by caroline | Jul 15, 2019 | Blog
The old proverb of ‘making hay’ kicks into gear come July, with tractors trundling up and down the fields and doing just that. It’s the time when some of the meadows at Forde Abbey are given their annual hair cut, but not all, as head gardener Joshua...
by caroline | Jul 8, 2019 | Blog
It’s time to say goodbye to the meadows and put them to bed until next year. Their texture and form has taken many stages through the season, and by July the tufted grasses are the colour of burnt sugar with a caramel brown tinge to them. There’s black grasses,...
by caroline | Jun 19, 2019 | Blog
There’s usually a gap in June, or so the theory goes, when the efforts of Spring have been and gone and Summer is yet to get going. But never has a ‘June dip’ been more frothy and abundant, a baton relay of hesperis and lunaria, alliums and foxgloves – each...
by caroline | Jun 17, 2019 | Blog
Barely had the kettle switch been flicked, and questions started flowing forth about Josh’s botanising in Armenia – what else would a plantaholic do whilst on holiday, after all, but study and take inspiration from flowers in the wild; taking notes on what...
by caroline | May 30, 2019 | Blog
Towards the end of May, a snaking pathway up through the rhododendrons on The Mount is lined with the boldest and most luminous of blues. The turn of the meconopsis poppies, a slice of the Himalayan wilds recreated on a hillside in Somerset. They seem to thrive under...
by caroline | Apr 24, 2019 | Blog
British oaks from the Forde Abbey estate could contribute towards the rebuilding of Notre Dame cathedral, following a joint effort from members of Historic Houses, the association for independently owned historic houses and gardens. So far more than one hundred donor...
by caroline | Mar 29, 2019 | Blog
Welcome to April at Forde Abbey…. With less than a week of undiluted sunshine and the garden has burst into life. From creamy cups to pink-tinged goblets, a full spectrum of magnolias and a canopy of blossom is in bloom. The tapestry of Spring bulbs won’t...
by caroline | Mar 18, 2019 | Blog
It feels like a tipping point in the season. A surge of energy gathering momentum. Pink-cheeked magnolias keeping company with stellata, more spools of ribbon blowing in the breeze, but Joshua Sparkes has already got his feet firmly planted in the next season. Not so...
by caroline | Mar 8, 2019 | Blog
Nature never stands still. Not for a moment. A restless twitching of energy framed by the seasons and textured by the very best of British weather in all it various humours, both light and dark. It’s what makes the mornings endlessly nuanced, and chasing light such a...
by caroline | Feb 20, 2019 | Blog
First it was the snowdrops, softening the edges of February, then came the shoots and unfurlings. The wisps of pale mauve tommasinianus, before the full palette of purple crocus came bursting forth, with magnolia, hammamilis and the first flush of daffodils. An energy...
by caroline | Jan 24, 2019 | Blog
Here at Forde Abbey, we’re going to be making our first ever compost heap. In previous years, it was put in a pile and used on the farm as silage and the garden predominantly ran on masses of leaf mould. This year, we’re keen to get a compost system up and running...
by caroline | Jan 9, 2019 | Blog
Longer Summers and warmer weather might strike a chord with our nostalgic notion of childhood, but the reality for the garden is far from idyllic. Going by last years crop of vegetables in the kitchen garden, higher temperatures had less than productive yields and...
by caroline | Nov 12, 2018 | Blog
Velvety reds and purples under a canopy of acid green, and oranges, and whites intermingling with pinks. After the pared back minimalism of the Winter scape, a Spring catwalk of tulips and an exuberant flush of colour will be choreographed by Joshua Sparkes, our head...
by caroline | Sep 11, 2018 | Blog
Senior Propagator/Sales Yard Manager An exciting opportunity has arisen at Forde Abbey for a Senior Propagator to join the gardening team to raise plants for sale through the plant nursery, and to work as part of the existing gardening team with the direction of the...
by caroline | Aug 14, 2018 | Blog
No sooner has the tulip bulb order been dispatched, but the biennials are going in for next year’s display. Sown en masse, gently teased apart, pricked out and potted up, they’ll gather strength over the Autumn months in readiness for their part in next year’s...
by caroline | Jul 29, 2018 | Blog
The potting shed is lined with row after row of seedlings, painstakingly pricked out and potted up for the next big project later this year; digging up the entire length of the long border and replanting it with the aim of bringing back the individual characteristics...
