Belderbos Landscapes - January 2011

Finally the cold snap of winter is upon us, and what better way to embrace the weather than with a bit of hard landscaping!  That will put hairs on your chest!

I got in touch with Belderbos Landscapes via Orchard Dene Nurseries.  Belderbos Landscapes is an established landscape and garden design company; building and maintaining gardens and outdoor spaces in London and the South East.

I spent a couple of days working on a couple of sites to get an insight into the sort of work that Belderbos Landscapes undertakes.  As with all hard landscaping, it is not for the faint-hearted, and is a bit of a hard graft.

However, it is nothing that I am not used to, as me Dad used to get me to do labouring since I was old enough to carry a full wheelbarrow, so about 12.

Both sites that I worked on had me preparing the ground for levelling for turf laying, bit of cementing, bed preparation and just general labouring.  The thing with hard landscaping is that it is hard work and it is a team effort.  We all work together to make certain tasks easier and thus the whole operation moves in in a much more efficient and fluid motion, getting the job completed on time.

Unfortunately, I did not manage to see the jobs through to completion, but I could see where it was going and what the final outcome was to be, and it looked like both sites were going to be stunning domestic gardens, guaranteed to cause jealously amongst the neighbours!

                                                                         Site 1

Site 2

Winfield House - December 2011

When it comes to Christmas, there is no one who does Christmas decorations like the Americans.  This is exactly the case when it came to decorating the U.S Ambassador's residency at Winfield House for the festive season.  Basically, the rule of thumb is 'bigger is better'.

Steven and myself had the task of decorating two mammoth Nordmann Firs.  One for the gold room, and one for the children.  Additionally, we also had to decorate the staircase with festive wreaths, berries, pine cones and holly.  As you can imagine, the staircase in the house was not a small one.

I must admit, I do love putting up the Christmas tree.  It gets you in the festive spirit and puts you in a good mood.  However, nothing quite compares to the scale of these trees.  I salvaged every moment of decorating the house as I may never get to do it again so I did not want to waste this opportunity.

It took three days, wrestling with ladders, baubles, teddies, fir needles, lights, holly, berries and just about everything else associated with Christmas, but we completed it.  It was worth all the (surprisingly) hard work and it looked spectacular when finished.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, one to really put you in the Christmas mood and was a lot of fun.  A moment that I will not forget.  Christmas will always seem so small from now on, it just does not compare to the size and splendour of Winfield House.

Winfield House - November/ December 2011

Winfield House, located on Outer Circle, Regents Park is the residence of the U.S Ambassador.  Furthermore, a little fact is that Winfield House is the second largest private estate in London, second to Buckingham Palace.  It was also used as an R.A.F base during WWII.  As you can see, the house is of significant importance and is a place where formaility is of the highest standard.

I must admit, it was slighly daunting approaching the residency.  In order to gain entry, I had to first walk by armed police officers, at the gate I had to present my I.D to the security staff (which they then kept until later on), then I got my badge, and only then was I able to enter.

However, all that procedure was definitely worth it to take a peek into one of London's biggest and best kept secrets.  I met with the Head Gardener, Steven Crisp, who is one of the nicest people I have had the pleasure of meeting.

He gave me an extensive tour of the grounds and in the house.  I took my muddy shoes off straight away, and feeling out of my depth in the house and did not dare touch anything for fear of breaking something.

Steven Crisp's role of Head Gardener extends way beyond the gardens.  He is also responsible for the floral arrangements within the house, re-designing them virtually every week or whenever the residency has an event on.  This is quite a demanding role, as well as maintaining the gardens, but it is a task which Steve fulfils to the highest level.  He is an extremely talented man, but a generous one, who is very willing to pass on his knowledge to others.

The next time I was to visit Winfield House, it would be to decorate the residency for Christmas...

Great Comp Garden and Dyson's Nursery - November 2011

In late November 2011, I got the chance to spend the day at Great Comp Garden, located in Kent. In addition to being a great stately garden, consisting of seven acres, it also doubles up as a Salvia nursery.  A specialist field of plant knowledge for the head gardener, curator and nurseryman, Mr. William Dyson.

William is a very talented horticulturalist who is a very knowledgeable man, and a very busy man at that.  There is always lots to be getting on with, whether he decides to spend time on the garden, or to spend the time spent inside the tunnels propagating Salvia's.  I would imagine that depends on whether it is raining or not!

This remarkable Kent Garden is a veritable plantsman's paradise. The year begins with Snowflakes & Hellebores, followed by Magnolias, Azaleas and Rhododendrons.  Furthermore, Summer brings a wealth of colourful, rare & exotic shrubs & perennials, especially Saliva's; these unusual and long flowering plants are particularly well represented at Great Comp with their display extending between May & October.

Due to the adverse weather conditions of November, we resided in the propagation tunnels where I spent the vast majority of the day propagating various Salvia's ready for selling or growing the following spring.
It is a task where you have to concentrate more you would think, as not every Salvia is propagated in the same way.  It was a great day, despite the gloomy weather and William Dyson is a great character.

He has already said to come back in the summer when there are more interesting things going on in the garden.  I look forward to visiting next time and reporting back on how much the garden has changed.

http://www.greatcompgarden.co.uk/

Orchard Dene Nursery - November 2011

Located in the beautiful English countryside of Henley resides Orchard Dene Nurseries.  This specialist perennial plant nursery is ran by the lovely Chris and Toby.  Their underpinning knowledge of plants is the reason why the nursery is still going strong after 25 years in the business.

The nursery produces a wide range of hardy perennials, grasses and ferns, with over 1400 different plants, selected and grown for their design merits as 'landscape performance plants.'  The nursery does not endorse a commercial approach, rather adopting to growing plants to suit and meet demands of top garden/ landscape designers.

The site in Henley includes stock beds, growing tunnels, propagation facilities and planted display areas. 

I was very privileged to spend the day with Chris and Toby down in Henley and they were very generous with their time.  They had a variety of tasks for me to complete, ranging from cleaning out the beds, weeding the plants, preparing orders, printing labels.  Even though this was in November and things were beginning to wind down, there was still a vast amount to complete.

It is not only until you see how a nursery operates that you realise just how much work has to go into it to make it work.  It is not the type of job that when you have done the 9-5 that is it.  There are always things that need to be done.

It is a testament that Orchard Dene is still one of leading suppliers of plants to top designers, with their extensive knowledge and high quality perennial plants, the nursery will remain one of the leading competitors in the industry.

Visit at
http://www.orcharddene.co.uk/index.php

Internship Placements

As part of the Internship at the museum, I am to spend days in industry with the top professionals.  This is to gain more experience in a wide variety of fields.  Therefore throughout the course of the year I will write about each placement.

Planting is my business, and business is good!

The Museum is now back open to the public and 2012 is going to be a very exciting year.  The Knot Garden is looking immaculate, which is strange for this time of year.  We have also taken the time to provide the Knot with a much needed boost of colour.

Within the Knot you can see the following;

Helleborus niger
Cyclamen coum
Primula vulgaris
Anemone blanda
Iris reticulata

These plants have been sourced from Covent Garden Flower Market, RHS Wisley Gardens and grown from seed at the Museum.

Moreover, there are a vast array of little treasures emerging from the dark depths of the soil in each segment of the Knot.  Soon the Knot Garden will be a sea of colour, and we will once again see it restored to its former glory.

The Knot Garden does peak late early spring to early summer so be sure to not miss it!