The Rain Brings its Benefits.

‘Everything is drenched with rain – even when the sky clears the ground remains soft and soaked underfoot – which makes grass cutting an intermittent challenge between showers. But of course the rain brings its benefits too – all growth is refreshed and re-greened.

Overhanging grasses, meadowsweet and nettles have been cut back along the edges of the waterways in the Parkland, so that the course of the stream remains visible and clear.

In the Hortus the roses have been staked up, the box clipped and the beds tidied. The cloud pool too is regularly cleaned of fallen leaves and weeded around.

In the Temple pond the willow surrounding the marble paper boat has been trimmed back and thelittle Durer island / piece of turf kept in check.

A new morello cherry tree has been planted in Julie’s garden behind the Idyll des cerises column so that eventually ripened fruit will fall from overhanging branches into the bowl below. This whole area has been weeded out again – a section of day lilies has reestablished itself in newly exposed space, and clumps of foxgloves and campanula jostle each other for position bringing tall spikes of colour.

The top and middle ponds in the wood have been weeded again, but more than likely will need tackled at least once more before the end of the season as the weed has ideal growing conditions this year.

A misshapen tree and some bushy undergrowth has been removed by the buried capital at the top pool bringing more light into this area, and allowing the piece to be seen more clearly in its proper setting.

The allotment / garden of Epicurus has been given a clear out. The herb garden here makes a nice adjunct to the wooded area around it, so is worth persevering with. The strawberry patch too in the woodland garden has been tidied but still struggles with light levels – there are a few more trees that can be taken out here later on to rebalance this area.

The ivy on the gable end wall of Baucis & Philomen temple has been pruned hard back. Overgrown branches have also been loped off by Claudi bridge to allow for easier passage.

A job which is often forgotten – the littleround roof tunnel light into Dido/Aeneas grotto has been cleared of grasses growing above and around it to allow the sky back in.

The grass edges around the Virgil cobble circles and Woodland Flute are clipped to keep their formality. All of the other stone works in the Parkland and woods have been strimmed around so that they sit clear of their grassy surroundings. 

Fruits bushes are turning colour – a flush of yellows, reds and purples.

And somewhere in between deluge and brightness lies the remainder of summer.’

George Gilliland, July 2017