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...
We don’t have a huge collection of euphorbias here at Genus HQ but those we do have are cherished for their contribution to the beds and borders. In spring visitors are greeted on the path alongside the garage to Euphorbia...
In the Genus garden Malus, cherry, Sorbus, and Amelanchier are trees with exceptional blossom but a favourite on a totally different scale are the Aesculus trees - the horse chestnuts. We have two, one probably about 50 years old and...
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...
With a week of high pressure giving us glorious sunny days we decided to get into the vegetable garden and sow some broad beans. Very hardy, and very tasty, broad beans can be sown in some of the harshest conditions...
It’s March tomorrow and it's getting busy out there in the garden. As you can see, Joff has been pruning the roses in the Genus garden. Here are our top 10 jobs for you to do now.
The milder weather we’ve been having over the last few days has enabled us to get on with the work that was postponed by the previous week's deep freeze. With a bucket, a long handled brush, and a squirt...
What a week! Freezing cold temperatures, ground frozen, and scatterings of snow. Plans that were previously made to sow seeds suddenly seemed laughable and a quick mental pivot was required if we were going to spend any quality time in...
Mulching. We’re at it again! It was only just before Christmas that we were talking about spreading compost on the flower borders. It’s something we’re passionate about. A decade of this annual process has given us beautiful soil with a...
When we first moved into the cottage at Genus HQ it had a functional but extremely ugly concrete garage. It’s the first thing we see on our return home and after much thought we decided to grow ivy over the...
Gardeners are an optimistic bunch, never put off by failures, always trying again, and always looking to the future. Small but barely noticeable signs at Genus HQ have made us aware that despite current restrictions mother nature is still forging...
