The Genus Garden

If you’ve been reading this blog for some time you will know that every few years we have to split our clumps of Iris when they become congested.  Flowering starts...

We felt as though the hand of Kenneth Grahame was at work this week at Genus HQ when the lawn was alive with tiny toadlets all migrating from the pond...

Wasps have had bad publicity over the years and with their appetite for our picnics and lovingly nurtured fruits they’re not the first visitor that we like to welcome into...

Over the years we’ve perfected the planting at Genus HQ to give us interest throughout most of the year.  Mid to late August can be a tough time to keep...

Almost exactly a year ago we were celebrating the fact that our horse chestnut trees had avoided the attention of the leaf mining moth Cameraria ohridella; in August last year...

For a long time now we’ve been great fans of the black Tuscan kale Cavalo nero or nero di Toscana as it’s also known.  With its dark glaucous leaves arching...

July can be a busy month in the garden and Genus HQ is no exception.  With a week in London exhibiting at the Hampton Court Flower Show we were already...

Things have been reaching a bit of a peak in the Genus vegetable garden in recent weeks.  Last month the strawberries cropped well and are now delivering the odd bonus...

Rozanne has started to be a problem recently.  She’s a bit of a bully, is always after attention, and doesn’t let anyone else join in.  Rozanne of coure is the...

A few years ago we started a small nuttery behind the showroom at Genus HQ. The trees we planted - a selection of hazelnuts and filberts - included ‘Corabel’, ‘Halls...

Our vegetable nursery bed is needed for other things so we decided to transplant our Musselburgh leeks into their permanent home.  With the help of a hand fork we eased them...

Planted about five years ago, our hornbeam hedge that runs parallel with the farm track was looking decidedly straggly last week.  Luckily growth on the northern side is far less...

We spent some time in the  borders this week at Genus HQ removing old wallflower plants along with the spent stems of tulips that gave us such a good show...

Putting aside all the planning, head scratching, and procrastinating, it's the small unplanned surprises that often give us the most satisfaction.  It’s interesting and remarkable how an unexpected event will...

Our orchard lawn at Genus HQ is a wonderful matrix of all sorts of grasses and wildflowers including clover, dandelion, speedwell, and cowslips.  In contrast we like to keep the...

Our tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers that were moved into 2 litre pots just a few weeks ago have enjoyed the warm conditions that the greenhouse affords, putting on impressive growth...

Six or seven weeks ago we sowed our brassicas into a nursery bed - their temporary lodgings until they reached a suitable size for transplanting.  Cavalo Nero, purple sprouting, Romanesco...

Last year's wet spring followed by a mild summer led to incredibly enthusiastic growth from the plants in the garden at Genus HQ.  Many normally well behaved perennials grew above...

An early morning wander through the woodland garden at Genus HQ is joy at this time of year.  No sooner are the spring bulbs dying back than the shrubs -...

Sometimes sheer curiosity takes over and leads us down several (metaphorical) garden paths.  Several weeks ago we wrote about the cherry trees at Genus HQ and hand in hand with...

With beautiful bright conditions in the Genus garden we spent some time in the greenhouse sowing a selection of seeds.  One of them, canary creeper, is an annual climber related...