Benington Lordship Gardens

September 2007

After our second very successful Chilli Festival most of this month has been taken up with strimming long grass and trimming the many large Yew hedges around the garden. A new hedge planted along the back of the herbaceous border is growing well and had a first cut this year.

The wet summer has made keeping on top of the grass cutting very difficult but the lawns have finally started to slow down so work to create a Snowdrop nursery area can start in the walled garden soon. Many of the old and overgrown borders will be replanted to create more beds for the growing collection of named varieties.

This will slightly reduce the space we have to produce vegetables but will allow us to sell bulbs every year without removing too many bulbs growing in the borders throughout the garden. We only have a limited amount of time before the autumn clear up starts so the project will most likely take several years to complete.

Nature Notes.

This year has been very successful for our Barn Owls, at least one pair has nested on the estate for many years, a second was found this year and the abundance of food means they are having second broods. The adults regularly fly close to the gardens & some evening visitors have had nice views of them hunting.

The adults & young are ringed and monitored throughout the year by a licensed ringer, if all goes well at least a dozen young will have fledged this year.

The long wet summer has meant a bad year for Dragonflies & Butterflies but the recent dry spell has seen good numbers of small Darter Dragonflies around the ponds, these will only be flying for a few more weeks until the days are too cold.

The photos below include an adult female & young (approx 40 days old) Barn Owl, the red flower of Calycanthus fertilis and Bee Orchid, a small colony was found growing close to the gardens earlier this year.

October 2007

Autumn has arrived early this year with many trees in the garden already looking bare, the Crataegus and Malus around the tennis court are always the first turn but didn't last long with the first frosts in the middle of the month.

The Herbaceous border will be cut down this week, once cleared the large beds are tidied and mulched with leaf mould and mushroom compost, this is usually completed by December, much of November will be taken up with clearing leaves, all of which are composted to be put back on the beds next year.

Work on the new beds in the kitchen garden is progressing well, some of the beds around the vegetable plots have started to be cleared, digging out large Artichokes and old Asters to make room for new winter interest plants and Snowdrops, several other borders will be cleared with most of the plants being saved where possible.

Several beds of Autumn Broad Beans and Garlic have been planted, the beans are sown late in October to stop them getting too big by Christmas, tall plants are often damaged by wind/snow after the new year. The remaining beds will be double dug incorporating plenty of manure.

Nature Notes.

The last Swallows were seen flying over the gardens on October 3rd, the same week saw a large influx of Redwings, a small Thrush that migrates from Siberia/Greenland to winter in the UK, they feed on the many berries & windfall apples in and around the gardens. Smaller numbers of Fieldfares arrived later in the month plus a few Brambling which often roost in the gardens.

Unfortunately two of the five young Barn Owls were found dead close to the nest site a few weeks ago, this is quite common with late large broods as food becomes scarce the younger birds cannot compete with their older siblings. The remaining chicks have fledged and will leave the area to find territories of their own.

The photos below include Autumn colour on a Vine, A Redwing caught during a ringing session, a Common Newt found while resetting flints in the courtyard and Autumn Snowdrop Galanthus reginae-olgae, flowering in the kitchen garden during October..

November 2007.

Most of the herbaceous borders have been cut down, all the compostable material is mixed with leaves & straw and put into large heaps which will be yurned next spring. Three new May trees have been planted in the former rock garden, once the trees have established Snowdrops can be planted under the canopy.

The Garlic planted last month is growing well & the Broad Beans are just starting to germinate, the empty beds will be double dug before Christmas incorporating plenty of well rotted manure. At least half of the raised beds are double dug every year & the remaining beds turned in early spring.

The new beds in the walled garden are almost complete, large shrubs will be planted next month to provide the shade for the Snowdrops which will be planted duriing Feb/March 2008, several of the early varieties are well advanced, ewlwesii "Bill Baker's Early" is already in flower in the greenhouse and is usually flowering in the border by Christmas.

Nature Notes.

The very mild spell of weather at the beginning of November saw many Common Darter Dargonflies still flying, around the lakes, as with last years mild winter Peacock And Red Admiral butterflies were also still active.

The young Barn Owls are very active at dusk, on still nights the loud hissing when begging for food can be heard from some distance, the adults stop feeding them soon & they will leave the area often flying very long distances in their first winter, one young bird from here was recovered in Herefordshire a few months after being ringed.

The photos below include Autumn colour by the lake, Cyclamen hederifolium, white flowers of Solanum jasminoides Album and Snowdrop Galanthus elwesii "Bill Baker's Early"