Much of the focus just now is on the glasshouses – maintenance, maintenance and more maintenance. Also Joanna is struggling with mealy bugs and having to cut back quite a few plants. On the plus side she has visited Logan Garden on the Rhinns of Galloway as part of a staff development programme. There wasContinue reading “Updates October 2024”
Author Archives: smbenno2003
Enjoy!
Early July and it’s summer – honestly, it really is! Time to relax and enjoy the moment. Open the gate to the walled garden and drink in the scene: the White Border at its peak, an abundance of flowers, a cocktail of heavenly scents, all set off by a soft green grassy path. Sorry aboutContinue reading “Enjoy!”
The march of history
Summer Solstice, a pleasant warm day and I am in search of meadows. On the way up the East Drive I come on a swathe of foxgloves. Last month I was looking for oak saplings in this area (which was felled after the damage wreaked by Sorm Arwen); today I am treated to a naturalContinue reading “The march of history”
Abundance
With the warm May weather there is an abundance of bees and flowers to fill us with optimism.
Looking to the future
Such a good time of year, April, with all the summer ahead of us. Spring is certainly here but undecided as to whether to stay or not. Despite the cold winds and hail one or two days have been sitting out days; others not so seductive. Mid-April brought one day when the gloves and woollyContinue reading “Looking to the future”
Hard work and a commendation
I take the Coy Burn Path to the garden, passing over the burn by the Millpond and walking through the board walks. It’s a gloomy day and the after-effects of the various winter storms are evident. Water has obviously been much higher than it is today; sand and silt have been deposited in unexpected placesContinue reading “Hard work and a commendation”
Time slips by
Mid-February and dawn in Torphins is about seven o’clock. Outside the morning display of jackjaws and rooks is beginning. Hundreds and hundreds – thousands of birds that have been roosting in the tall trees nearby are wheeling around above the village and swooping, sometimes over my garden, chattering and cawing. Later I will see theContinue reading “Time slips by”
Belonging
The rain continued over the festive season. Storm Gerrit hit on the 27 December flooding and closing local roads and threatening to overflow the Millpond once again. A blocked drain in the Woodland Garden caused water to back up and run through the entrance building from where, at the storm’s height, it followed two routesContinue reading “Belonging”
Nature’s capital
Yet more rain has fallen. When I visited Crathes mid-December I found the rangers working hard on the Millpond sluice. There had been heavy rain overnight and the sluices had to be opened to avoid overflow of the pond. But now that the rain had stopped, the sluice had to be adjusted to keep theContinue reading “Nature’s capital”
Deluge
The sun was just rising over the houses and lighting up a clear frosty day in Torphins. Most of the leaves had fallen, but gold and orange remnants gave the garden its autumn cloak. To complete the picture a flock of waxwings had settled on the trees that fringed the garden. There were over twentyContinue reading “Deluge”
Notes from Crathes 