Moors Meadow Open Gardens and Nursery - Bromyard

This Month

This Month February 2025 - Friday, 31 Jan 2025

I am so excited to see my new different varieties of Galanthus coming up. I have been trying to hold back from getting more this year in case my Snowdrop walk around the Oak circle was not as successful as I hoped. However one wet day I was browsing snowdrop nurseries and ‘accidentally’ ordered several more varieties, I am not sure exactly where they will be planted. I have been planting many more bulbs and ferns in the same area and am getting to the point where it is difficult to find space for more there.
I do have gaps around the garden and have bought a few plants to start filling them, however I have eight new Acers which need to be planted and at present I only know for definite where one of them will go, I am sure I knew when I bought them. Perhaps I will plant the Rhododendrons and Camellias where I know I want them and see what spaces are left. It is easier to shoe-horn the small Acers in, such as A. palmatum Metamorphosa and Acer Little Princess but A. pal Amagi Shigwe and Acer Katsura may grow to three times their height.
I am still doing the pruning which is taking longer than I hoped due to the weather and my back playing up. A few days ago we took down a large dead Birch which was a tricky one as there was limited space it could fall without causing damage but with the help of a friend who is excellent at such jobs it came down perfectly in the right place. We did take the branches off first so it wouldn’t tangle in anything else. As long as the storms do not cause any more damage I think that is the major tree work completed. That is apart from moving the wood and sawing and splitting it, we have done some but I do not want to damage the paths as they are too moist and would get churned up too much at the moment.
It took quite a while to cut the old Hellebore leaves off, I had intended to do the job earlier but time disappeared. Each day more flower stems are pushing up and flowers opening. I am sure I may have missed a few clumps as there are so many around the garden.
I complete one area of pruning and stand back feeling how well I have got on but then turn to see another area waiting for my attention. I do hope the bulk of it can be completed this month but there always seems something dragging my attention in a different direction, it has not been helped by the storm damage.
I must get on with some planting out and will set myself to do that, one of my favourite jobs, but for now I want to see the pruning out of the way and some of the small branches lying around from the windy days still needs clearing. As I work around the garden it cheers me to see the early flowering shrubs bursting into bloom, for a few weeks there has been the sweet aroma of Sarcococca and Daphne. Now we have the Sycopsis and Parrottia with their small spider-like flowers with no petals but dark red stamen. Buds are swelling on other plants which give me a warm glow although it is still sometimes hard to get moving when I gaze out of the winter on a frosty morning.
Sales of my book are ticking over but there are still more available, I am told by those who have read it that it is good, I don’t know if they were just being polite but most have said it reads as if I am there talking to them which is good as that was my intention.
I must make time to update some of my presentations, I do like to keep them up to date as the garden evolves, I have some talks booked in soon.
I am looking forward to seeing how the year develops with becoming an RHS Partner garden, if that will change the visitor pattern. I do not get so many groups now as some garden clubs have a membership which are not so young and they feel nervous about managing to walk the hillside. As mum was still walking up the garden well into her nineties I don’t have a mental block with age, it’s just a number. Having said that, my joints are creaking a bit more lately.

Please Pick a link to view older articles