Rylatts Gardening

Clematis Armandii is flowering well now! All slightly out of sight, have really high hopes for it covering the pergola quickly. It's sending out so many long shoots, will need to get up there and tie them in soon.

I've also planted rambling rector with it too... Two very vigorous climbers, my idea is for them to create a dense mat of growth above that'll hopefully deflect most of the rain and create a safe place for the birds! I'm planning on training the rambling rector along the back of the house connecting up to the other one on the shed.

Am I going to regret this, quite possibly! But that's what makes gardening interesting. Experimenting with plants that you probably shouldn't pair together!

Definitely a good year for toads in our garden! Look at all that toad spawn! Looking forward to watching the tadpoles grow. It's been a couple of years since we've had this amount, last year there was hardly any. Making up for it now!

Got around to sowing (seems weird saying that considering there is no soil) the mistletoe seeds today! Such a weird thing to do and so sticky!! The idea is to mimic how the birds transfer the seeds from the berries by wiping their beaks on the branches of the host tree leaving behind the seeds.

It doesn't grow on all trees but luckily I have multiple trees that it likes to grow on. So I've planted 50 in total on the following trees hawthorn, apple, crabapple and willow. Be interesting to see if any of them take. There is a high chance I will lose them as they can be eaten by the wildlife.

Mistletoe is hemiparasitic which means is does drawn nutrients from the host tree but this isn't a problem if it's a healthy tree.

They can be quite quick to root but it'll be 4-5 years before it produces harvestable mistletoe, I'm planting it as a food source for the birds though.

The kit comes with handy labels so I've tagged all the trees and logged when I've planted them.

Clematis armandii just coming into flower (tad early), excited to see how well this grows to cover the pergola. It's very vigorous so it shouldn't take long. Plenty of new growth even for this time of year!

New flowerbeds underway at home, plants are on order. Just go to relocate the plants that are already there, then mulch everywhere ready for planting!

The following is what I plan to plant:

Hydrangea paniculate limelight
Stipa tenuissima 'Ponytails'
Anemanthele lessoniana 'pheasant's tail grass'
Verbena hastata Blue Spires
Agastache Alabaster

Along with two
Betula utilis subsp. jacquemontii 'west himalayan birch'
To be grown as multi stem trees

Bit of willow weaving for one of my regular clients today, stakes are hazel cut onsite the rest is willow from my garden. The arch looks a bit small but In time it'll thicken up, this will be allowed to grow to hopefully help with how waterlogged the area gets. Also creates a climbing frame for sweet peas. (Need to join the tops of the second arch)

The mossy gatepost, lovely old galvanised gatepost camouflaged by nature.

Made good progress on the new flowerbeds today, edging for both of them is now complete. Looking forward to getting them both planted up!

The new BBQ area has been built too, saving a piece of old timber framing from a bonfire heap and reusing some galvanized roofing sheets to protect the hedge (which will soon come back from its haircut). Intending on buying an electric BBQ to move away from charcoal.

Thinking of putting some stacked wood behind the framing to make it more of a feature.

Just need to make a little brick step then we're done.

That's the willow tamed for another year! I didn't weave too much back in this time around, what is there is really starting to thicken up. This means about 90% of last year's growth has been cut off, my garden is now covered with hundreds of willow whips....

I've got some small willow fences planned in our garden but will have lots leftover, so if anyone wants any let me know!

Quite the creative day at work today, minus the fact my first job was the yearly cattle grid clear out... Cutting back the main three roses, inspired by others to make them into these sculptures. Looking forward to seeing how they perform when they get growing. Happy how they turned out for a first attempt.

Ended the day creating a plant support for hydrangea Annabelle, the owners and I have talked before about getting some supports in place for them. Metal supports can get expensive when you have 12 plants! As they have hazel and birch on the grounds thought it was a no-brainer to create one. Not tried making them before but it should work well.

Lovely to see the snowdrops are starting to show their heads. This picture was from a week ago, looking forward to seeing them tomorrow.

