![]() |
||
|
Home | Garden Home | Dry Border | Betty's Border | Bog Area | Orchard | Photo Gallery | Rose Herb Lawn Veggie Flower | Wildflower Meadow | Wildlife Pond | Woodland Copse | Angel Garden |
||
|
HUDDLESTONE COTTAGE AND THE HAYLOFT GARDENS AT REDMAIN HOUSE c1690 |
||
|
When we purchased Redmain House in 1993 it was not just the house that needed to be completely refurbished, the garden, totalling around 3 acres, had not been touched. It had been used as a dumping ground. Ash and Sycamore trees had self-seeded everywhere and the dry stone walls were in a bad state of repair. The large field at the rear had been grazed by sheep and did not look in bad condition, but in its first year of non-grazing produced an enormous amount of weed. In particular thistle and dock. |
||
|
There was no alternative but to go around the 3 acres and remove them by hand. It was all I did that first year and it seemed to work as the following year there were very few that came back. However, I now had a problem with hogweed! Hundreds and hundreds of them appeared everywhere. As anyone will know hogweed has a long tap root, so digging them out was a long and difficult job and I simply could not do them all, so, of those I could not dig up I made sure to cut off the tops so they would not seed. |
It seemed like a good idea at the time (and it probably was) but it meant that the following year the taproot was twice as big and twice as difficult to get out! I just kept at it for the next couple of years and finally got them under control, but they continue to pop up from time to time so I am still vigilant about getting them out! |
|
Copyright © 2009 [Country Ayres]. All rights reserved. |
||