Holly and Ivy...

Holly and Ivy  have long been associated with Christmas celebration, although their association with this time of the year predates Christmas, being used in Winter pagan celebrations. Holly symbolises truth, and its thorns have sometimes been associated with the thorny crown of Christ. Ivy symbolises strength and protection - something to cling to.

We have planted holly throughout Badger's wood, and will certainly plant holly bushes and ivy around the chapel along with the roses.

Above and below: Holly bushes / hedges at Kew Gardens, taken on previous trip.

Holly berries contain a xanthine compound similar to caffeine, which in small doses is a mild stimulant, but in larger doses can cause a variety of toxic symptoms. This is one of the reasons it seems to keep it's berries long after other trees have lost them to birds, although after a decent frost this compound is broken down a little and they become less toxic.

Here are two of my favourite arrangements of the traditional carol "The Holly and The Ivy", the first by Walford Davies...

and the second by June Nixon...

Potting Shed Progress...

Peter and my grandfather have been building the potting shed by themselves out of recycled materials, and they have almost finished. It looks amazing. They started off by building the base on tow-able skids. Then they built the framing for the walls...

The erected framing...

and then built the trusses in situ...

before putting on the galvanized roof ready for painting...

Next they put up the wooden cladding over the framing...

The rest of the cladding and the windows were put in this week... 

 More evidence of the drought. The large standard rose in front of the shed will bounce back we hope...

Soon it will be painted a lovely pale cream to match the Lutyens benches, with the door being painted a French Provence blue. We will complete it with ornate wrought iron ornamental Gothic hinges on the door.

The buxus is hanging on in there through the drought ready to be planted in the front entrance this winter, and also in the garden beds in front of the house and colonnade.

Meanwhile the Hibiscus seems to be thriving in the heat. This beautiful purple species is H. coelestrus. We are going to propagate another 6 plants from it this winter.

Update: Cyclone Lusi should put and end to the drought for now. I just hope it leaves the potting shed still standing!

Topiary...

Above: One of eight paintings of topiary at Hartwell House gardens. Sir Thomas Lee (1687-1749) of Hartwell commissioned the paintings from Balthasar Nebot, a little-known Spanish painter based in Covent Garden. They are a unique record of the country estate and garden at this time.

Topiary (from the latin topiarus (landscape gardener) is the horticultural art of creating living sculpture out of plants. The forms can range from the simple yet stylish geometric forms...

to the more fanciful animals and other subjects.

Once only trained hands crafted these masterpieces...

However, wire framing is often used nowadays to aid correct form and support both the plant and the budding topiarist.

Levens Hall

Levens Hall is a manor house in Cumbria. The first house on the site was a Pele tower built by the Redman family in around 1350, but most of the present building dates from the Elizabethan era, when the Bellingham family extended the house. They were responsible for the fine panelling and plasterwork in the main rooms. Further additions were made in the late 17th and early 19th centuries.



Levens is now owned by the Bagot family and is open to the public. It has a celebrated topiary garden, and also a deer park inhabited by fallow deer and goats.


The gardens are grade I listed and date from 1694. Through a combination of circumstance and love, the gardens have survived in their original design. The topiary is some of the oldest in the world and justifiably famous. The historic topiary garden also incorporates a small orchard of apple trees and medlars, a nuttery and herb garden, a bowling green, a rose garden, herbaceous borders and seasonal bedding.

Above: The Levens gardeners at work in 1950.

Below: Some of the Topiary designs found at Levens

More fanciful Topiary...

Below: Ladew Garden

Seeing the more outlandish topiary that some gardeners dream up (like the racing car above) puts me in mind of a sketch from the BBC comedy Little Britain, whose opening scenes showcase various lewd topiary designs...