Jo's Review of 2012

Hello Everyone

So here we are looking at 2012. So many things changed in this year so here is a look at most of them. One thing that doesn't change is the timeless beauty of the house itself. With the added interest of the reflection in the pond this is one of my favourite views, photo 1 (Jan 2012).

Changes were happening in the Kitchen Garden. The new Glasshouses were nearing completion, photo 2 (Jan 2012). Whilst the old Glasshouses were there one week, photo 3 (6th Jan 2012) and gone the next, photo 4 (20th Jan 2012).

The snowdrops were amazing that year and continued to flower throughout February, photo 5 (Feb 2012).

Back in the Kitchen Garden the new bed created in front of the Peach House had been cleared of debris, dug over, had top soil added and was then sown with a wild flower mix ready for later in the summer, photo 6 (Mar 2012). But the tree remained for the time being!

I've prepared a separate newsletter covering the actual opening day of the new Glasshouses so this is what was happening around the garden in the two weeks leading up to that day,16th May 2012. The Alpine Meadow had waited to show itself off in the best possible way, photo 7. The chickens arrived to live in the new pen created at the end of the Millennium Orchard, photo 8. It seemed as though every tree, shrub and flower on the Front Lawn had decided to open for the big day, photo 9. The Wild Life area had been defined, photo 10 and the Field Bed had been completely removed, prepared and re-seeded, photo 11. You can now see how large the area it covered actually was. On the Tulip Terrace the old tree in the end bed had been removed and Nicola, the Senior Kitchen Gardener, was putting up a support for the golden hops she was going to plant there, photo 12, so I took advantage of this and asked her to take some photos for me. They give an overview of how great the garden looked. The Kitchen Garden had been planted, tidied and mulched, photo 13. The box hedges on the Tulip Terrace were holding on in their battle with the box blight and I think this is the last photo I have of them, photo 14. Then the next photo shows the New River Lawn bed with all the irises and the dense growth of the top garden, photo 15. The bed on the Sunken Lawn had been removed, photo 16, and I'm sure it was re-seeded before the opening. The beds in the Arboretum had been mulched and the grass had been cut. In fact I think every part of the garden had been looked at and improved in some way. The result was that the garden looked amazing and so beautiful.

At the end of the month the irises flowered all along the New River Lawn, photo 15 (29th May 2012), too late for the big day but a welcome sight for all who visited the garden. The wisteria was late that year too flowering at the end of the month, photo 19 (May 2012).

Unfortunately, by July the poor box hedging on the Tulip Terrace had given in to the box blight and had to be removed, photo 20 (July 2012). But the roses and the Eremurus Border looked stunning, photo 21 (July 2012) and so did the wild flowers in the newly created bed in front of the Peach House, photo 22 (July 2012).

Earlier in the year Hydrangea paniculata Pinky Winky had been planted all along the Front Drive and provided a wonderful welcome to the garden, photo 23 (Sep 2012). The pumpkins and squashes that had been planted in the Kitchen Garden had been harvested and provided a lovely display in the courtyard, photo 24 (Oct 2012). The top of the large cedar on the Front Lawn had been removed for safety reasons, photo 25 (Nov 2012) and the display on the Pond Terrace provided a stunning display of autumn colour for everyone to enjoy, photo 26 (Nov 2012).

I think you'll agree that this was a year to remember and I hope you've enjoyed this walk down memory lane with me.

Stay safe and keep well.

Best wishes

Jo