Searching for olive trees.

In hopeful anticipation that we might actually get some dry sunny weather this summer (!) I have started to think and plan out what might happen in our garden over the next year or so.

One of the things I am less happy with is that we have"inherited" the layout from the previous owners. I have altered things a lot over the years, moved shrubs here, cut down trees there, grassed over some beds, made new beds etc, but it is basically as they left it - still a very large lawn with some flower beds and lots of shrubs dotted around.

I have plans afoot  to change all that, however.

Compostgirl is nearly a teenager so the need for a huge expanse of grass to play on is lower priority now and also a lot of the existing flowerbeds have become so infested with bindweed that it is a struggle to keep them weeded. I have a limited time available to do "non food" gardening so when I do get out there I want to be enjoying my time planting and tending plants, not spending all of it just weeding or mowing!

So... some beds will have to go, especially the ones around the house, and some new ones will be made. Any bulbs and plants which are salvageable will be rescued and replanted in the wilder area of the garden and some more shrubs will go - many are past their prime and cannot be saved by even hard pruning. 

I want some screening between the patio and the road - it's a quiet lane but even so a bit more privacy would be nice. I want some new flower beds in the garden, with some structures for climbers (honeysuckles, roses, clematis)  to grow up - and we are going to re-arrange the (south facing) patio and change it around a bit to create a more attractive area to sit. So some more container plants will be added to the herbs, lavenders, scented geraniums etc which inhabit our patio in the summer months. I also want to create a scented border around the patio, filled with aromatic ( and useful) herbs.

And I definitely want an Olive tree and maybe another Bay tree.

We used to have a Bay Tree by the garage, but it died in one of the very harsh winters and I miss the dark glossy green leaves it displayed all year round.

I have always wanted an Olive tree ( and never had one before) You can now buy them in pots for the patio, so I am going to have one. Or maybe even two. To go on my new patio.When I get it.

So in the next few months I will be visiting lots of fabulous gardens to get some more ideas and last week  I spent a pleasant several hours short time on the computer looking for garden suppliers and nurseries (oh, such hardship,!) to see who sell hedging, shrubs, perennials, bulbs, climbers etc to re stock the new flower borders. (bearing in mind we are talking a large space, here!)

And I also looked around for suppliers of olive trees. I came across a lot of new and very interesting (to me) sites in my search ranging from cheap gardening supermarket chains to very expensive and exclusive providers of plants.

One of the more interesting sites I found was Athelas Plants  (fabulous name! Any LOTR buffs reading?)  who are based near Battle in E. Sussex. I first found them  last week when I googled "How to look after Olive trees"   to see if one would grow here and found their very informative Olive tree care notes.

This time around  I was also very interested in their selection of ornamental grasses - one of the areas of planting I really loved at the Yeo Valley Organic Garden was the beautiful area of ornamental grasses and I thought at the time it would be a lovely, relatively low maintenance planting (but there is no such thing, really!)  to have here at Compost Mansions. So I was interested to read about the selection they offer.

I am going to be visiting Sussex in the near future so I may well drop in to Athelas Plants and have a better look around - especially as their website says they have a lovely sounding  farm shop and cafe attached to the site! If I do, or I order from them I will post about my experiences.

So, I came away from my internet trawlings with some ideas and food for thought - I looked at lots of other websites as well as Athelas Plants in my search for plant ideas and suppliers  and I may well write a bit more about some of the others in the future.

But for now, I am still looking out, through the drizzle, on a very soggy garden.

Still, I can dream, can't I? 

.



As part of my review of their site I was paid to add the link to Athelas Plants in this post, but had already come across them during my Internet trawling for plants last week and was impressed, then,  by what I saw. 

As always here in The Compost Bin my words and opinions are entirely my own :-)

Holt Farm Organic Garden, Yeo Valley visit

On Friday last week I had a day out ( a VERY long day out, but more of that, later!)

