On the way to £1000 raised.

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We had one coach party 3rd week of june and the open weekend, 2nd and 3rd of July. and so far we have raised a cool £850 for the NGS.

Humph got his eyes, and he was commented on quite a lot, some folk thought he was an elephant, others said he was a hedgehog, but it was all the kids said he was a giant. So well done kids.

The OM was very proud of his gunnera growing in the peat bog, amongst all the wild flowers and grasses.

The first impression of the field as folk drove in to park. Mind you the dogs weren’t about on the day. they were all asleep in my landy.

All my ducks played peek a boo with the visitors. a couple of them jumping out at folk regularly, But at least they caused some laughs.

The pond is down by a good 3’ this summer, but now Wimbledon is over, the local water bottling co. will slow down on the removal of the water. But then I don’t mind, my ducks have peed in their bottles. :-)

The woods fascinated folk by the wildlife and insects buzzing away. A lot of folk were interested to see the Red Kite and Buzzards using the trees as look out posts.

The borders all behaved themselves. A few weeds were evident, but I had put signs up explaining the probs, and actually most were pleased to see that imperfection looks just as lovely.

The formal garden had its problems too, but it still looked tidy. and most of the roses were blooming.

The manicured weed ridden lawn looked better than on the pics. And the sun shining helped enormously to make it all look good.

The plant that I have promised to propagate for next years open days, is the Morina longifolia, everyone admired it.

Another plant I have to get the seeds from for next year is this awful Potentilla, I love it when it first opens but then as it matures it takes on the yellowy colour.

And the other plant that got a lot of attention was my grey / acid green hydrangea. Other blooms on the shrub are blue or lilac / acid. But as I pointed out, it probably wouldn’t be that colur planted anywhere else.

Quite a few folk asked about the veg plot

But even more asked about the veg growing in the ton bags in my polyt. They were fascinated by the way I grow sweetcorn (forground) and popcorn (top right).

And finally the pergola we erected for shade or shelter. We placed across the top of the drive. Everyone sat around the various benches and tables dotted near the drive, for their choice of multiple refreshments. I have 3 great friends who helped out with the serving side of things. So the open weekend went with a real smooth operation. And my stepdad was on hand to chat to the welsh in their native tongue.

We have another small party tomorrow and another at the end of July, with more bookings possible.
So all in all, a good time was had by all, no hiccups or complaints this year…………. The only complaint I ever had was some chap stretched out his arm and scratched it on a rose. His wife thought I ought to remove all the thorns !!!!!! ;-)
I love doing the NGS. Not only like other gardeners, get great comments about our place, but also raising the money for the charities. And although it’s tiring doing the cooking, work up to and on the days, it’s worth the feeling of happy knackeredness.

• 7 Jul, 2011
• 6 likes

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