The Genus Garden - Musings From Joff, Our Head Gardener

String theory

Our orchard lawn at Genus HQ is a wonderful matrix of all sorts of grasses and wildflowers including clover, dandelion, speedwell, and cowslips.  In contrast we like to keep the...
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Greenhouse duties

Our tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers that were moved into 2 litre pots just a few weeks ago have enjoyed the warm conditions that the greenhouse affords, putting on impressive growth...
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New Homes

Six or seven weeks ago we sowed our brassicas into a nursery bed - their temporary lodgings until they reached a suitable size for transplanting.  Cavalo Nero, purple sprouting, Romanesco...
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Belt and braces

Last year's wet spring followed by a mild summer led to incredibly enthusiastic growth from the plants in the garden at Genus HQ.  Many normally well behaved perennials grew above...
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An early morning wander through the woodland garden at Genus HQ is joy at this time of year.  No sooner are the spring bulbs dying back than the shrubs -...
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Down the garden path

Sometimes sheer curiosity takes over and leads us down several (metaphorical) garden paths.  Several weeks ago we wrote about the cherry trees at Genus HQ and hand in hand with...
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Perfect Day

With beautiful bright conditions in the Genus garden we spent some time in the greenhouse sowing a selection of seeds.  One of them, canary creeper, is an annual climber related...
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Volcanic activity

Every spring sees frenzied activity on a corner of the Genus HQ lawn.  Flying at low level are a dozen or so ashy mining bees searching for new mates and...
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Cherry Blossom

A corner of the Genus garden is affectionately known as Cherry Tree Corner and at this time of year it comes into its own with Prunus serrulata ‘Shirotae’, P. Serrula,...
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Pond life

Two weeks ago we mentioned our excitement in the spring while waiting for toads to return to our pond and make merry, where they leave their ribbons of spawn like...
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Ready, steady...

We’re quick off the block in the Genus vegetable garden this year.  We planted our first-early potatoes (Epicure) in a nice deep trench and covered them with our homemade compost...
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Potting up

With the sun shining we decided to give the orchard lawn its first cut of the year.  We removed fallen twigs and sticks and in some areas the grass was...
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Fungi

Spring has sprung, birds are singing, and borders are coming back to life with early blooms of snowdrops, daffodils, and winter flowering shrubs.  But the slowly rising temperatures have initiated...
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Garden excavations

Garden Excavations We’ve had a busy week at Genus HQ, not on large important projects, but on the smaller jobs that often get relegated to the bottom of the list. ...
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Dudley disaster

Without invitation, Storm Dudley passed through the Genus garden last week.  ‘Only a broken pot’ or so we thought, until from the kitchen window we spotted the  top of our...
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Raking up

After raking out fallen branches and debris from under our recently renovated beech hedge (we gave it a serious short back, top, and sides) we decided to renew and freshen...
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Getting up high

Lovely weather for the last few days has given us a great opportunity to get to work pruning the apple and pear trees in our orchard.  We deal with each...
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Bean busy

Back in early December, 10:35 am on the 8th to be precise, we sowed four rows of broad beans in the Genus vegetable garden.  Through all the recent cold, freezing,...
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Quartermaster stores

Recent mulching activity at Genus HQ has left the compost heaps empty and ready to receive more material to use later this year.  One bay containing recently cut-back and uncomposted...
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Getting nosey

Searching for interest in the garden at this time of year can often be a challenge.  The early bulbs may be starting to show, the wonderful range of coloured and...
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Duvet Day

Last month we were busy weeding, cutting back perennials, and planting tulip bulbs in the flower garden.  With that work completed, the beds were ready for a mulch to be...
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