Last week the weather was stormy, very wet and colder again. Nature likes to remind us it is only March in Scotland and wintery weather is still possible. On Thursday the weather was windy with a liberal sprinkling of sleet, snow and rain and the odd clear spell and glimpse of blue sky. Having officially launched our lockdown click and collect service I've been sorting out orders, processing payments and getting them ready for customers to collect. I've also been filling up the tables in the sales area in the hope we can open sometime soon. I've started tidying the borders on the top terrace, once these are done that will be the nursery gardens all tidied for the coming year until the weeds start growing again!
 |
Colourful healthy dinners this week, Beetroot, bean mash and grilled feta salad |
 |
| Harissa chicken noodles |
Heathers are now in stock and brightening up the entrance to the sales area. There are a variety of spring /summer flowering and autumn / winter flowering and lots of lovely foliage colour too. 1 litre pots £4.95 and 8cm pots £2.95. Great for the bees, containers or in the garden.
 |
| Flowers from David this week |
 |
| A not so subtle reminder winter isn't finished with us yet. I've had hail, rain, sleet and snow today. Brrrrrrrrr. |
On Saturday David was in helping and we replaced all the boards that run between the stock beds and the long stock bed border. These boards went in six years ago and were bits of wood we had lying about. They had moved out of line, were rotten and no longer up to the job. Now the new boards are longer, straighter and will last much longer. It looks so smart! We then topped the new border behind with compost form our compost bins. This will feed the new plants and also empty the bins. Which leads on to David's next job building a whole new set of industrial, robust compost bins that won't all apart any more. As you can see Bracken was making sure the job was done right until he got to cold and retreated back to the office heater.
On Sunday I finished the spring tidy up of the nursery gardens. I've spent the past few days working on the top terrace borders in between nursery work. Now I can get on with tidying the stock beds, propagating, potting and so much more
The borders on the top terrace frame the stock beds on three sides, following the contours of the terrace on one side and the fence on the other. Because we need as much space as possible for the stock beds, the borders are quite narrow. They are made up of collections of planting ideas which are listed on our website Nursery and gardens page. As with the rest of the nursery the soil on this terrace is very poor, claggy and wet, but there are many plants that cope with it quite happily as you will have seen if you've visited the nursery.
All in all considering the very low temperatures, weeks of snow and ice we have had so far this year I am pleased with the very limited plant loss in the gardens. Understandably the herb garden had the most casualties, but it always is an experimantal garden, mediteranean plants in cold wet soil at 850 feet above sea level........ I like a challenge.
 |
| Ajuga 'Caitlin's Giant' |
 |
| Crocus 'Pickwick' |
 |
| Sedum 'Karfunklestein' |
Mothers day gifts from my lovely boys and Bracken. They might not be here with me today but I am looking forward so much to when we can all be together again 
 |
| Iris 'Katherine Gold' |
 |
| Some cheery spring colour |
On Monday I spent most of the day in the polytunnel, I love the time I spend there, its like a whole other world, even though its only a thin layer of plastic separating me and the plants from the elements. I get a podcast on and completely lose track of time. Today I was continuing working through our alpine stock, tidying ready for coming out to the sales area and propagating those batches with low numbers. The plants look so much better with a feed, tidy and top dress of compost, another great before and after. I've also started taking plants back over to the nursery where they will get potted and put in the stock beds as those get tidied, ready for sale through summer. I've started sowing all the perennial seeds in I have accumulated (bought 
) over the past couple of months, I'm scared to count how many packets there are but I think it might be a couple of hundred 
but think of al those lovely new plant varieties that will be for sale in the next year or so 
) over the past couple of months, I'm scared to count how many packets there are but I think it might be a couple of hundred but think of al those lovely new plant varieties that will be for sale in the next year or so 
On our day off we went down to St Mary's loch again to finish off walking along the east side on the Southern Upland Way, this time from the other end. The weather was fab and it feels like spring has officially arrived as Bracken was out without his coat on 
Picnic on the "beach", a relaxing day off before back to work tomorrow to get everything ready for opening in 3 weeks, not that I haven't been working lol.
Picnic on the "beach", a relaxing day off before back to work tomorrow to get everything ready for opening in 3 weeks, not that I haven't been working lol.
 |
| Loch of the Lowes |
 |
| Bracken meets a frog |
 |
| Time for a picnic |
for our gin tonight I know this sounds daft but it was soooooooo lemony, seriously so much better than shop bought. We enjoyed some local gins, Biggar Gin and some Pentland Hills Gin. |
| Time to pick the first lemon |
We head into another week with the great news we can open back up again at the nursery on the 5th of April. We were so excited to hear today that garden centres and nurseries will be able to open in 3 weeks time. We will be open our usual days and hours Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm from Wednesday the 7th of April. How exciting!
We have lots to do but now have a date to work towards when we can unlock the gates and welcome our lovely supportive customers back 
The gardens will be even further on, with spring flowers and lots of new plants in the stock beds 
#rural #countrylife #countryliving #cottagelife #antiquecottagescenes #interiors #scottishborders #independantretailer #smallbusiness #localbusiness #independantplantnursery #uniqueplantnursery #hardyscottishplants #scottishgarden #gardeningontheedge #scottishborders
Find out what's been happening in our garden at home like our Facebook page
If you to see what's new and looking good at the nursery like our Facebook page
Find out more about the nursery here - our web site: www.quercusgardenplants.co.uk
Follow us on Instagram @quirkybirdgardener
All contents and photographs © Rona, unauthorised reproduction & use of these images is strictly forbidden, thank you
Comments
Post a Comment