May, the month and the memory of it that seemed to disappear into the thick fogs that arrived, the fogs that seem to cloud my mind as much as the landscape. I look back and think, did we get anything done? And then I remember, it’s a fog because we were doing so much in the garden whilst partaking in multiple workshops, fumbling over making my first garden reels for insta, celebrating Hugo’s birthday and then Mother’s Day and entertaining several lots of visitors for stays here at Moorfield, before it all blurred together and I struggled to recall any of it.
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN:
The 8 tonne excavator arrived and levelled the veg patch terrace, also home to what will be the cut flower garden and berry patch too…..and my long anticipated glasshouse, flatpacked on the driveway now for a year waiting for the conditions to be right for the terrace to be completed.
Perfectly flat, by the months end, we had mapped it all out on paper and string lined it up, decided we didn’t like it and that a few glasshouse dimensions were off and were throwing everything else out around it, redesigned it several more times (these versions are available within The Garden at Moorfield Journal: 20 and will also be available in The Vegetable Garden Guide: Part 2) before it began to look like what we wanted and string lined it all out once again. A painful and frustrating process but so important to get right. Especially having done this before at Little Oak and having a very clear vision in our minds as to the things we wanted to recreate again and the things we wanted to avoid.
WORKSHOPS:
All of us this feverish mapping and marking out of the veg garden came off the back of an epiphany had while at the most wonderful compost workshop put on by Spade and Trowel at her beautiful home in Geelong. Held up, we thought, by the need for the perfect sleepers to begin our much longed for veg garden, I realised I could just make the beds “lasagne style” whith composting paths. A technique we’d used at Little Oak in the development of the cottage garden. Why this had not occured to me before, I don’t know? My head a muddle of a thousand plans and jobs to do, I’d missed an entirely easy fix. It highlighted for me the importance of taking the time to step away from your own projects and learn from others. It truly breathed some clarity into my busied up brain.
The second workshop was a reels making workshop by Lady Jo. A necessary evil in the land of Instagram these days and while I really didn’t want to partake in the making of them, I realised it was mostly because I didn’t know what I was doing. After the workshop I felt a lot more confident but lacked a good phone for making them on though I gave it my best shot. With a new phone now in hand, look out those of you on our insta, they’re coming!
THE MEADOW AND MALUS GARDEN (MUM’S GARDEN) AND HOUSE:
With the arrival of the 8 tonne excavator to flatten the veg garden area, we were able to also tackle the huge pile of topsoil leftover in front of mum’s house and in the way of where we want to create the new Meadow and Malus Garden, the garden that sits between mum’s place and the homestead and between mum’s place and the rose garden and veg garden. For preliminary sketches and inspiration boards for this area, refer to The Garden at Moorfield Journal: 20 but I have begun final drawings for this area which will be part of an upcoming journal and soon, when the garden begins to take shape a Garden Guide referring specifically to this area.
THE ROSE GARDEN:
We purchased 17 more bareroot roses from various suppliers to be delivered in late winter to plug most of the gaps in the rose garden. Many more David Austin’s including new release DA’s whcih I am so excited about, as well as a number of Old Fashioned varieties, the odd Kordes. I have space for a few more for next season. The list of thenew roses is within the The Garden at Moorfield Journal: 21 and in the Garden Guide, The Rose Guide: Part 2 which includes our “Pruning for Healthy Roses” and “Pest and Disease Management: Without the use of Nasty Fungicides and Pesticides”, for those of you starting to think about your winter rose care regime, well, this is ours.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Power Poles! I tell you they have become the bain of my existence of late, having moved one that was going to make completing the garden impossible and then almost having the stay dragged across one of the best views Moorfield has to offer. If I had the money I would put the whole lot underground but as incredibly expensive as it is that won’t be happening so I will be designing the garden to detract from them. Currently I am living with the old one and the new one and due to hold ups in the process, this will not be changing until summer next year. For the full story of how i ended up practically blubbering to an excavator driver, visit The Garden at Moorfield Journal: 18.
Plant deliveries! We all love them and I got some beauties during the month of May including more wonderful bulbs from Red Earth, all now in the ground in the Long border as of the end of May. Details of that planting scheme will be available in the new Garden Guide, The Long Border Guide which I am currently developing but if you want to see the Spring Bulb Planting Guide and Map for the Long Border sooner it is part of the The Garden at Moorfield Journal: 18 also, as well as The Garden at Moorfield Journal: 20.
We also received some wonderful species from the lovely folk at Wychwood Garden & Nursery to go into the various garden areas, the rose garden and pool garden/dry garden areas too, lists of plants purchased available at The Garden at Moorfield Journal: 20.
Up Stumps and Stones! We also had the mother of all stumps removed in the north of the garden amongst the stand of Ash, of a tree that had been felled a long time ago but the stump left in and turned into an oddly positioned chair……and now we know why it would’ve been left as it was an absolute bastard to pull. It was a complete iceberg and what we could see on the surface completely belied what was beneath. It took an 8 tonne excavator a good chunk of time to remove but in doing so, the most exciting discovery of more solid stone footings for another old structure. It had already been too damaged at some previous time, perhaps when the structure was originally removed to salvage as it was so we pulled up all the stone and will reuse it in the outdoor kitchen or some other structure within the garden.
READING: Galah Press Issue 07 which had the most wonderful articles and pieces in it by @neilwrites , as well as a story about a mathmetician and John Glover’s former residence and property, including the most wonderful garden and more stunning garden articles. A fantastic read! Must renew my subscription again!
FOLLOWING: @solegardener and @fanaticalgardening
WATCHING: “Hidcote: A Garden for All Seasons” and “The Secret History of British Gardens” with Monty Don on BritBox.
BUYING: Apart from bareroot plants and bulbs, the most beautiful artwork for my mum for mother’s day called, “Late Summer Gardener” by Lorè Pemberton.
LISTENING TO: “Rich Pickings” Podcast over at The Gardening Mind by the wonderful
.MAKING: So many planting plans… for the Pool/Dry Garden pool borders, the Meadow and Malus Garden, as well as landscaping plans for '“The Front Garden” and “The Outdoor Kitchen” Stage 1.
PROPAGATING: From our Ligustrum undulatum hedge (the non-invasive species) to create new hedging plants for the Front Garden come spring. See The Garden at Moorfield Jounral: 22 for a “How to..”
Finally, thank you all for your patience on this May edition for The Month at Moorfield. It has been such a frantic end to May and start to June, in the very best way with wonderful visitors and trips away to Tassie but it put me behind. I hope you’ve enjoyed the update and I look forward to speaking to you all again at the end of June. Enjoy your first month of Winter, those of you with me in the Southern Hemisphere and your first month of Summer, in the Northern. Thank you as always for being here. Pip xo
That David Austin rose was spectacular.
Thanks, as all this activity had become a blur during May - progress!