Midge hell

10/11/09

When I arrived, Lucy, Jude and Dave were in the gardeners' shed putting metal ID labels on wire to be hung on the new plants lined up in the trailer. While the rain sheeted down we chatted about life, the universe and everything.

As the weather wasn't up to much (surprise!) today, Paul asked us to work in the conservatory. It's been planted up with a range of succulents, perennials, climbers and shrubs, mostly just about hardy in a mild winter. Plants include Crassula sp, Salvia leucantha, Agave sp, Buddleja sp, Plumbago auriculata, Echium sp, Aeonium sp, and many many more. Plus many many midges, as we found as soon as we moved anywhere. We were tasked with weeding and cutting back, and also keeping an eye out for vine weevils, which have done their best to decimate the Echiums' roots. However it turns out that Echiums are pretty resilient, and after removing a few leaves from the chewed-off floret, the stumpy remainder can be replanted and will happily regrow. Adult vine weevils are also to blame for small round holes in some plants' leaves.

Paul pointed out other pests affecting plants in the conservatory: tiny yellow scale insects on Lagunaria patersonii, which was covered in sooty mould that grows on the honeydew dropped by the insects; Tortrix moth caterpillars, which eat the leaves and growing tips of some plants; two-spot red spider mite, which leaves tiny pinpricks in leaves; and mealybugs, which have a white bloom. Plus the ever-present slugs. We discussed our favourite methods of organic-ish slug disposal, such as going out in the dark and chopping the blighters in half (they are cannibals so they eat their dead mates), slug pellets (the safe ones) and other horrid ends. I'm all for chopping them, as at least then the thrushes have a chance of eating them.

After a long lunch with plenty of discussion about college courses and whether business studies is a useful option, Dave, Alison and I headed out to the middle terrace borders in front of the house to do some cutting back. Methods varied by plant - the Anaphalis triplinervis could be cut right back down as the new growth was already on its way, and the penstemons were trimmed down to half their size. A few other plants whose names I forget were taken right back down while others were cut to a few buds above brown wood. The weather cleared and we were rewarded with beautiful views down across the parkland, a decent recompense for another mauling from the midges while we were out there. One can only hope that a frost kills most of them off.

There's so much to learn, and it amazes me that Paul and Dave (plus Jude and Lucy and an army of volunteers) manage to keep it all under control. The new head gardener starts this week, so it will be interesting to see what plans she has for the gardens as a whole. Paul is very good at getting us to learn plant names and the like.

4.5 hours