Tag: Kew
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The Palm House (Week 10, Monday)
We had a tour of the Palm House today, one of the few remaining greenhouses that were built with wrought iron, a revolutionary technique of its time, thanks to which the arcs of metal could span more distance. It dates back to the 1840s, and sits next to the later Waterlily House that is managed…
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Watering with a bowser (Week 9, Tuesday)
Today I was trained in using a watering bowser, and then set off with a map of the gardens and a list of the recently planted trees to water. We only water those small trees that need to establish, generally the ones planted in the last two years. I simply loved the experience, for two…
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Ethically bound (Week 8, Friday and Week 9, Monday)
Today, after a bit of tractor practice, which involved removing a trailer with a flat tire and getting a sound one instead, I spent the rest of the day clearing bindweed from around some Pyracantha and Physocarpus shrubs. Growing bindweed on canes The accepted way of getting rid of established bindweed is to make it…
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Look who’s driving a tractor! (Week 7, Friday)
And, finally, this was the day I had been waiting for for nearly 2 months: I was thought how to drive a tractor! Despite sitting in a pool of water that the waterproofs did not manage to keep out, this was really really enjoyable and I was so impressed how maneuverable it is, much more…
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Rubus crataegifolius (Week 7, Wednesday)
To anyone that has ever seen a Crataegus, this must be a mistery. Why this Rubus is called crataegifolius (with leaves like Crataegus), I mean. No similarity whatsoever to a Crataegus (not that this is an isolated mystery case: have you ever seen a Spiraea betulifolia?). Anyway, if anything the palmatifid leaves with bidentate margins resemble…
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Cloud pruning (Week 7, Monday)
This morning we were shown the very basics of how to cloud-prune a conifer, a Pinus nigra to be precise, in the Japanese gateway. Cloud pruning is in fact a Japanese technique of topiary that is used on garden trees and bonsai: it is so called because the branches look like clouds with their rounded…
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Back in the beds (Week 6, Friday)
We have had so much to do with the Smyrnium first and filling the pits left by the Nash sculptures that it felt like we had not seen the South Canal Beds for ages. Rubus allegheniensis Being back to our collection, working in our beds. felt really good this morning, despite the fact I was…
About Me
M.Paola Andreoni
I got the first allotment in 2007 (in the UK) and started growing my own food for the first time. Learning as I went along was not enough, so I studied some horticulture. I am striving to abide by organic principles. Brexit gave me a new life in the Netherlands, and two new plots by a nature reserve.
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