Bucket List: Visiting Southern Englands Gardens

England is considered by many garden lovers to be the ultimate travel destination. In the south of the country, in particular, a wide variety of facilities await you: whether it's a colorful shrub garden, a large landscape park, Victorian kitchen gardens or house gardens laid out according to old plans. 


A Garden Trip Through Southern England
After arriving with the ferry at the white chalk cliffs of Dover, we travel to Great Dixter, THE experimental area of the garden writer Christopher Lloyd, who died in 2006.  To this day, his informal way of using plants is a role model for many garden planners.  Not only in England.

The next station is the garden of Parham in West Sussex.  The dimensions are impressive: the landscape park covers 354 hectares and even the walled ornamental and kitchen garden measures 1.6 hectares. Head Gardener is Tom Brown.  He manages the gardens organically, without chemical fertilizers or insecticides.

A 90-meter long pergola of wooden beams and limestone columns, lushly covered with climbing plants is one of the highlights of the West Dean garden. No less impressive is the Victorian kitchen garden designed by "Gardens Manager" Jim Buckland.

Even in England gardens are not always spacious and spectacular. At least at first glance. The garden of Highdown in Worthing in West Sussex seems almost modest.  But the fact that it was created at all is not self-evident.  The main protagonist in this garden is the lime subsoil. In some places, even the bare rock flashes out.  A challenge for head gardener Jo Hooper and her team.

Southwest of London, in the county of Hampshire, lies the estate of Upton Grey.  The garden bears the signature of one of the best-known British women in gardening circles: Gertrude Jekyll.  The fact that the garden from 1908 radiates its typical charm again today is the result of meticulous research, hard work and a lot of passion, which the owner Rosamund Wallinger invested over decades.
 "A garden between tradition and modernity".  How many times have you read this phrase in travel guides? In any case, too often.  But in the case of West Green House's garden, the description might fit.

At first glance, the Merriments nursery in East Sussex is nothing unusual for plant connoisseurs, offering trees, shrubs, and perennials.  The adjacent show garden, however, is worth a detour.  The owner and garden planner David Weeks has created a kind of "walk-in garden magazine" right next to the sales area, with living examples of plant combinations.

In the southeast of England, in the county of Kent, lies one of the most famous gardens in the country: Sissinghurst.  For many visitors the ideal image of a country house garden. Sissinghurst is the life's work of garden writer Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson.  In 1930 they bought the property - at that time more a ruin than an inviting residence.  For several years the couple repaired the buildings and laid out the magnificent garden.

Tresco Abbey Garden, Isles of Scilly
A bit further away are the sub-tropical gardens, hidden on the Isles of Scilly, built by Lord Proprietor Augustus Smith in 1834. The tropical garden is set in 17 acres and the warm climate and location on a hillside ensure unusual exotic plants from all over the world are in plenty.

There’s a wealth of gardens to visit across England that can offer inspiration for planting and designing your own backyard.  Enjoy your trip through Southern England Gardens!

Read more:
https://www.visitengland.com/short-breaks-england/english-gardens/selection-englands-best-gardens

https://www.gardensillustrated.com/gardens/25-of-the-best-english-gardens-to-visit/

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Dividing Iris Plants

In early summer, I drove from nursery to nursery to buy a certain color of bearded irises. But no luck! I assumed that I was too late - until one of the staff explained the real reason: the Iris Borer which had wiped out a huge part of the crop in many nurseries and the plant wholesale. 

It is a pest that carries bacterial soft rot into tubers, triggering infection with a strong unpleasant odor.  So, I decided to divide the Irises I had on hand. I hadn't done it for a couple of years.  Bearded irises and Siberian irises need to be divided periodically - every three to five years - to maintain a good flower production.

Dividing Iris Plants
Bearded irises are best divided in late summer, about six weeks after blossoming ceases, while Siberian irises need to be divided in spring just when the first small shoots show up.  First remove the upper half of all leaves, using pruners to cut through the thick foliage.  This reduces moisture stress.  Lift the clump, discard older rhizomes and discard tubers that are damaged, hollow or mushy.  Use a garden hose to spray soil debris off all the rhizomes and their roots.  Examine the rhizomes carefully for holes and signs of decay.  Replant the younger tubers 30 centimeters apart, to obtain vigorous stalks and flowers next season.

Don't Plant Too Deep!
Dig a hole for each transplant about 12 centimeters deep, with a mound of soil in the centre.  Compost, composted manure, and peat moss can be added to the soil if it needs renewing. Set the rhizome on the mound and allow its roots to hang down the sides. Fill in with soil, covering the roots entirely and halfway up the sides of the rhizome, leaving its top surface exposed. Covering over the top with more than two centimeters of soil would cause it to rot. Water the transplants in and keep the soil moist while they establish new roots.

See a short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkaO-mplU6M

How to Divide Siberian Irises
Siberian irises will cease flowering when they need to be divided, every three or four years. Clumps also grow from the center outward and give way to a "bald" center.

Siberian irises have thick, strong roots; you may need garden forks and elbow grease to separate the clumps.  Early spring is the best time to divide Siberian irises, just as the new foliage is pushing up through the soil. 

Lever the clump carefully with a garden spade, sliding the spade under the roots and lifting upward.  With your hands, try to separate the clump into sections along natural lines of division.  If the mass of rhizomes and roots is too strong to pull apart, use two garden forks inserted back to back in the center and lever it apart.

It is also possible to cut it in half with a blunt-nosed spade. Separate the clump into two or more sections, replant the sections 45 to 60 centimeters apart at the same level they were growing, then water them into their new hole.

Happy Gardening!

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A Gardeners Dream: Landhaus Ettenbühl

Traveling between Freiburg/Breisgau and Basel, Switzerland? Don't miss this hidden treasure for plant lovers, gourmets, and romantics. Just minutes from Hwy 3 or Hwy 5, south of Bad Bellingen-Hertingen, visitors and guests can enjoy lovely gardens, tea time and a wonderful restaurant or a picnic on the grounds.

Ettenbühl is not only a rose garden with immense varieties of roses, but also a 5-hectare landscape park with many distinct flowers, rare trees, forests, and shrubs.  There is always something new to discover in the twenty garden rooms - 365 days a year.  Enjoy English garden culture, but also stop by at the cozy restaurant for breakfast, lunch, brunch, coffee, and cake, or an original English tea time.
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Gardeners Brunches and Picnics
If you are in the area on September 15, September 22, or October 6 - and you like to have a leisurely brunch, make your reservations in time.  Official summer picnics are on September 9 and September 14.

They extended the Bed & Breakfast to ten rooms - and of course, there is also "Ettenbühl to take away".  At the rose and shrub nursery, you will find over 1000 varieties of roses and shrubs, and in the country house shop, are beautiful, practical and useful things for your home and gardening.  A large selection of roses and perennials can be purchased too.
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English Gardening School
The gardens of the Landhaus Ettenbühl, which are now over 40 years old, serve as an ideal and inspiring classroom.  The aim of these gardening classes is to bring visitors closer to the art of English gardening, both with its practical and artistic aspects.
Visitors are welcomed with tea or coffee and a croissant and are served a 3-course lunch with wine or other drinks.

Enjoy one of the loveliest gardens in Germany or maybe even Europe!

Info:
Hof Ettenbühl, 79415 Bad Bellingen-Hertingen, Germany
Rosen und Staudengärtnerei - ‎Englischer Garten
https://www.landhaus-ettenbuehl.de/ (German only)

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