Welsh Country March-April 2017

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Most importantly, be inspired by visiting gardens with excellent displays. Maesfron Hall and Gardens at Trewern near Welshpool has sloping lawns planted with specimen trees such as an araucaria and a tulip tree with drifts of hundreds of daffodils beneath. The Georgian house is set in four acres of south facing gardens on the slopes of Moel-y-Golfa with panoramic views of Long Mountain. The owners, Derek and Monica Owen, have spent the last twenty three years restoring it and are long-standing openers for the NGS. A recent achievement is the planting of more daffodils around the castellated tower and curving path which leads to the fascinating shell grotto below. Beyond the tower are the walled kitchen garden and the two restored Victorian greenhouses. These NGS garden owners work all year to maintain and improve their gardens and have to be particularly vigilant about the safety and stability of steps and paths, something which the rest of us, perhaps too involved with our sowing and planting, should not neglect. But March is a hectic month with so much to do before the sap rises: if the soil is workable, now is the time for digging and planting, putting in new perennials and dividing big clumps to help renewal. Snowdrops can be moved while they are still in the green and winter flowering shrubs such as jasmine, mahonias and viburnums can be pruned. Coloured stemmed ones such as cornus can be cut back severely to encourage a repeat performance, as can summer shrubs such as lavatera and buddleja. Roses too can be pruned this month, especially if the buds have started to develop. Old fashioned and shrub roses need a fairly light trim, the large flowered hybrid teas respond to more drastic treatment. Look up your clematis as the pruning varies according to type. I find those with juicy shoots coming from low down can be ravaged by slugs and snails and won’t necessarily recover. So bring out your armoury-sharp gravel or eggshells, beer-traps, being beady-eyed and picking them off-whatever works for you. Summer annuals such as poppies, marigolds and petunias can be sown now if they have some protection. It’s best to wait until April if you want to grow them directly where they are to flower. Many of the gardeners who open for the NGS have collections of plants, some of them rarities, a specialism often springing from the nature of their gardens. At Oak Cottage in Welshpool, plantsman Tony Harvey is interested in alpines and has a special alpine house containing a collection of primulas including a primula marginata “Drake’s Form”, which came from the famous alpine grower David Sampson and which should be in flower in time for his opening. The garden, which is small and hidden in the centre of the town, is an inspiration for any gardener with limited space and sunshine. Several comments from his visitors’ book bear this out: “A wonderful revelation. Inspiring, beautiful and fascinating. Inspiring for a beginner; something to aim for.” And “Lots of ideas”. Shade-loving plants and ferns thrive but there is plenty of height too with a magnificent camellia now up to the roof and a garrya elliptica with a good display of catkins. An unusual tree is the evergreen trochodendron araloides about eight feet tall. Although it’s native to East Asia, Tony originally saw a specimen in Longwood Gardens, Philadelphia and determined to have one himself. Another feature is a version of the “Wardian case”, as used by the plant-hunters, which protects a collection of hepaticas. Hellebores thrive in this garden and there are many named varieties. Hellebores do well at Fraithwen, an open country garden, where Sydney Thomas, a keen plantswoman who says there is something of interest out in her garden every day of the year, also grows alpines. She is a member of the Alpine Society and has a collection of saxifrages in a raised well-drained bed. Trilliums, woodland plants with beautifully shaped flowers, are another speciality. If you are brave enough to grow them from seed Right: Wardian Case, Oak Cottage Below: Cherry Blossom, Woodlands Farm (autumn is the time), you’ll have to wait six years for them to flower. Sydney has managed to germinate some but generally prefers to buy the plants and is now awaiting the flowers of a newly acquired “assorted” collection. In spring her garden is full of blossom from the fragrant bottlebrush flowers of the fothergilla to the showy flowers of chaenomeles. Because of the mild Pembrokeshire climate you’ll find early spring blossom at The Crystal Garden near St. David’s. In owner Sue Clark’s words: “With warm sunny weather at the beginning of April many flowering cherries, magnolias and late camellias 62 Mar-Apr 17
