Terry Urban at Willowbrook...

The highly skilled NZ jade carver and photographer, Terry Urban, paid us a visit at Willowbrook the other week and took some photos of the gardens looking in quite a disarray...

The main project this Winter is to get the gardens in order for showing them off in Spring. They have been very neglected over the past year with study etc; but are now under going a spruce-up. We spent today trimming all the hedges - Peter driving the Range Rover along the hedge rows and I sticking out of the sun roof trimming the top 3 feet off the hedge with our new petrol hedgetrimmer. I'm sure it must have seemed a site to the neighbours.  

Above: Abandoned seats in the Potager 

Below: More of Terry Urban's Photography

Terry Urban's - Flickr Page

Now with the hedges trimmed we shall move onto weeding and mulching, as well as planting another 300 Hornbeam, planting 200 Alders and 100 Silver Birches, guying up the Olives, and shifting a fejoa hedge.

Good Friday...

ελωι ελωι λιμα σαβαχθανει

Original works of art entitled "Eloi Eloi Lama Sabachthani 1 & 2" (My God, My God, Why hast Thou foresaken me). Taken by me at The College of The Resurrection, Mirfield, Yorkshire during Holy Week 2005.

Vintage Memories...

I recently found this little tea caddy and thought that the picture on the front of the tin was familiar...

Peter in his prep school uniform, and the boy on the tea caddy. The resemblance is uncanny!

Wishing you all a week filled with joy, and perhaps some nostalgia.

A Willowbrook Winter...

The day starts off with a frosty morning...

But it soon clears up, and by the afternoon, the ducks are out and about paddling on the lake...

Above and Below: Our Indian Runner Ducks on the lake, with some wild Mallards.

By 4pm the sun is getting low in the sky, but it is still quite warm. The blue sky is a welcome sight after a few weeks of rain, as is the first flower of the 300 Iris bulbs we planted...


Below: The rowboat that I plan to restore (when I get enough time), and the jetty.
We have ordered the waterlilies for the lake, but they will not be ready until spring.

Across the park, over at the Lime walk...

Above: Diana and Apollo guard the entrance to The Lime Walk

Below: Another view out of the lime walk towards a focal point of established trees by the lake.
Just of of view on either side of this avenue are our Nuttery (right) and our Truffiere (left).

It is very hard to see the lime trees, but you can see the wooden boxes of mulch around them. The limes started off last winter as 6 inch sticks, and are now 3 foot sticks.

Below: A new urn, looking rather 'plonked' in the centre of the Nymphaeum, is waiting for the box hedge to establish itself around the wooden tulip bed upon which the urn is sitting...

Across the park again, this time to the potager...

Below: A photo of the hornbeam hedge in winter with the sun setting on its dried brown leaves. The leaves remain on all winter until they are pushed off by new growth in the spring.

The first of our Spring Bulbs are starting to come through...


Below: The first vegetables to sprout in The Potager (well, it is Winter after all), peas...

Below: The view through the arch from the potager into The Orchard,

towards where The Orangery will be (note the citrus trees in pots in the background).

The black polythene matting has been laid down, but we have yet to do the back-breaking work of barrowing the lime chip onto it to get that traditional continental garden path result.

Below: One of the Std Mandarins, 'Richards Special', in a pot on the site of the orangery.


The grass in the orchard is quite high, as it has been too wet to mow it (and a trial of sheep 'mowing' proved too dangerous for the smaller trees).

Just as the light starts to fade I spot some Bramleys in the Orchard...

With the pigs fed, the sheep shifted, and a job list as long as my arm still to complete, I head home for supper and bed.

I look forward to sharing the progress of the potager garden over the past 18 months in our next post - Potager Progress Part One.

An aside: My Artwork - One

Here is a small selection of my photography and photographic art that I have made.

All the images on this posting belong to me, If you would like to print or reproduce them, please contact me first: I have the larger quality originals available in most cases. Thanks, David.