Happy New Year to Yew!

Where to begin?  A new year is upon us, and what an exciting year that is ahead of us.  We have the Olympics and the Queen's Diamon Jubilee to look forward to.  Furthermore, we have a new horticultural year to look forward to.  As soon as the weather warms, there will be new life breathed into gardens all over, kick starting a haven of flowers, wildlife and a real buzz around the place.

The museum has been on a hiatus since December 23rd until January 23rd as we are taking this opportunity to give the museum an early spring clean.

My team of volunteers and I are taking this opportunity to get on top of outstanding tasks within the garden and using this time when there are no members of the public around, so I can make a mess and not have to worry too much about keeping things spotless.

Thankfully, we now over the Plane leaves dropping into every little spot you can possibly imagine!  We have now hopefully eliminated the rogue leaves, thus giving a much tidier appearance to the garden.

We have taken the time to mulch all the beds in the knot garden to keep the mositure in the soil, warm the soil and to provide more nutrients to the soil as the mulch breaks down.  This will provide just that extra bit of support through the winter (though to be fair, it seems that only now winter has decided to arrive).

I have taken the time to tackle the Yew hedge which seperates the knot garden from the long border outside the church.  Once upon a time, the yew was shaped into battlements, linking in with the battlements on St. Mary's Chruch, creating the effect of the building and garden as one entity. 

However, this effect has been lost over the years and has just been left to grow of its own accord.  I have taken the time to shape battlements back into the hedge but do not be alarmed at the drastic change you may see before you.

There will be a lot of brown exposed, but Yew (Taxus baccata) is a very forgiving hedge that can handle a seriously hard pruning session.  Moreover, when I give it a feed in Spring, it will rejuvinate, and the bare spots will green over come Summer, giving character and structure back to the Yew hedge.