pruning

Today is the vernal equinox.  Well, I suppose it was almost spring-like.  The sun shone, the air was not raw, I opened the doors of the greenhouse and the conservatory, and at one point I was warm enough to take off my hat and scarf.  The air didn't have the gentle, seductive kiss of true spring, though.

Clad in full winter gardening gear, a Musto polo neck base layer, two t-shirts under my cotton shirt, my sailing smock, and my fleece, with thermal leggings under my trousers and minus only the hat and scarf at times, I set about pruning the buddleias in the back garden.  There are two bushes of the B. davidii variety 'Black Knight'.  The general rule is that you take B. davidii down hard in February, close to ground level or to a framework three or four feet high, depending on the situation and what it is you would like the buddleia to do.  These are at the back of a large bed, so I let them keep permanent legs to give them some more height.  The flowers are dark purple, very attractive to the human eye and to butterflies.  They are planted below the veranda, which gives a good view of the Peacocks and Red Admirals.  It is a mark of how cold and discouraging the year to date has been that although I am a month late in pruning them, you would not think it from looking at their state of growth.  'Black Knight' holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit, and has been around since the late 1950s.

There is also a specimen of Buddleja fallowiana 'Alba', propagated by somebody who gave it to me as a thank you for delivering some plants.  This is a more tender species than Buddleja davidii, with very pale grey, felty leaves.  The whole plant is brittle and rather fragile.  Mine split in two under its own weight as the donor lifted it up from his greenhouse bench, and as I tidied it up today I had to clear away several stems that had ripped clean off or split in the recent gales.  I had a crisis of confidence as to whether I was supposed to touch it now, and checked on the internet and in both my pruning books.  It is not as vigorous as 'Black Knight' and I did not take it down as hard.

There are still roses to be tidied up, and it's time to stool the Paulownia grown for their leaves.  The big pruning job, however, is the willow leaved bay, Laurus nobilis 'Angustifolia'.  This is such a nice plant, I am surprised it is not more popular.  I got mine from Architectural Plants near Gatwick, and I tried to interest the owner in stocking it at the plant centre where I worked, but he was having none of it.  Besides having long, willow shaped leaves which are attractive and clip beautifully, the tree has a strongly upright growth habit.  I put one in behind the shrub roses to give the bed some bulk and height, as roses make twiggy, shapeless bushes, and am trying to keep it clipped to a neat pyramid.  Originally I think I envisaged something close to a cone, but it is evolving towards something more closely resembling Norman Foster's Gherkin.  The only trouble with it is that it would like to be large, and takes a lot of clipping.  I can only reach most of it using the pole loppers, and have to work in short bursts to avoid getting a horribly cricked neck.

I asked the Systems Administrator as a favour, since I was so behind with the garden what with the weather and my ailments, if he could possibly cart away the debris at some point if I piled it up on the lawn, so that I could concentrate on the pruning.  The SA kindly agreed.  There is an awful lot of debris, and I haven't nearly finished yet.