Update from the Garden: January 2025

Posted on February 1st, 2025

Progress in the Unusual Fruit Garden

If you visited us in Summer 2024, you would have seen the borders in this garden were mostly engulfed by scaffolding!  While the scaffolders were excellent fellows and did their very best to avoid the plants, there was no chance of working in the borders while the work was going on above.  After the lovely daffodil display (which I hope will be repeated again this in April or May) the north facing border was unadorned.  The south facing border was also somewhat bashed about and all the climbers had to be cut back so the bricks could be accessed and repaired.  One of the main focuses for the garden in 2025 is to improve these borders following the completion of the work.

Historical Fruit

The plan for the north facing border includes the introduction of historically correct fruit trees where possible.  Thanks to a kind donation from the family of the late John Hobbs, former Chairman of Harlow Council who opened the garden back in 1984,  we were able to add some interesting fruit trees.  These include three fan trained Morello cherry trees, a variety that was popular in the 17th Century and suits the garden well and six step over apple trees in three varieties.  The stepover method of training results in a short stem and only two long branching arms which are trained along wires to produce a living fence which will also produce an abundance of fruit.  While some apples which were grown in the 17th Century are still in cultivation, these are less useful as tastes have changed and they tend not to suit our current palettes.

As the spring progresses, we will be adding flowering annuals and some vegetables into the border for colour and interest.

Winter interest in the Garden

Plants throughout the garden are starting to spring into growth.  Looking particularly good this year are the Hellebores in the Peace Garden and the snow drops in the Unusual Fruit Garden.  Thanks to our volunteers ongoing battle to remove the Iris foetidissima from the garden we now have some space to add more of these interesting winter flowering plants.  While the iris is a good plant in its place and carries coloured berries loved by the birds from late summer, it does tend to spread everywhere.  It can quickly dominate its space and elbow out more delicate and perhaps more beautiful specimens.

Other plants to come and enjoy at the moment are the Viburnum tinus in the white theme border which is flowering profusely and the Sarcococca growing throughout the garden which gives off such a powerful scent from its small flowers.

 

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