Willow fedge weaving, a tv star in the family and the first flowers

Into my second week back and its all about getting the willow fedge woven now the weather has defrosted. This year I am reducing the height on some areas of the fedge, cutting out older wood to encourage sprouting lower down and improving the structure.  This takes a wee bit longer, but worth doing in the long run. This year all the off cuts and dead wood will go into our new dead hedge behind the office instead of being burnt, another step in our continuing efforts to be as ecologically sound as we can be. We had two successful fedge weaving workshops, the weather was ok and everyone enjoyed learning a new skill. Isabel came in too and enjoyed getting on with a section of willow and adding to her growing gardener skills.

You can read about our dead hedge in my blog here: Creating a Dead hedge

You can also read my blog about willow here: Plant Profiles - Willow

Last year my youngest lad Dan was asked to repair a model of the Falkirk wheel on the Repair shop on the road tv programme. At last this week we were able to see his programme and he was fantastic. I've been very blessed with my three boys and its wonderful to see them become the wonderful men they are. They are all individual and talented in different ways. Seeing Dan on tv in his engineering element was wonderful, so proud of him

Winter is a great time to clean, fix and oil your garden tools before you need them in the busy season. This is especially so for tools with blades (and includes lawnmowers, strimmer’s etc).

I got my Felco secateurs for my 18th birthday and they have been by my side for all of my working life, which means I've had them for 40 years in that time I've replaced the blade 5 times and the spring twice and now the bolt and nut that keeps them together. The coating on the handles is worn, but I love them the way they are. They've proved more reliable and trustworthy than a lot of people who have passed through my life! They get used almost every day, all day. It just proves investing money in good tools is worth it.

I strip them down using the tool that came with them, I've even managed not to lose that! Once in pieces they got a spray of oil and then a good scrub to get all the plant debris, rust and muck off. I leave them for a while with another spray of oil. After an hour or so I rub them down and put them back together, replacing the blade if needed. As well as longevity Felco are great because you can buy each piece individually on their website, so you don't have to replace the whole secateurs.

I have stitched up as much of the holster as I could, hoping to prolong its life a little longer. Cobblers thread and a large needle did the trick. Will they last another 40 years?.............will I?

Lovely sunrise this morning as I was leaving for work

Some randoms from January, half-way through the month already and pleased to get a full working week done now the weather has warmed a bit and the snow is gone, mind you a six day week, nothing like full on back to work lol. Any hoo, the first snow drop to flower greeted me this morning as I left for work, some kale from the garden for dinner, the writer in the hoose’s writing space (David Dodds Author) and sunrise on the way to work. I cut back a couple of branches of my contorted hazel in the front garden and put them in the big vase on the kitchen window, I love the structure of it and the shadows it created on the kitchen wall, it was perfect to hang the wee bird David gave me for Christmas.

Its easy when you've a very long to do list and a deadline in the garden to keep your head down and just work away, that's definitely me. Having spent the day in the lovely sunshine and not too cold weather getting another 30 feet of willow woven on the second side I ended the day catching up on a few small tasks. One of these was planting some winter aconites that had arrived in the post. Late I know for planting but they will sort themselves out and I might not get much of a display this year but in following years they will be fine.

Anyhoo I went to plant them in the woodland garden and was delighted to see some of my special snow drops coming into flower! They were in the company of Cyclamen coum, Anemone blanda and some very early primrose. I'm always so pleased when plants come back, grow and do well, but the primroses are especially so as I didn't plant them, they just arrived in the perfect place for them to grow, on the bank of the stream

Fragrant Friday - Hammamelis

Witch hazel has spicy fragrant, spider-like flowers on its bare branches in late winter to early spring. There are many cultivars with flowers ranging from deep red through bright orange to pale yellow. All Hamamelis will eventually grow into spreading shrubs, so perhaps not for a very small garden. Their autumn leaf colour is good, but in summer they need companions that can shine while they take a back seat. They grow best in sun or partial shade and are tough as old boots though slow to establish but worth it for those flowers in the dead of winter.

A lovely day spent with Jamie and Natasha talking wedding flowers, a chance to cook Sunday lunch and relax after a six day week. Roast pork (fantastic joint from Whitmuir Farm Shop) with rhubarb ketchup, peas and shallots and potato dauphinoise with caraway and pistachio cake with honey creme fraiche.

First round up post of 2026 and great to get a full week in the nursery, after a very cold snowy start last week. We are getting on with the willow fedge weaving and another couple of days should see it finished. Big thanks to Isabel and everyone who came along to our two willow fedge workshops. This year we have been reducing the height in some parts of the fedge and thining out some of the more enthusiastic areas! This involved a saw and removing what looked like small trees, this will encourage new growth lower down at a useable height and thicken up thinner areas. It did feel quite startling to remove such large branches but it will benefit the fedge in the long run and fear not all the willow cut out is being added to our new dead hedge, as always recycling as much as we can

It’s reassuring to see the first flowers appearing in the nursery gardens, it’s a great part of what keeps us gardeners going, hope, planning and these wee gems brightening the dullest of winter days. Once the willow fedge is woven its on to the next big task working towards re-opening on 7th March for our 2026 season

I’d also like to say hello and a huge welcome to all our new followers who have joined the page over winter. I hope you will find garden and plant inspiration along the way with us as we show what can be grown in very often challenging garden conditions here in the Scottish borders in our nursery and gardens. Its not all pretty flowers of course and we like to keep it real with the highs and lows of gardening and a laugh along the way

We have a very informative website quercus Garden Plants where we also have our stock list and lots of garden information and more about the nursery, you can also find us on instagram and Tik Tok.

#seeds #seedorders #seedsowing #gardentherapy #gardenplanning #organicseeds #tamarseeds #chilternseeds #growild #heritageseeds #gardenorganic #seasonaldisplay #embracingtheseasons #aseasonalyear #joyfulgardenmoments #scottishgardens #gardeningontheedge #quercusgardenplants #scottishplantnursery #independentplantnursery #gardeninspiration #gardenideas #scottishgrown #garden_style #inmygardentoday

#rural #countrylife #countryliving #cottagelife #antiquecottagescenes #interiors #scottishborders #independantretailer #smallbusiness #localbusiness #independantplantnursery #uniqueplantnursery #hardyscottishplants #scottishgarden #gardeningontheedge #scottishborders #lifestyleblog #gardenblog

 If you to see what's new and looking good at the nursery like our Facebook

  Quercus Garden Plants

Find out more about the nursery here - our web site: www.quercusgardenplants.co.uk

Follow us on Instagram quirkybirdgardener and Quercus Garden Plants