Hi Folks Somewhat related to this thread I am from N Ireland and have young children (3yo and 1yo) so not easy for us to get over to the mainland or travel larger distances. We are having a family trip to the lake district in July and wondering if its worth making the journey down to David Austin Roses About a 3 hour drive?
Still cold up North, but at least we have had no more snow over the last 3 days.
Slowly the ground is beginning to reveal itself. Then to my horror I noticed something which is not rose related but maybe some of you can offer advice.
As you know I have been digging up Spanish Hyacinth bulbs that had invaded the borders. Well imagine my horror when I noticed they had also colonised under a weeping Acer Disectum, which is about 25 years old.
With all the Acer roots, how on earth can you suggest I deal with the infestation? Pic 1.
Rose related, I include 2 pictures of the tops of my Standard roses Princess Anne. I see some fat shoots appearing and was wondering about feed and mulch this spring. I only planted them in November 2022 and they are in pots with a really rich compost/manure mix. Do I need to fertilise and mulch or will fertilising be sufficient.
PS I did not prune the PAs that was the way they came, so any advice there too would be really appreciated.
Hi Folks Somewhat related to this thread I am from N Ireland and have young children (3yo and 1yo) so not easy for us to get over to the mainland or travel larger distances. We are having a family trip to the lake district in July and wondering if its worth making the journey down to David Austin Roses About a 3 hour drive?
I haven't visited the DA garden but I don't think I would contemplate that sort of a journey with kids of that age to a destination that didn't end in the beach or something really fun for them. They won't be able to completely cut loose when they get out of the car, will they?
@NewnorthernIrishgardener I wouldn't fancy that journey personally either, and I don't have young children... they are 3 hours from me too and I've never been there.. it just seems an awful lot of hassle, but only you can make that decision..
Some lovely gardens with roses close to where you'll be, like Lowther Castle near Penrith which has a rose garden designed by Dan Pearson.. or one near Windermere with lots of shrub and English roses..
Others a little further afield..
Not trying to put you off at all.. but here's a link to Great British Gardens, you can search by County if interested in this alternative.. otherwise have a great day out at David Austin's, I hear the cream tea is very good.. https://www.greatbritishgardens.co.uk/
@PeterAberdeen I wouldn't let those bluebells get in my way.. I think they could be dealt with easily enough.. I would just use a fork and dig out as much as I could, as I recall they come up quite easily but it's been a long time.. I might leave some nearest the trunk, in fact I might leave them all until they've finished flowering, then do the deed.. they do look quite nice for about a week..
Your Princess Anne roses look already pruned quite well, I would just snip off any dead end tips back to a clean shoot, about half inch above, otherwise not too much to be done there.. I'd want to leave a nice head of stems on those at this stage.. Feed later this month and mulch after.. others may advise differently on these issues..
I’ve visited the garden when the roses are in bloom and it’s beautiful, there won’t be much to see at this time of year, but the restaurant and plant centre will be open. The garden is divided into “rooms” and much smaller than it looks on photos. I wouldn’t take young children as I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the garden fully. When the roses are in bloom it gets v busy. Next door to DA is Cosford RAF museum with more space, restaurant and is interesting. When I visit the garden in summer my husband goes to the museum leaving me in peace to enjoy the gardens and we meet up for food in DA restaurant.
Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.
@PeterAberdeen I wouldn't let those bluebells get in my way.. I think they could be dealt with easily enough.. I would just use a fork and dig out as much as I could, as I recall they come up quite easily but it's been a long time
I have found with the Spanish Bluebells that the bulbs tend to 'hide' under roots and stones, so not that easy to dig up and these ones are deep. I have a narrow bladed trowel that I can use - though Mum is advising trying weedkiller. This I do not want to do for the obvious reason, but also because I have read that bluebells are pretty bomb-proof to such action.
Thanks re the Princess Anne, I will certainly follow your advice. We are aware that containerising the 2 x Standards is maybe not a long term solution and I can always plant them into the garden at a later date, but for the next couple of years they may well make a beautiful vignette by the front door. The pots they are in are H70cm x W45cm x D45, so maybe borderline size as a permanent home?
@PeterAberdeen Those pots are a decent size, I think you could leave them in those for as long as you need to really.. a bit of topping up each year... they're going to look nice..
I have lots of those sort of bluebells, wild garlic and something else horrible with little white flowers in garden. I try to pull it out while weeding in spring, but over summer the ground is hard, and if see any foliage I just hoe it. They can no way come out in summer. Those have reduced over my efforts in last two years, so hopefully this approach is working.
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Somewhat related to this thread
I am from N Ireland and have young children (3yo and 1yo) so not easy for us to get over to the mainland or travel larger distances. We are having a family trip to the lake district in July and wondering if its worth making the journey down to David Austin Roses
About a 3 hour drive?
I haven't visited the DA garden but I don't think I would contemplate that sort of a journey with kids of that age to a destination that didn't end in the beach or something really fun for them. They won't be able to completely cut loose when they get out of the car, will they?
I wouldn't fancy that journey personally either, and I don't have young children... they are 3 hours from me too and I've never been there.. it just seems an awful lot of hassle, but only you can make that decision..
Some lovely gardens with roses close to where you'll be, like Lowther Castle near Penrith which has a rose garden designed by Dan Pearson.. or one near Windermere with lots of shrub and English roses..
Others a little further afield..
Not trying to put you off at all.. but here's a link to Great British Gardens, you can search by County if interested in this alternative.. otherwise have a great day out at David Austin's, I hear the cream tea is very good..
https://www.greatbritishgardens.co.uk/
I wouldn't let those bluebells get in my way.. I think they could be dealt with easily enough.. I would just use a fork and dig out as much as I could, as I recall they come up quite easily but it's been a long time.. I might leave some nearest the trunk, in fact I might leave them all until they've finished flowering, then do the deed.. they do look quite nice for about a week..
Your Princess Anne roses look already pruned quite well, I would just snip off any dead end tips back to a clean shoot, about half inch above, otherwise not too much to be done there.. I'd want to leave a nice head of stems on those at this stage..
Feed later this month and mulch after.. others may advise differently on these issues..
Those pots are a decent size, I think you could leave them in those for as long as you need to really.. a bit of topping up each year... they're going to look nice..