July in the Garden
July in the Garden
Summer Days – Roses, Fruit and Heirloom Vegetables!
We have been enjoying the perfect combination of weather at last – rain at night and sun during the day (although the thunderstorm recently was a bit too much rain!).
The Walled Garden has benefitted from the moisture, and everything has taken on a new lease of life. The Herbaceous Borders are beginning to look their best after a slow start and the Roses are having a fantastic year. The new Cutting Garden is providing lovely posies for decorating the Castle and we have also have a limited number available for you from the Apple Shed, so do try to grab one as they are freshly made. Best day to buy is a Friday!
Our Kitchen Garden always generates a lot of interest and is certainly providing visitors with lots of questions. We will be harvesting our first potatoes soon and have already been harvesting Kohl Rabi, Broad Beans and Strawberries with the Peas nearly ready! Although Chef always gets first choice for the Castle Kitchens, we also sell our fresh produce the Apple Shed so keep a look out on our social media platforms which will inform you of when we have certain items available. We also donate excess to the Food Larder in Kelso.
Our tasks in Summer seem overwhelming – June/July is the month when as a gardener everything suddenly goes crazy – lots of deadheading, weeding, feeding, watering and general “editing” of the borders as plants that seemed so sedate in May suddenly turn into rampant thugs! (Here’s looking at you Nepeta Six Hills Giant!) We are also busy planning already for the next season – planting Autumn bulbs such as Colchicum and Nerines, sowing Pansies, Wallflowers and a selection of biennials such as Digitalis and Sweet William to name a few. We are also succession sowing vegetables to extend our season with Chard, Radishes and Carrots all being added to the beds alongside the Squashes, Courgette and Pumpkins which can now be planted out.
We are experimenting with some more unusual vegetables this year and ordered seeds from the Chelsea winner www.shegrowsveg.com – look out for the following which are all being sown this month: Celtuce or Asparagus Lettuce – grown for its stems and leaves; two types of Chicory – Rossa di Treviso Precoce – a gorgeous heirloom variety with pretty white and purple leaves and Rose of Venice which is truly beautiful and looks like a giant pink rose! Both improve in colour over the winter months. Finally, we are trialling one of the first autumn harvesting Broad Bean Luz de Otono and a monster Mangelwurzel named Mammoth Red which looks like a Harry Potter Screaming Mandrake!
If you want to have the opportunity to ask us more about our work here and have the place to yourself for a while, then please do join us on our next Exclusive Garden Tour on 16th July at 9am, Hosted by Assistant Head Gardener Kate McClorey – this is not to be missed!
