HIGHER MORWELL GARDEN DIARY 2021
30th January
These pages are a rolling diary of the changes
and events in the garden for the year 2021 in
words and pictures.
September to December
2nd September, this is a
branch on the new
maple planted in
December 2020. The
leaves are very spotty,
and this has been the
case for several other
trees. In some cases the
spots just fall out
leaving holes. We aren’t
sure but it may be a
symptom of the very
wet spells followed by
dry and warm that have
been a feature of the
2021 summer.
The canna, planted
last year after the
magnolia tree was
removed, is flowering
beautifully on 13th
September. We will cut
it back and cover it
again this year to
protect it from frost
when the time comes,
but try and avoid the
severe damage that
the leaves have
suffered from being
chewed while it was
under cover. It was
probably slugs, there
are so many of the
pests about this year.
The verbena that was
bought in error last
year has turned out to
be prolific and very
pretty. Lucky mistake!
The stipa giganteas have grown so successfully we’ve created a new grass bed, seen here on 16th
September. We have added another stipa and miscanthus senesis, both “Red Chief” and “Malepartus”.
The smaller grasses are carex “Blue Zinger”.
A tedious job every
year is cutting back
the hawthorn hedge,
and usually it inflicts
pain and suffering
too with those
vicious barbs it
grows. On 1st
October Adrian the
farmer was cutting
his hedges around
the field and gave us
a major helping
hand with his tractor
and cutter. We could
only dream of
getting it this neat
and square!
The 2021 chilli plants
outgrew the limited
space in the workshop
and have spent the last
three months on the
seats in the gin palace.
Seen on 14th October
they seem to have
thrived there,
protected from any
wind but westerly. The
alstroemerias have
grown a lot since we
finally received them
and also seem to
appreciate the
sheltered life on the
shelves! Slugs haven’t
found them yet.
The green banana
which survived an
outside winter has
rewarded us by
sprouting at least
three new babies.
Seen above on 17th
October is the largest
offspring.
Some years ago we
planted nerines in the
bed next to the gin
palace. The slugs loved
them and we lost sight
of them until this beauty
on the left popped up
next to the crocosmia
“Lucifer” on 10th
October. It will be
rehomed in a better
place.
We saw this Cercis
Canadensis “Rising
Sun” earlier in the year
at the Royal Duchy
Nursery in Lostwithiel.
A trip back there on
27th October and we
found it would (just)
fit in the car to come
back to Tavistock.
Planted the same day,
but then a couple of
days of gales saw most
of the leaves removed.
It is just about two
metres high so we
don’t have to wait
years for it to grow to
a good size!
A few more slightly
exotic plants are
planned to go here in
front of the potting
shed next year.
13th November and
the newest acer has
put on a good show of
red leaves. But in
common with other
plants in the garden
there is some
confusion about the
mild autumn and a
pair of new green
leaves have recently
emerged.
Also rather unusual is
the leaf fall from the
magnolia stellata, the
lower part of the
western side has
dropped all its leaves
but the rest of the
tree is just turning
yellow. Along with the
new birch Grayswood
Ghost these are about
the last deciduous
trees to shed their
leaves fully. Then the
leaf-collecting hoover
can be put away for
another year. Hooray!