This blog will not be a daily occurrence as I know I will be too busy in the garden to commit to that. When I do manage to put my muddy hands on the keyboard I hope to share with you the tasks we are undertaking and the plants that are in flower here. My plan is to make you feel part of the gardens and hopefully some of you will benefit from my growing experiences and my mistakes.
As part of my magazine role I will be trialling plants and products here at Stockton Bury in order to bring readers practical and up to date information. So, if you want even more advice, treat yourself to a copy of this great magazine.
On 3 Jan I completed my first full day of gardening here since my parks department role nearly 20 years ago. If I’m honest, I was shattered and spent the evening laid out on the sofa. A few months on I’m fully recovered and living proof that gardening keeps you fit. I now feel that doing all this physical work entitles me to eat biscuits whenever I choose! Heaven.
I have known the garden here all my life and watched my uncle digging new borders and planting trees, but this is my first year of gardening it. My uncle’s creativity has certainly been the inspiration behind my chosen career. However, claiming to know a garden is a very different thing to looking after one. No one can truly say they know a garden until they have gardened every inch for a full year. This blog will track my findings and record my mistakes and concerns.
Never before have I seen the need to keep a gardening journal until now. At the end of every day I am making note of what I have pruned and not pruned and what is in flower.
The things I have learnt so far is how to answer my mobile with muddy hands, realising very quickly that my waterproof trousers are the best investment of 2014 and coming to the conclusion that I will get through a nail brush a month.