In The Genus Garden

Previously we’ve extolled the virtues of keeping circles clear of grass underneath our fruit trees in the orchard.  Without competition from grass the trees establish quickly and the clear area prevents us from getting too close to...

Our raised vegetable beds have served us well this year and with a number of them now empty we took the opportunity to carry out repairs.  Nearly ten years old, several of the timber edging and supporting pegs...

With the imminent arrival of autumn we thought we’d better construct a new bin for the abundance of fallen leaves that we get here at Genus HQ.  The upright wooden posts of the MK1 version had become rotten...

We spent some time in the vegetable garden this week.  Comprising more than twenty small raised beds, it’s taken a bit of a back seat in recent weeks and needed some serious attention.  We hand weeded the wood chip...

Fans of alliteration will enjoy recent posts from the Genus garden.  Last time The Chelsea Chop.  This week The Hampton Hack!!   Quite where that name originated we don’t know but it has morphed from The Hampton Court Hack to the simpler...

Just like everyone else we’ve been experiencing extremes of heat in the Genus garden over the last week or two.  Heavy rains before it all started have meant that soil moisture levels have remained high and grass that...

We spent some time in the Genus greenhouse this week.  Early mornings are always best for this operation before the sun creeps over the trees and makes temperatures under glass uncomfortable.  Some excess tomatoes we’d reserved as spares were...

Another lovely week in the Genus garden and once again we're talking staking.  Dahlias in particular have reached a point where they could quickly become a mess if high winds or torrential rain should hit; all quite possible...

Some time was spent in the flower garden this week dealing with plants knocked by the previous week's rain and wind.  Tidied up and staked where necessary, we managed to create space for smaller plants just coming through and made...

One of us had a week off recently.  It coincided with the start of the lovely weather and was the perfect time to unwind by the sea.  Unfortunately the garden didn’t get the memo and continued to grow apace in...

This week was particularly busy with an upcoming photoshoot looming and everything working around the unpredictable weather.  With heavy rain from the start we spent time in the greenhouse potting on tomatoes, aubergines, and peppers and moving them into the...

We’re under more pressure than usual to get the garden looking nice due to an upcoming photoshoot at the end of the month.  Looking at pictures from this time last year the growth is seriously behind but on the...

More sowing and more mowing were on our list of jobs to get done this week.  Cool mild weather has kept the grass growing and with one large orchard lawn and five other areas to be mown, it’s a...

Our attention was focussed in and around the Genus greenhouse this week with our seedlings getting either potted on or hardened off.  The sunflowers ‘Ring of Fire’ and ‘Buttercream’ have been growing well in the individual cells that they were...

We’ve had quite a full week with lots of jobs needing to be done and only a limited amount of time to carry them out.  Firstly we tackled a leaky hose connector.  The existing connector looked fine with no sign...

‘Mind the gap’ is a familiar term with those of us who've been on the London Underground, but it's also become a common phrase here at Genus HQ in recent years.  It seems no matter how much care and attention we...

With our grass now growing well, lawns were the focus for us this week.  After edging they all received a pass from the mower and produced a surprising amount of cuttings; great ‘fuel’ for the ever hungry compost heap!  Afterwards...

The beautiful weather of the last few days has propelled us into seed sowing mode.  The majority of our seeds are for annuals; gap fillers and punctuation points to be squeezed into spaces that we have left or that may...

We've been cutting down our deciduous grasses this week.  In summer one corner of our border is a beautiful tangle of tall perennials such as rudbeckia, helenium, helianthus, and dahlias.  With these all cut back before Christmas it was just...

The recent addition of French doors at genus HQ has opened up a whole new vista for us to observe while eating our breakfast.  Unfortunately the planting in this area is excessively tall and reduces our ability to see across...

We’ve been wanting to enlarge one of our flower beds for some time and with beautiful weather still on the cards we decided to start work.  The rather rotten wooden edging came out easily along with a few large rocks...