Moors Meadow Open Gardens and Nursery - Bromyard

This Month

This Month February 2026 - Sunday, 01 Feb 2026

Where has January gone to. Unfortunately work was slowed by the damp weather along with unplanned jobs cropping up and needing immediate attention. One of these jobs was to take down a mature conifer which I noticed was leaning after a storm. Due to the angle we couldn’t choose which way it would fall but luckily most of it came down on a path with just a few branches being knocked off two trees. I also spotted a tall double trunked Paulownia (Foxglove Tree) with one of the trunks dead and in need of taking down. We intend to do that soon but it will be a tricky one trying to avoid other plants.
I have now reached the point where there are just a few pockets of pruning around the garden left to finish. As usual, clearing away is the more onerous job but I do try to keep up with it as I go. As I write this I am thinking about finding time tomorrow to clear after some heavy pruning in the lower garden. The work was ticking away nicely today and we hoped to be back up to the upper garden in time for an elevenses cuppa. That all changed when we decided to stop a few more minutes to take some dead branches off a fir by the sunken garden, by the time we did finish it was lunch time. I hoped it would be just a few small branches, however once we started I realised we would have to take off several rings of branches. It has left quite a different look to the area and opened it up a little more than I would like. Now I have to think carefully what I can put there so the long view is not too open but whatever it is does not block the view of the plants behind. I am tempted to put a small columnar tree on the opposite side of the path, and put a few small shrubs near the fir. The frost does roll down that area so it cannot be anything too exotic.
I have planted another 17 different Snowdrops near the Oak circle thus extending the snowdrop walk. I think I have about 90 varieties now. Some of them have great names such as Galanthus Hedgehog, Corkscrew and Spiky. Mostly I tried to choose ones which clump up quite quickly. The drifts all around the garden look great now especially alongside the opening Hellebores.
The job list for February is quite extensive, the largest herbaceous area still to cut back is the grass garden then there will be the more tender shrubs. I have doodled a new sculpture but I doubt that I will have time to make it.
We are still working on the water harvesting system. Unfortunately I need dry weather to complete it but hope there will be enough rain after it is finished to fill it.
I must try to remember to put pen and paper in my pocket to make a note of any gaps, I am sure I saw somewhere else where I could place a columnar tree but cannot remember where it was.
I have been booked to give several talks, the last one was local and I knew a lot of the audience which makes it more nerve wracking, at least my old school chums didn’t heckle me. Another regular nerve wracking event is answering garden phone-in questions on the radio. In some ways it is good as it stretches the brain to have to think quickly, I do usually have an answer but some questions are not always in my field of knowledge.

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