Yesterday we said goodbye to our Millie, nearly made it to 19 the little trooper! It's definitely been very weird not having the little trip hazard around. She will be very much missed but what a good old age!

Had a little helper following me around at work today. Every time I looked up this little face was staring back at me. Always lovely to work alongside the wildlife.

Rainy days means hiding in the greenhouse at home, getting all the potting up done. Now I have no space for seedlings.... I think I might have to build some shelves!

Sneak peak of the new flowerbed edging, got lots of tidying up to get on with now. Also new BBQ area to be built!

Creating a new flowerbed in our garden, going to have a woven willow edge to it. Trying out removing the bottom half of the willow bark on the uprights to try to stop them from growing. Thought about also using copper nails but seems that might be a myth?

Been tempted to buy a hori hori knife for a while now, so surprised to get one for Christmas! Come in handy stripping the bark off!
hq

Always nice to see that something's been eating the rose hips on the rambling rector. Thinking a mouse, been having a feast by the looks of it!

So many childhood memories down at the Devil's chimney, glad we paid a visit there last year. Such a shame to lose such a lovely landmark on the Isle of Wight.

Frosty one this morning! Hopefully the Echiums survive this year 🤞

In a corner of the garden that nobody ever goes too, found this Acorn impaled on the barb wire, the chances of that happening....

Nature is truly amazing!

Spotted this huge Parasol mushroom while at work today, could see it a mile off it was massive!

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Can't beat the way the light hits the leaves this time of year!

Time to start taming the willow in our garden, starting with the arch. I normally weave most of it back in but this year I've cut it all off, this should promote more shoots next year.

I've used some of the willow whips to create a structure connecting to the house, this is to make more privacy from an overlooking window. Also there is a rambling rector rose that I'm guiding along which I will eventually allow to do its own thing engulfing the arch and climbing up the house.

Suppose there is some good that's come from all this wet and mild weather. Lots of interesting mushrooms! The first one doesn't even look real it's that perfect, I think it's a Fly Agaric. Commonly found under birch trees, which is where this one was!

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Love the autumnal colours of the willow, not too many leaves left. Sure this storm that's going to hit us Thursday will soon get rid of them!

Then it'll be time to weave and cut some to create some new structures.

Sure there will be more pictures to come!

Rainy days means getting the waders out! Finally got the opportunity to sort this pond out. The iris go absolutely crazy in here, the ponds are fed by a spring so we're guessing it takes all the nutrients first before going onto the next pond, hence the crazy growth!

It was a complete mass of roots, so I had to cut manageable lumps to lift up onto the sides. It'll all get put on the compost heap once all the creatures have returned to the pond.

Looking forward to seeing how clear it is next time I'm there.

After looking at the forecast for this week I decided to finally get some waders! Been meaning to sort out these ponds for years (probably about 5 years 🤣) the water lilies had create one huge mat, so I've taken them all out and divided them ready to be planted back in again.

This was the easier pond out of the two, the next one is an identical size, but absolutely swamped with Iris... they are both connected by a pipe underground and fed by a natural spring.

Good thing to note if you have fish in your ponds, don't cut the Iris root as it leaches into the water and kills the fish! The worst thing is you can't see it happening!

This is why the next pond is going to be a pain, going to have to block up the connecting pipe and pump the water out to remove the iris.

Also it's always best to leave anything you take from the pond on the side to allow the wildlife to get back to the water. This will all be going on the compost when I'm back there in a week's time.

Our fig tree has gone crazy this year! I only really grow it for the leaves but... this is its second crop of figs! And there are absolutely loads of them, they aren't far off being ripe. But it's cutting it close!

Liking the colour combo going on in our flowerbed with the Salvia Amistad & Crocosmia George Davison. Completely forgot about this Crocosmia, it's the first time it's flowered in years!

All the Salvias are ones I grew from cuttings, as I find this variety generally doesn't survive the winter here.

Lovely to be invited back to have a look how the planting has established! It's amazing how quickly it all starts to fill in.

Hats off to for the brains behind it all!

If it looks like this now, think how good it's going to look this time next year!