GARDENING will be in full bloom. The primroses and hellebores flower profusely for weeks and new tulips come out every day.” Cherries and magnolias can make wonderful focal points but are often avoided because of their size. The magnolia “soulangeanas” with their huge fragrant blooms poised like gigantic butterflies grow to twenty feet, but there are smaller specimens. “Stellata” is usually recommended but there are new compact varieties such as “Felix Jury” with enormous flowers, a height of five metres and spread of three. The range of cherry trees is vast but there’s something magical about a mass planting of white ones. Woodlands Farm in Gwent has a beautiful grouping as a foil to formal box hedging and topiary. At Abernant near Welshpool, if the weather gods have been kind, you might think yourself in Japan at Cherry Blossom Time. Here about thirty years ago and beyond their formal garden, John and Betty Gleave planted a cherry orchard of a hundred trees with masses of late flowering narcissi at their feet. A memorable sight in late April. As the spring days warm up and lengthen, the mixed planting of cottage gardens comes into its own. At Cartref near Arddleen, Stella Townsend has developed a charming one acre cottage garden with an emphasis on attracting wildlife. Winding paths link beds packed with perennials and vegetables, an ornamental pond and an excellent display of spring bulbs. Informal paths lead through woodland to superb wildlife ponds which are nurseries for dragon flies, newts, frogs and toads. In late spring they are bordered by yellow, blue and white irises and later on full of waterlilies. By late April garden centres are packed as, inspired by the growth around us, we are eager to transform our own plots and fill our tubs and hanging baskets. You may be feeling rather smug if you have grown your own plants! With your own garden well on its way and bright days ahead, it’s an ideal time to look further afield and see what others have been up to. By visiting the gardens open for the NGS you can see a wide range of plants, meet the people who have grown them and help the caring charities the NGS supports. U Words: Penny Davies Pictures: National Garden Scheme *To find more NGS gardens OPEN FOR CHARITY in March and April visit www.ngs.org.uk or pick up a free NGS booklet at your local library, tourist information or garden centre. GARDENS OPEN MARCH AND APRIL Sunday 19 th March, 16 th, 17 th & 30 th April, Monday 1 st May Oak Cottage, Welshpool, SY21 7JP 2 - 5pm - Adm £3.50 - Chd Free Sunday 9 th April Maesfron Hall and Gardens, Nr Welshpool, SY21 8EA 2 - 5pm - Adm £5 - Chd free Sunday 16 th & Monday 17 th April The Crystal Garden, Nr St Davids, SA62 6XT 1 - 5pm - Adm £3 - Chd Free Sunday 23 rd April Woodlands Farm, Penrhos, NP15 2LE 2 - 6pm - Comb Adm £6.50 - Chd Free Saturday 29 th and Sunday 30 th April Cartref, Nr Arddleen, SY22 6QL 1 - 4.30pm - Adm £3 - Chd free Sunday 30 th April Fraithwen, Tregynon, SY16 3EW 2 - 5pm - Adm £3.50 - Chd free Abernant, Garthmyl, SY15 6RZ Visitors welcome by arrangement from April - July 01686 640494 Arnant House, Nr Aberaeron, SA46 0HF Visitors welcome by arrangement from April - August Adm - £3.50 - Chd Free 01545 580083 Below: Cherry Orchard, Abernant Above: Spring colour, Cartref Below: Pondside Planting, Arnant House www.welshcountry.co.uk 63
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Mar-Apr 2017 • Issue 75 • £2.9
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ADDYSG BELLACH A ADDYSG UWCH CYRSIA
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NTS 35 HOT FROM THE KITCHEN - Chef
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WELSH CONNECTIONS white dove settle
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FISHING Changes made to Rod Licensi
Page 11 and 12: STORIES IN STONE I Never Did Do It
Page 13 and 14: STORIES IN STONE Butler gave varyin
Page 15 and 16: Walker’s Fact File Distance: 11 m
Page 17 and 18: WALKING WALES www.welshcountry.co.u
Page 19 and 20: BIODIVERSITY BIODIVERSITY Grayling
Page 21 and 22: THE RAVEN I scan across the beach,
Page 23 and 24: Compiled by Kath Rhodes The Bug Far
Page 25 and 26: Bim’s Kitchen, Flintshire Bim’s
Page 27 and 28: Preseli Gold Sausage Company, Pembs
Page 29 and 30: Welsh Brew Tea, Swansea Special ble
Page 31 and 32: WELSH KITCHEN Sweet Gem and Cod bra
Page 33 and 34: Welsh Country Your Countryside Maga
Page 35 and 36: Hot From The Kitchen Mary Ann Gilch
Page 37 and 38: Music GRUMPY OLD GEEZER A Bit of Bl
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Page 41 and 42: PICTORIAL WALES The Waxwing The wax
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Page 55 and 56: PUZZLES SUDOKU 1 2 Find the answers
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Page 59 and 60: Twr y Felin HBR St Davids Pembrokes
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The P arson & The P ublican THE PAR
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Mother's Day 26 th March 1 2 4 5 3
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1. Beauty Lift Milk from DHC (Boxed
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Coffee Break Try our puzzles to tes
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Stay Awhile Wales eat, sleep, drink
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Parc-Le-Breos House BG Parkmill, Go
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Glascoed S# Ciliau Aeron, Ceredigio
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Most importantly, be inspired by vi
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WELSH COUNTRY MARKETPLACE Travel &
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HOROSCOPES YOUR FORECAST FOR MARCH
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