The Digger Arrives at NGS Garden Ferns Lodge for this Winter’s Project

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As the nights draw in and the temperature cools at NGS Garden Ferns Lodge – the leaves start to turn colour and fall to the ground. Autumn has most definitively arrived and with it a spell of extraordinarily dry weather. Hence Dan and his digger and tractor have been busy in the garden starting to prepare for the new shrubbery that will be looking beautiful in time for next year’s NGS garden opening. Also on the list is further clearance in the bottom meadow – which means more grass cutting for Simon – a development that he has greeted with his normal calm!

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Dan is a tree wizard and having inspected our ash trees, he has concluded that whilst there is some evidence of disease, it is not severe and part of the cycle of the place. That is, with the exception of our dodgy looking ash tree opposite the drive. Once on the ground the amount of disease was plain to see. It is now planned to drill his stump and re-seed the area, keeping an eagle eye on the surrounding trees to be sure that they don’t go the same way.

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In the bottom meadow, a sad looking sapling has come down to reveal the face of a stunning oak tree whose mighty trunk has never been visible before – once the sapling’s root is drilled together with a few other stumps, we will prepare the ground and the bottom meadow will expand.

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Up in the new shrubbery, it is not a total surprise to find stumps, rubble and all sorts of challenges! This area will also be drilled, cleared and once complete – earth will need to be imported to level the area… Another BIG job!… Never mind – we have a whole winter to look forward to of wrestling this area into order and once done, planting with camellia, azalea and other lovely English plants. The lovely Victorian tree rhodos will be more visible and we will have replicated to some degree the original shrubbery that was thought of well over 100 years ago…

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In the meantime, clearances mean sticks which makes Ghillie happy and the beginning of autumn is a wonderful time with roses bursting with colour, salvias growing like crazy and that epic smell of autumn which is like nothing else. The vegetable plot is definitely looking past his prime for this year – no matter when there are abundance of beans, courgette, aubergine, cucumbers, beetroot, onions, and now sweetcorn – how cool is that! Mr Mole has moved back into the garden and has made a mess – particularly in the polytunnel – a sure sign of the changing of the season.

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So as we start to put the garden to bed for the winter we are looking forward to seeing its bones as the leaves fall and to getting everything ready for next spring and summer and to seeing you at Ferns Lodge for our 2022 NGS opening on –

28th May 2022 – 2pm to 5pm
29th May 2022 – 2pm to 5pm

https://www.fernslodge.co.uk/visiting-ferns-lodge/

Contact sue.grant@fernslodge.co.uk.

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