Spring news in the Abbey Gardens
Spring is definitely in the air here at Tresco Abbey Garden!
Last week we had some wonderful warm sunny days, which, back home in Ireland, would be classed as summer weather.
The garden has been open to visitors for the last few weeks, and it’s nice to see you trickling back in again. Over winter it was very quiet in the garden as we moved from one area to the next clearing the borders and beds, preparing them for planting. It was great to finally start planting them up last week!
This month will see the start of the cruise ships arriving at Tresco’s shores and simultaneously the resumption of garden tours. As student gardeners, we will be conducting some of these tours – hopefully my delivery will be stimulating and I won’t lose any of my group on the way around!
Weekend watering duty is looming around the corner, as the three garden students take turns to open glasshouses and water the plants on Saturdays and Sundays.
Elsewhere in the garden, we’re gravelling the footpaths and painting the blue bridge and benches.
Over the next few weeks we’ll be carrying out a major planting job at the island hotel site.
I caught up with Dave Inch in the nursery and Dave Hamilton in the vegetable garden this week.
Dave Inch is busy these days propagating cuttings of Osteospermum, Argyranthemum, Pelargonium and Euryops for plant sales. Soon he’ll be making up hanging baskets for the garden entrance and the Abbey.
Dave Hamilton is busy with soil cultivation in the vegetable garden. The onions, garlic and shallots he planted in February are coming along nicely. Likewise the beetroot and spring onions are doing well and the carrots have just started germinating. He planted the first batch of broad beans today and has started hardening off another batch before planting them out too. He’s preparing to make his ‘Annual Avenue of Climbers’ where he’ll have an avenue of Sweet Peas and Runner Beans climbing up bamboo canes. In the glasshouse the tomatoes and cucumbers are ready for potting on, the rocket, lettuce and cabbage are all set to be planted in the polytunnel and the annuals Statice, Cosmos and Snap Dragon have been sown. He’s preparing the other polytunnel for the tomato and cucumber plants.
