The Genus Garden

Witty and acutely observant accounts of what is going on in the Genus Garden week by week - written by Joff Elphick our Head Gardener.

Nettles - from sting to wing

At last!  Leaving a clump of nettles in the garden has always been recommended as a refuge and food source for insects and other invertebrates.  Results aren’t always immediate, in...
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Erigeron karvinskianus

As gardeners we’re always looking for that one special plant.  Ideally a plant that is hardy, flowers for a long period, and is perennial, returning year after year to entertain...
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Old friends reunited

Plants that were part of our education as we discovered the world of horticulture always hold a place in our hearts.  I was reminded of this last Friday as I...
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Sweet Cicely - the ebullient understudy

At a time of year when the country lanes and roadside verges are burgeoning with fecundity it's nice to bring a little bit of that same natural ambience into the...
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Hedge laying - the propensity to survive

Back in the spring a hedgerow just up the road from Genus HQ was attended to by a hedge-layer.  Stems of blackthorn and hawthorn were partially severed allowing them to...
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Slow worms

We all love a compost heap - recycling garden plants to reuse as mulch on the borders is always satisfying.  But compost heaps have other benefits - they are a...
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Violas - wigwams, and week old kittens

Violas are one of our favourite garden flowers at this time of the year.  They’re affordable, readily available, and most importantly, great performers.  Just a few placed in pots can...
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Persian buttercups

With most of the garden pots and troughs at their peak we thought it wouldn’t hurt to start planning their next reincarnation.  A friend kindly gave us a packet of...
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Greenhouse report

We always demonstrate a degree of restraint and patience when it comes to sowing half hardy annual seeds in the spring.  The resulting plants can’t be put outside until the...
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Snake in the grass

Several years ago we planted a few hundred pea sized bulbs of Fritillaria meleagris into the meadow with the hope of adding some interest in the grass that had lost...
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Mistaken identity

Question: When is blackthorn not blackthorn? Answer: When it’s cherry plum aka myrobalan plum and more formally known as Prunus cerrasifera (pictured). It’s a common theme at this time of...
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Woodpile wonders - garden fungi

Most of us with woodburners or an open fire will have a woodpile or log store located somewhere within the garden.  A well organised stack of logs can be a...
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Practice what you pleach

With the beautiful weather we’ve been experiencing in recent days, it was too tempting to not take advantage of a few spare hours and have a leisurely wander around the...
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Overnight appearance - Iris reticulata

It happened overnight.  Or at least that what it felt like.  We'd spent a day rearranging the spring pots - all had showed signs of life but flowers were conspicuous...
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Lost sentinels - Dutch elm disease

​​We spotted some interesting markings on a fallen branch this week.  Anyone old enough to remember the 1960’s and early 70’s will also remember the English elm (Ulmus procera), a...
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Far reaching - extendable pruner saves the day

Although nearing completion, orchard work is still part of the weekly routine.  This involves cutting out any diseased or dead branches and reducing the length of the upright annual growth...
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Peak snowdrop

It’s peak season for snowdrop spotting at the moment.  Gardens big and small, from great estates to diminutive English cottages, are all opening up their gardens to keen gardeners and...
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Ferns - back to the classroom

We were cutting back fern foliage in the woodland garden this week.  Most were brown and collapsed on the ground but a few plants had retained their colour.  It was...
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Winter flowering clematis

A plant that offers such an enthusiastic display on a dank January morning can seem somewhat incongruous against a grey sky and driving sleet, but Clematis cirrhosa ‘Jingle Bells’ sallies...
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Life’s too short to wash a birch tree

It’s been said that life is too short to wake up with regrets or famously, too short to stuff a mushroom.  We’ve also heard it said that life is too...
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Vivipary

We noticed an example of life in miniature this week as we cut back some storm damaged perennials in the flower border.  With their minute green cotyledons stark against the...
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