Gardens

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's Heart in the garden,
Than anywhere else on earth.

Whatever one's beliefs the walled garden at Logie is a peaceful but interesting place to visit.

At last, the Gardens at Logie have re-opened - on Thursday 21st June, 2012 - in time for the longest day.   They are open every day, even when the Steading is closed.

We closed the garden at the end of summer 2009 since when there has been fairly major relandscaping. Ronald Grant and his huge diggers shifted hundreds of tons of topsoil out onto the big lawn in front of Logie House so that he could shape the bed of the burn; he shifted tons of stone into the garden to give it some new structure. The burn that used to be piped under the garden now flows from one side to the other. Ewen Manson has built the most wonderful drystane dykes and bridges that already look as if they have been there for years. Gavin Dallmeyer has given wise help and advice from the start of the project through to the planting. We had to contend with the two challenging winters of 09/10 and 10/11 during which we were not able to do anything but gaze at the white landscape followed by wet unmanageable ground conditions - we had hoped to have been able to re-open in 2011 but that idea soon became unrealistic.

Well over 2,000 plants have been planted and it will take a year or so for them to thicken up and for the garden to mature. It is a very different place to how it was - it is calmer and more relaxed and, hopefully, more interesting - and we have taken the opportunity to plant lots of unusual plants in the various different conditions that have been created. Rockdust and mulch (compost, leafmould, woodchips) are helping the soil regain its natural balance after all the disturbance. There is still alot to do but maybe a garden is never really finished.

Every year new plants are sourced and trialled in the garden. Excellent fresh seed comes from Plant World Seeds, a nursery in Cornwall who specialize in 'different' plants many of which can cope with Scotland.  

As members of the Hardy Plant Society we are able to benefit from the extensive seed list from which we have grown many unusual plants.  The Hardy Plant Society has members all over the world - for Scottish members there is a very active Northern Group which has tallks and visits throughout the year, as well as producing interesting publications - it is well worth being a member.

Plant Heritage (also known as the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens) work hard to protect and conserve, grow, propagate, document and make available the amazing resource of garden plants that exists in the UK.  The main conservation vehicle is the National Plant Collections whereby individuals or organisations undertake to document, develop and preserve a comprehensive collection of one group of plants in trust for the future.  Most of the collections are based around a related group, for example a collection of oaks or daffodils. This allows the scheme to develop systematic coverage of cultivated plants in the United Kingdom.   Plant Heritage has local Groups who run activites and events for members across the country:  see Garmpian and Tayside for more information. Another organisation it is worth joining!

I do hope you will enjoy exploring the new layout and find plenty to see throughout the year - Panny Laing

January 2013

Another new year and it feels almost spring-like.  The exceptional mild weather is a bonus as we can work towards putting the garden properly to bed - there are still weeds to be hoiked out, perennials to be cut back and then, last of all, mulch to go on.  Every year we make leaf mould from, predominantly beech, leaves; we store it in big piles surrounded by fencing and it takes about 3 years to rot down.   Although it does not have a huge amount of nutrition to offer the soil, it helps the soil structure, suppresses the weeds and conserves moisture .... conserving moisture has not been a priority for the last couple of years but you never know what our weather might be this year!

February 2013

We have to keep reminding ourselves that it is still only February.  There are varous garden jobs that we do, by tradition, in March but it has been so wonderfully sunny (although Baltic at night) that we have been sorely tempted to try to get ahead of ourselves - so far we have resisted the temptation to cut back anything silver-leaved, or the penstemons.  Sweet peas were sown in root trainer pots on Valentine's Day, and the tatties are chitting in the greenhouse.  There are still parts of the garden that need to be weeded - the areas of permafrost are a challenge!  The Kiftsgate Rose needs to be cut back too - that is certainly a challenge.  There is a surprising amount of colour in the garden at this time of year - flowers on Viburnums, primroses, cyclamen and, of course, snowdrops.  Coloured stems on willows and Cornus - and astonishing purple buds on the birches.  Lots of harbingers of spring to lift the spirits.

March and April 2013

I don't know where March went but here we are in April and it feels more like November.  Very cold every night and then really quite warm on the sunny days.  Plants are amazing the way they can cope with temperatures down to -6 at night and up to 8 in the daytime .... and then back down again.  A few years ago when we had these sort of temperature swings some of the young growth on some species, particlularly Polygonatum, was badly affected and plants grew in a weird spiral formation.  We will have to wait and see if the same thing happens again.  We have been busy getting plants ready for the shop as we opened in time for Easter. One advantage of the cold spring is that plants like Corydalis solida are normally over by the time we open - this year they are looking just gorgeous.  Life is full of swings and roundabouts!