The Genus Garden

It's been dry enough recently for us to finish off tidying the borders in the flower garden and, with the remaining perennials cut back, we were able to see what...

Wet weather in recent days has slowed work down in the Genus garden, but in between the torrential downpours and scudding showers we have managed to make some progress.  During the...

Yes.  It’s still happening.  Leaves are falling in a never ending stream, smothering the lawn, making paths slippy, and breaking down beautifully to turn the gravel driveway into an ideal...

We had a bit of a rude surprise this week when we realised that Genus HQ had been invaded by hundreds of uninvited miners.  Not the miners who, in centuries...

In previous years we’ve sometimes been a bit late in planting out our garlic, the result being a large single bulb that hasn’t had time to form and give us...

It’s been happening since late August due to the hot summer but we can now confirm that our trees at Genus HQ are in full leaf-drop mode.  With small copses...

A bit of excitement at Genus HQ this week as an old friend returned to greet us.  Walking in the meadow we spotted a Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea) nestled in...

Occasionally, traditional garden work at Genus HQ has to stop and the garden is taken over for a shooting party; seasonal product shoots with photographers, stylists, and models to be...

Sweet potatoes, originally from South America, have been in cultivation for over 2,000 years.  At Genus HQ they’ve been in cultivation for approximately six months but what an impression they've...

How have your apple trees been performing this year?  At Genus HQ we seem to have experienced the whole spectrum of results from trees with virtually no fruit to trees...

With misty mornings and mellow fruitfulness pervading the garden, autumn has announced its arrival in the Cotswolds. The dank, almost imperceptible, smells of plant life slowly breaking down and silky...

If you’ve been reading this blog for some time you will know that every few years we have to split our clumps of Iris when they become congested.  Flowering starts...

We felt as though the hand of Kenneth Grahame was at work this week at Genus HQ when the lawn was alive with tiny toadlets all migrating from the pond...

Wasps have had bad publicity over the years and with their appetite for our picnics and lovingly nurtured fruits they’re not the first visitor that we like to welcome into...

Over the years we’ve perfected the planting at Genus HQ to give us interest throughout most of the year.  Mid to late August can be a tough time to keep...

Almost exactly a year ago we were celebrating the fact that our horse chestnut trees had avoided the attention of the leaf mining moth Cameraria ohridella; in August last year...

For a long time now we’ve been great fans of the black Tuscan kale Cavalo nero or nero di Toscana as it’s also known.  With its dark glaucous leaves arching...

July can be a busy month in the garden and Genus HQ is no exception.  With a week in London exhibiting at the Hampton Court Flower Show we were already...

Things have been reaching a bit of a peak in the Genus vegetable garden in recent weeks.  Last month the strawberries cropped well and are now delivering the odd bonus...

Rozanne has started to be a problem recently.  She’s a bit of a bully, is always after attention, and doesn’t let anyone else join in.  Rozanne of coure is the...

A few years ago we started a small nuttery behind the showroom at Genus HQ. The trees we planted - a selection of hazelnuts and filberts - included ‘Corabel’, ‘Halls...