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...

Lawn Manicure...

On my last visit it was time to give some of the lawns a little manicure. The areas around the trees, which we plan to plant with a Buxus hedge circle this spring before we open for business, had become a little overgrown with weeds. There was only one thing to do. I got out the string, tape measure, spray paint and spade and made some 150cm circles around each of the trees. I took away several trailer loads of soil, along with the weeds. Now they are starting to look like the manicured lawns at Kew gardens...

Below: A horse Chestnut Tree with the newly received treatment. 

We will plant a circle of Buxus around each of the Horse Chestnuts, and then plant lots of bulbs inside the circle. For the weeping silver pears by the bluebell walk (top photo) we will plant purple irises within the circles.

Nymphaeum 2...

The Nymphaeum is coming along nicely. 

Above: Looking south towards the entrance.

Below: Looking north from the entrance.

We were lucky enough to find 7 of these carved stone benches to go around the hedging. But alas, have yet to find any Herms/Terms. If anyone knows where We might source some could they please let us know - it would be most appreciated.

Above: An example of one of the benches

As you can see, the hedge has grown about 8 feet in the last year...

Above: Last Spring

Below: This Spring

On our last visit to London we went back to Kew, as I wanted to take some photos of the Herms/Terms there. I had mentioned them in my previous blog, but was disappointed to find I hadn't any nice photos of them from our previous trip. So, here they are...

Kew Garden Rhizotron...

I was going through some photos We took at Kew last year, getting inspiration for the park, and came across some we took of their tree-top walk called 'The Rhizotron/Xstrata Walk'.

It is a 200m long walkway, designed by Marks Barfield, which takes you 60 feet up in the air to walk amongst the tree tops. 

It gives you some great views over Kew and London...

The view from the top is very different from the view at the bottom...