Preparations for the Secret Gardens 2026

Although there are still a couple of months to go until the Secret Gardens of Oxton event 2026, our volunteers are already thinking ahead and are busy propagating plants for the stall which we run in the centre of the village.  Our team of gardening experts are on the lookout for potential perennial clumps which could be split as they are weeding the Long border.  Many keen gardeners start tidying up their own gardens at this time of year, assessing which plants may need dividing or moving around the garden.  Has this plant done well where it is? Has that plant spread too much and is encroaching on other nearby plants?  Perhaps you have your mind set on acquiring a new particular plant and need to make space for it? 

Plant donations are always well appreciated from the local community and help us to make the plant stall a success.  Each year we are unsure how many plants people will donate until literally the day of the event.  Some donations are dropped off a few days before, but many arrive early on the morning itself.  So please give us a thought as you prepare your gardens for the year ahead and pot up what you can for our plant stall.  A huge thank you in advance. 

  

Yet another Shrub bed transformed!

As you walk up the main path from the Storeton Road entrance, you see the Long Border on your right. Halfway up the path on your left is what we call the weeping Birch shrub bed, so called because of the two weeping Birch trees which are its main feature.  This area has caused us concern for some while as the Eleagnus had spread to such an extent that it had killed off the grass and shaded out other plants too. There was a lot of bindweed in the ground which was hard to reach and control properly.  The bed also contained many wild dogwood ( Cornus) which had sent suckers up and was also getting out of hand.

Once again our trusty duo Dave and Sian Turner, who had already worked to improve other shrubby areas, decided to take on the task.  With help from several other volunteers work began on cutting down and digging out many overgrown and unwanted  shrubs .  The aim was to open it up and give the two trees a chance to stand out.  Dogwoods with substantial root systems were carefully dug out and taken away.  The Eleagnus was chopped back drastically but will soon recover, albeit on a more modest scale. Some evergreens were removed as the plan was to introduce a selection of more choice shrubs once the clearing work was complete.  After all the digging was finished, Dave and Sian planned out the new shape of the shrub bed and turf was purchased  and carefully laid to create a smart edge to frame the newly designed area.

The new shrubs which have now been planted are as follows:-

Magnolia Stellata

Prunus Incisa Kojo-No-Mai

Winter Flowering Honeysuckle

x2 Skimmias

Sarcococca

Cornus Midwinter Fire

Hypericum

Many passers-by have already commented on the magnificent weeping birch trees which they had previously not noticed properly.  It will take time for all the new shrubs and magnolia to mature but it has been a mammoth undertaking to transform this area and now it will be much easier to keep on top of any weeds which will inevitably appear. We hope you agree that this work has been a huge improvement and special thanks go to  'Team Turner' for all their efforts and vision.

Planting more new roses.

 Each year we aim to improve the rose beds by planting bare root roses.  Some years we manage two phases, November and early March.  As you may already have read from previous posts, we are only planting roses using the cardboard box method.  This way of planting gives each rose its own fresh compost/topsoil mix, both within the box and directly outside of the box. Although the cardboard will disintegrate with time, using this method gives the roses the best possible chance to get established, free from any viruses which may be present in the rose bed from previous roses which have died.  It does appear to be a success, as evidence from other beds we have replanted indicates.

On Monday 9th March the gardening volunteers set to work planting up bed number 41 with eight new Rosa Hansa roses.  Compost/topsoil premixed had been delivered and with cardboard boxes and wheelbarrows to hand, as well as Rootgrow Myccorhizal Fungi granules, planting began.  These granules help the rose to establish a good root system faster than just planting alone. With the weather staying dry for once, all 8 roses were successfully planted during the morning.  This is one of the smaller beds so it wasn't  as much of a challenge for the team. Below you can see that this Hansa variety of rose is a lovely magenta colour with fragrance and also produces large rose hips in the Autumn which will be appreciated by wildlife as well as extending the season of interest. Hopefully, being a Rugosa species rose variety will also make it very resilient and long lived.