HIGHER MORWELL GARDEN DIARY
21st November 2016
The 50 yew bare-root saplings for the hedging on the
east side arrived this week, along with cold and wet
weather. The last of the cucumbers and courgettes
have been picked in the polytunnel, growth has
slowed right down now for winter. The big beech has
lost all its leaves and we’ve swept them up and
dumped them. The three magnolias will be next.
We were surprised at how big
the roots of the saplings
were, and unfortunately how
heavy the soil had become
with the recent rain. Two
parallel trenches were dug,
using a metre length of
batten to measure each
section as we moved along -
five plants per metre
staggered front to back.
There are enough plants left
over to plant a single row in
front of the fence seen in the
distance under the arch of the
cypress. Yew is fairly quick
growing but it will be a year or
three before we’ll need to
prune the top. We are hoping
that the farmer will remove
the brambles in the field,
when we can take the fence
panels away. That’s hopefully
before they blow away.
Mole activity! We’ve
tried solar-powered
sonic repellers but the
days are so short the
units can’t recharge.
When I force a
recharge I think our
mole does move away
a bit. Damage has been
really minimal so
maybe we just accept
the nice heaps of soft
earth and spread them
about the garden.
There’s evidence of
another mole near the
road at the front of the
house. Must be mole
season.