'A countryman's notes'

Since passing the Barnsley House Head Gardener baton to Jen Danbury, I’ve had some time to sort through my notes and reflect on ‘seasons past’ in the garden. Here are some spring notes I’ve dug out, from April 2005, which I hope are useful for anyone visiting the garden this year too if only to ‘spot the differences’…  

* Text repeated in larger font at the foot of the post

With thanks to Morgan James (Barnsley House Garden Team) for the up-to-date images

* Diary entries repeated

IN THE GARDEN

DIARY NOTES OF RICHARD GATENBY;

My father used to say “you’ve got to move fast to stay in the same place”; and nowhere is this saying more true than in the spring garden. There is much preparation for the season ahead as well as the daily routine of keeping paths swept and boarders presentable. The garden changes on a daily basis and it’s always astonishing returning to work on a Monday to see the difference that two days makes.

The first honesty flower has appeared, grass needs cutting, plummy Paeoni shoots are pushing above the soil and Blue Tits are nesting in the eaves of the close (the smaller house containing suites 7, 8 and 9). We are now spoilt for choice with every group of plants having at least one representative flowering. For shrubs we have two large specimens of the evergreen Osmanthus x burkwoodii smothered in fragrant white flowers; to the right of the Temple there is an Indian Plum (Oemleria cerasiformis) with its small pendants clusters of almond scented flowers and not to be forgotten is the Azara microphylla ‘Variegata’. This elegant shrub has strongly vanilla scented flowers; but to the casual eye they will not be seen as they are tiny green/yellow clusters situated on the undersides of the older wood. It can be found in the Temple, to the left growing in a pot where its graceful stems and small cream edged leaves compliment the pale Daffodils in neighbouring pots.

Perennials such as Lungwort’s and Primulas edge paths and walls; but most of the colours is provided by the bulbs. If I had to choose a favourite bulb or plants for that matter then Fritillaries would come high up on the list; their exquisitely marked nodding flowers being hard to beat. The Snakeshead Fritillary figures prominently here at Barnsley where it grows under the pleached Limes that lead to the laburnum walk as well as growing in quite a large patch at the back of the ‘Wilderness’, the interesting collection of trees and large shrubs that backs the lawn between the ‘Gothic Summer House and the ‘Hunting lady’. The foliage is grass like; but each stem is topped by a nodding flower some two inches long which can be any shad of rosy purple to pink or white. Whatever colours the flower is it is heavily chequered with a darker shade; even the white ones have a ghost like overlay of chequering.

However the work house of the mid-March to mid-April garden is the Daffodil or Narcissus, as it is botanically known. It’s difficult to know where to start; but here are a few of my favourites. There is a very good show of the Tenby Daffodil, Narcissus obvallaris, under the trees on the left of the drive. This particular Daffodil is not too small nor is it too big that it falls flat on its face under the influence of its first dew. For this reason it lends itself to a naturalistic planting and a thousand were planted last autumn amongst the resident Winter Aconites fade in late February the baton of interest is handed on to this lovely daffodil. Daffodil ‘Barret Browning’ has a shallow orange trumpet set off by a collar of creamy white petals. It looks particularly good in a pot with the blue Veronica peduncularis ‘GeorgiaBlue’ to the right of the steps to the restaurant as well as in a pot in the left of the Temple set off by the previously mentioned Azara. ‘W.P Milner’ planted with a very dark blue/purple polyanthus type Primula. During autumn 2003 the Primula was planted with an unlabelled Daffodil that we recycled from an old tub; however the resultant bulbs produced the brutish ‘Unsurpassable’, which swamped the Primula. So last autumn we removed them and put in ‘W.P Milner’, the result has been satisfying.

With its swept back clear yellow petals and a pure orange trumpet ‘Jetfire’ is aptly named and can be found planted en masse in a half barrel to the right in the Temple next to the Oemleria. It is also planted around the narrowest end of Bed 3; this is the large bed that is nearest to and runs in front of the pleached Lime walk. Lastly the Daffodil ‘St Patricks Day’ deserves a mention and as well as growing in the corner of Bed 2 it can also be found in pots located around the garden. Larger than the other daffodils described it has a relatively shallow trumpet that is ruffled and sulphur yellow, the collar of petals being paler; but over the whole flower there is a slight wash of green. The blooms of ‘St Patricks Day’ stay in good conditions for a long period.

Now, onto a seasonal task. If you walk along the stone path from the Pond Garden down towards the Laburnum walk you will come across pleached Limes. Pleaching is basically a pruning process that gives the result of a hedge on stilts. The sides of the lime walk are trimmed on a regular basis throughout the growing season to give access between them as well as to provide definition; but the top is only cut once a year. This is because these Limes have young shoots that are red and when the low winter sun hits them side on a stunning effect is produced. It is during March when the buds are swelling that we cut the top of the limes. This year we have taken more off the top than usual and we have even taken the sides in more than we normally would. The reason for this is that the Limes, over the years, have gradually got taller and broader, casting greater shade and obstructing views. We pruned the Limes with secateurs and a hand saw; not with a machine as this would smash and fray the ends of the branches. The whippy red shoots are not wasted as Anne uses them in her floral arrangements; the majority however being used in the Potager and Kitchen Garden as decorative pea sticks.