It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the Strines garden. The days are getting warmer an staying light much longer. This is the start of a very busy time.
Having cleaned and cleared the greenhouse at the start of the month it is now the perfect place to start hardening off one of the half hardy annuals before planting out next month as well as sowing salad leaves, spinach and peas. I’ve also put some of the onion sets in seed trays to give them a head start before planting out once the soil warms up.
Around the garden there is still plenty to do. Weeds are springing into life just like the ‘wanted’ plants. March is a great time to reflect in the garden, enjoying some old favourites but making decisions to remove old plants which have become too big for a small garden and cut back trees and shrubs. A rule I have followed for almost 30 years, since working with Jack Swann at the Granada Arboretum, is that most trees survive a pruning of up to a third. So the deadwood on the lonicera has been removed. The time to make drastic action to reduce the amount of shade in the north facing border with the removal of an overgrown conifer from the top of the garden. The old herb garden is starting to gain some structure with the addition of ornamental grass – Acornus Ogon, a dwarf photinia ‘little red robin’ and anemometer ‘Harmony Pearl’.
A Strines Garden 