The two gardens

In the photo above we can see different experiments in weed control, the first is straw mulching, the second a plastic cover, the third parce has been ploughed and a false sowing will be done in spring.

These two photos are of the future botanical garden.

The two future gardens are very different, which will give the students involved a good chance to experiment with different planting methods and choices of plants, taking into consideration the needs of the plant, differences in soil, exposition etc.

The future botanical garden faces south-east, has a dry, poor, sandy, well-draining, acid (PH of around 5.5) soil. It already has the form of a garden, as it has been Cathy's vegetable and herb garden since 2004 and contains neary 70 different herbs, a good begining for a botanic, herbal garden. The aim will be to re-structure, re-plant and add to the exisiting garden.

For the second garden we will be starting from scratch, at the moment it is a lovely field surrounded by wild hedge-grow on one side and a stream on the other, the soil is rich and humid. The aim to begin with for this garden is to use a small piece of the available land for planting and concentrate on vegetable growing and experimenting with different plants.