Down the Garded Path. Part 4.

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This picture shows the drive edge further down starting with that big Golden Yew. It is quite bright in the Spring time, but a bit dull now.. There is another Cotoneaster behind it , also kept cut back. These are self sown seedlings from the original front hedge,now replaced by the Holly, which we planted in gaps at the bottom of the hedge to deter our determined Dog from forcing his way through the rusting wire netting. It worked but the Cotoneaster couldn’t put up with the competition.
Just inside the entrance to the top lawn is an OAK TREE (Quercus robur) planted as a litrtle seedling, but now about 30 years old, sometime I will find the photo of it in Winter covered with OAK APPLES, looks weird on a 2ft tree..
You can see the SCOTS PINE (Pinus sylvestris) A self sown seedling, next door had several big Pines before that storm. it is about 35 years old with a massive trunk., for several years my Wife, Eila just cut it back with shears, we made no attempt to train it as a Bonsai type tree ( I say Bonsai type because it isn’t in a pot). A customer forfthe Nursery asked if he could buy it. I said" " No, it isn’t for sale and anway it’s my Wife’s. "Well I’ll ask her " he said. So he did and Eila thinking to stop him said " oh, £200 ". He said yes I’ll have it.. I then had to explain that even if she did want to sell it. It wouldn’t move because it had never been transplanted, Then neither he nor us would have the tree.
At the edge of the path is a THYMUS SILVER POSY. Very pretty, but I miss the previous Silver Thyme that I grew which was highly scented, however it frequently reverted to green.
There is also a,ROWAN or MOUNTAIN ASH (Sorbus aucuparia), which I have cut back for several years. I think it is abiout to be dug up and turned into a Bonsai proper, but I have to wait till leaves have fallen and the tree becomes dormant.
I am really rather silly keeping self sown trees to grow bigger . That HOLLY ball on a stick. Looks nice but those prickly leaves make weeding around that Area a gloved hand job. I only wear gloves when I have to., there is a real pleasure obtained by handling the soil direct. Years of weeding seed beds at ground level, as we did in the good/bad old days, were a part of everyday existence. We used to squat down weeding row after row of AUBRIETA which we grew in long lines 3 at a time. we used to advertise them in all the Saturday and Sunday papers. That all ended 30 to 40 years ago, with the arrival of Garden Centres and higher Postal Charges.
There is Aubrieta in the Rock Garden which we have now arrived at. I need to check up on what is in it before listing the items, memory is unreliable, don’t worry about it being age, because it never was much good.

• 18 Sep, 2008
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