I was lucky enough to win two tickets in a givaway, from Lucy over at The Smallest Smallholding. I won tickets to a wonderful talk by Jekka McVicar all about herbs, at  The Organic Gardens at Holt Farm ( the home of the Mead family, who own Yeo Valley Dairies). This excellent event was last in a series of talks and tours being organised as a fundraiser for the Horatio Garden Appeal for the Southern Spinal Injuries Trust. (SSIT).

I was going to go with Compostman, but plans went awry as they often do so I travelled down to Blagdon, alone. The journey was uneventful, but rain made it slow.

I arrived ( in the pouring rain!) and saw...this! Loved this planter in the car park!


 

The walk up to the Tea Room (where the talk was being held) was wonderful, if a bit wet underfoot - it rained solidly for most of the morning.

The gardens were wonderful as well, even in the rain.

Full of quirky little touches which I really loved.

After some welcome coffee and a biscuit, we had the most wonderful talk from Jekka McVicar, Queen of Herbs - how herbs are not just a garnish - she was informative, entertaining, gave us so much information on growing and planting and using herbs , along with anecdotes from her "travels with herbs" and also from her very interesting life - if you ever get the chance to go and listen to Jekka I recommend you do so. I also treated myself to her latest cook book about using herbs,  which was very kindly signed by Jekka.

Another reason I was really pleased to have won this prize was because I got to meet a blogging friend for the first time "in Real Life"  - Sue and her Lovely Hubby  from Our New Life in the Country

Sue and I snapped each other at the same time!

while her LH looks on, wishing he were somewhere else I think!

The food at The Organic Gardens Tea Room was wonderful, so fresh and tasty, just-picked ingredients from their veg garden, and meat and dairy from their farms around the valley, with generous portions of salads, fresh bread and butter and either meat or a veggie option. And a glass of wine!

The pudding was pretty delish as well!

We then listened to a short talk about the Horatio Gardens Appeal  and how and why it was formed as an  innovative project to create a place of tranquillity and beauty for patients to enjoy, while being treated for life changing spinal injuries.

And then there was a raffle - I won a bottle of champagne.

beautiful sweet peas in a tin

Some of the Yeo Valley cows going to be milked.

After lunch we had a tour of the fabulous Organic Gardens - James the Head Gardener has my dream job!

As the Yeo Valley website explains

Our organic gardens are one of just a handful of Britain’s gardens to be certified organic. They’re the work of Sarah Mead (wife of Tim) who has spent the last 18 years turning six and a half acres of land into a diverse, seasonal and absolutely beautiful patchwork of ornamental and edible planting areas.

Sarah and her team of gardeners (James, Will, Marc and Eileen) have turned her vision into life, and the gardens are a constantly evolving project as everyone brings more ideas and experiments to the table.

This collection of trained Crab Apples was stunning.

The greenhouse was fabulous

And as for the Composting area - well I could happily have moved in permanently.

So well organised.

James explained how the Organic Gardens are "closed loop" so make all their own potting, seed etc mixes  and compost teas -  he demonstrated how to make seed compost and I was pleased to see I do it the same way .

Looking from the terrace by the tea room over the vegetable area.

A wonderful bed of assorted grasses.

Ornamental flower garden "Bronze Garden" with Reflecting Pool - this was absolutely alive with electric blue Damsel flies.

On past the hay meadow into a woodland walk

Looking across what should be a Wild Flower meadow, but sadly the weather has had an adverse effect on germination so it was apparently not looking at its best.

Still lovely, though!

Then on through a Birch grove planted underfoot with ferns, moving water everywhere, lots of damp loving plants.

and out into a more formal gravel garden. This was very beautiful, with a fabulous pool as a focal point.

Holt Farmhouse

The rear of the farmhouse house looks out over a haha to Blagdon Lake - a wonderful view.

I love looking at other people's gardens  -especially organically managed ones - as you can always get new tips and techniques  or new planting ideas. I came away from this visit full of inspiration.

The journey home was a bit of a nightmare - rain, accidents ( not to me, fortunately!) more rain, diversions, more rain, road closures and finally a flood near to home. But I got home in the end - tired but having had a wonderful day out.

Thank you to Lucy at The Smallest Smallholding.  for such a wonderful giveaway. if you ever get the chance to visit this place I would go!