Moors Meadow Open Gardens and Nursery - Bromyard

This Month

This Month January 2025 - Wednesday, 01 Jan 2025

It has been a very busy end to the year in the garden and was made harder due to the storms. Several dead Holly trees came down out of a hedge and brought down some Hawthorn and wild Rose. I wanted them out anyway but hadn’t so far done it as I was concerned about them coming down on my Viburnum arboreum but happily it was missed by a whisker as the whole bundle fell onto a path. Just a short time before we had spent a day clearing that same area of dead Damson and reducing some live but leaning Holly trees. The reason I decided to shorten these Hollies now was if they needed work as they got larger it may then be difficult to take down without damaging special plants. The area does look more appealing and I have space to put in a small tree such as a Sorbus plus one or two shrubs.
In the upper garden a very big Eucalyptus came down but I wasn’t in the least surprised. The tough 2010/11 winter knocked it hard and although some of it continued to look good a large wedge of the trunk rotted and the foliage only came back on one side of the tree. I thought about taking it out back then but knew it would be quite unpredictable with no guarantee that it wouldn’t result in a lot of damage to surrounding trees and shrubs. Over the years several small branches came down without problems. I was very relieved with the direction the tree fell as it only fell on shrubs which I think will all grow back well. It has flattened an Olearia macrodonta which I am not pruning until early spring in case we have severe frosts which could finish it off.
There were other large branches down and many small branches which is an ongoing task to clear as I work around each area doing the pruning but due to the storm damage I am behind with the regular jobs, fingers crossed it will all get done.
I have been planting bulbs, I got a large box full in the end of season sale. Many are around the Oak circle, such as Erythronium, Scilla and Crocus, but they are also in a lot of other places around the garden. The Narcissus are mostly planted in the Fernery with some in the damson patch. I bought several different varieties of Muscari and am trying them in several different places.
I decided to take out another Bramley apple tree to save on the time it takes to prune every year. It would have been easy if not for the large Honeysuckle which was covering it, that took a lot of clearing away. Already in it’s place is a Betula ermanii Mt Zao Purple. Whilst doing other apple pruning nearby I noticed that another apple is getting more dead branches and it is doubtful it will survive much longer, maybe that was the reason for it’s heavy crop of apples this year, putting its energy into a last burst of fruiting. It is supporting a small, red-flowered, honeysuckle so my inclination is to remove the Apple and in its place plant three white-stemmed Birch with the Honeysuckle on a frame between them.
Wishing you all a very happy healthy 2025.

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