Well, I think there is also such a thing as “a gardener’s holiday” – when a gardener goes away but ends up gardening while on holiday.
I’m not a professional gardener but like many of you reading this, I do love gardening.
The Easter break is one of my favourite times for grabbing a few days in my much-neglected one, when so much is happening and there is so much to do.
It is therefore entirely my own fault that I arranged a couple of weekends visiting family and friends in Switzerland and Paris, and another day with my sister in Suffolk.
Lily beetle, first of the year (Image: Norfolk School of Gardening) You can guess what comes next.
I spent a lot of time in their gardens, either on my hands and knees weeding, planting, watering, mulching or helping them decide what to do this year, which plants to add, which ones to give up on, which to feed, which to prune…
Yes, a gardener’s holiday!
When I got back, it was as though spring had exploded.
Tulips Huis Ten Bosch (Image: Norfolk School of Gardening) Plants which had been barely above ground were now bright green mounds of foliage, the lilacs had started to flower, our white magnolia had almost finished flowering but instead every single one of the hundreds of tulips in our garden were looking fabulous.
There were also lots of happy weeds and the grass needed cutting, but that’s another story.
Back at the school this week the cherries are laden with blossom and the dozen or so magnolias are passing the baton as they flower in succession, in every shade of pink and white around the gardens.
The beech hedges are now shiny bright green with only the odd hint of their winter brown.
Beech hedge and cherry blossom (Image: Norfolk School of Gardening) This is, for me, the loveliest, most exciting and most optimistic time of year.
The main challenge is not to get overwhelmed by the long list of jobs which need doing, especially when there is quite a lot of time-consuming watering to be done this year as the dry weather continues.
This week we have been pricking out seedlings, sowing more seeds, potting up dahlias to get them going under cover in the coming weeks, planting out broad beans and peas which we sowed inside.
We have also planted some perennials.
It is a bit late to be doing this and they will need careful watering, but they’ll get off to a good start as we soaked the holes we had dug for them before planting, backfilling and watering again.
Many of our courses are now fully booked, but these are a few which have some spaces available.
Let us know if you’d like to join us:
· Advanced Pruning and Training – April 30
· Advanced Practical Gardening – May 7
· Sustainable Cutting Garden – May 21
· Basic Bricklaying – June 12
· Developing an Annual Maintenance Plan – June 25
· Summer Pruning – June 26
Magnolia x soulangeana ‘Lennei’ (Image: Norfolk School of Gardening)
Plant of the Week
Magnolia x soulangeana ‘Lennei’ grows from a large, densely branching shrub into a small, multi-stemmed tree with a broad vase-shaped to broad ovoid crown, eventually attaining a height of about 8m.
It is a fabulous cultivar, highly prized for its stunning, two-tone spring display.
The large flowers have a wide tulip shape, giving this tree the common name tulip magnolia, and are a warm pinkish purple on the outside with creamy white on the inside.
They open around mid to late April.
This magnolia was discovered in the mid-19th century in Lombardy, northern Italy, and named after the German botanist Peter Joseph Lenné.
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