Acers at Marwood
Of course what we get done depends on the weather. The wet winter and spring this year held us back but this mild dry weather at the moment is encouraging us to do more. Hopefully spring next year will be wonderful. There is certainly a lot of bud on the Camellias, Magnolias and Rhododendrons to look forward to so we just hope that the weather will be good too.
Although the tea room and plant sales area are closed now, we still sell plants by mail order. We have a good selection of plants for sale. Please look at our website and you are welcome to place an order which can be delivered the next day by our courier
