gardener – Page 2 – Lili Barras-Hargan

Gardening Journal – Entry 13

Monday 2 November 2020

And just like that, it’s November, and another month has flown by in this simultaneously sloth-paced and urgently fast year. A second lockdown is looming and we only have two more days of freedom before we lose the pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops again. Nothing much has changed for me this year, as we have worked throughout all lockdowns and the pandemic in its entirety. We didn’t even take a day while the dangers and health risks were assessed – we were far too busy mowing those lawns and pruning the wisteria and supposedly keeping London on its feet. It feels so good and so bad to be ‘essential’.

So, back to work I went this morning. Unfortunately, just as the country lost its faith in the government (can you lose something that has already been missing for years?), the frame of my glasses lost the will to stay attached and snapped in half. It’s an upsetting moment for any 20-something on a meagre apprentice salary and with only two contact lenses to their name, but considering I was speeding along on a narrowboat at the time, it was far from ideal. Luckily, I was video calling my mum so I didn’t feel like a complete plonker as I held my glasses to my face and smashed into some bloke’s boat while I rummaged around for my last pair of contact lenses.

Thank goodness, my workplace provided prescription safety goggles to me and Laurence early on in our apprenticeship, so I’ve been walking around London looking like I’ve just swum the channel. London Fashion Week will emit a sigh of relief when they hear that an emergency box of contact lenses are arriving at work tomorrow and new glasses are currently being whittled, so I will no longer be terrorising the streets in my utility specs.

After spending the early morning at work organising my optometry needs, me and my supervisor planted the bulbs in between the winter bedding we planted a couple of weeks ago. It was my first time planting bulbs in a bedding scheme and I’m glad I had already planted about 150 in containers in preparation. My containers took about an hour to plant and really took the energy out of me. You can imagine how intimidates I was when I found out we would be planting 1500 bulbs between the two of us in a raised bed full of delicate violas and forget-me-nots.

Once I had figured out my trowel technique stab the ground twice, trowel up, lift and slot the bulb pointed end up into the slit at the bottom), it became slightly faster work. The important thing to remember with bulbs is the planting depth. The rule of thumb is to plant them at a depth of three times their height. For tulips, this is around 10 – 15cm. Today we planted Tulipa ‘Spring Green’, which is new to me and I’m very excited to see come spring.

All in all, it was an energetic start to the week and made me feel quite accomplished, while distracting me from the next four weeks of abnormal normality. Gardening is very good at doing that.

Gardening Journal – Entry 12

Thursday 29 October 2020

This was by far the most exciting day of the week, as it was our first trip the Barbican Conservatory. It was so lovely to have a change of scenery and do our very outdoors work, in an indoor environment.

We went to the Barbican Conservatory because, although we get plenty of experience working with machinery and doing ornamental horticultural maintenance, there are no facilities or tasks involving propagation at the depot.

We started by looking around the conservatory, which reminded me of a mini Kew glasshouse. It was full of tropical plants, ferns and banana trees. And how refreshing to be surrounded by so much greenery amid the brutalist infrastructure of the Barbican.

We then mixed some soil for the propagation task we were working on. This involved mixing four bags of John Innes No 3 (mature plant potting compost), a large bag of bark, a good few handfuls of perlite and a dash of John Innes seedling mix, to add drainage. Add salt to the rim and there you have it – the most disgusting cocktail ever!

To mix the various components, we made a pile on the floor, adding every ingredient in layers, before mixing by shovelling it over itself. Essentially, we moved the pile of compost across the floor until the mixture looked right and the perlite was evenly distributed throughout. Then, we shovelled it back towards the potting bench, where we shovelled it up onto the bench, ready for potting.

We prepared the pots before taking the soft-wood cuttings of the plant we were planning to propagate. We did this by filling the pots with soil and pressing down with a round pot tamper until it was at the right height (at the lower rim of the pot. Then we watered the soil and filled in any pots where the soil had sunk down.

We took stem cuttings of eight different Pelargoniums, including P. ‘Cola Bottles’, P. unique ‘Donatella Bluet Champagne’, P. ‘Robert’s Lemon Rose’, P. ‘Little Gem’, and P. ‘Grey Lady Plymouth’. We cut about 15cm from the terminal bud (using thoroughly cleaned secateurs to prevent contamination and spreading disease), making sure we took enough to plant eight good cuttings per cultivar. We placed a label in each bucket so we could keep track of which plant we were taking cuttings from.

Then – hot hort tip incoming – I used the sharpie I wrote the labels with as a dibber, as its the perfect size. You can have that plant hack for free. After that, I carefully removed all of the leaves from the stem, apart from the top three or four. You want to avoid leaving too many leaves on, as that is where transpiration occurs most in a plant and results in loss of moisture, which can stop a cutting from rooting and succeeding. To save resources, I used the label I had written when collecting the cuttings to label each tray of the Pelargoniums.

And that’s that! We cleared up, said some sad goodbyes to the beautiful, dry conservatory and headed out into the pouring rain.

Gardening Journal – Entry 11

Tuesday 27 October 2020

Today has been a bit of a slow one – but much needed. It started with a beautiful sky show on the way to work, with a tangerine wash of colour filling my view all the way in. Grumble as I may about the clocks going back, I felt very luck to be able to catch that sunrise on my cycle today.

Today really was a study day, with us only leaving the depot for two and a half hours to fill some containers with soil. The rest of it has been spent behind laptops, trying to catch up on missed college work and get up to speed with our Learner Journals.

The containers we filled have been affectionately named the ‘COVID planters’, as they are technically new sites hat have come about during and because of the pandemic. They will be planted with small trees and shrubs and have socially-distanced seating arranged around them. From what I could see on the planting list, there will be a lot of birch trees collared by a ring of liriopes at the bottom. I also spotted some Osmanthus aquifolum on the sheet.

Much like a lasagne, when planting up a container with a tree, the layering is very important. Coincidentally, we got the order all wrong and spent ages shovelling leca out of the planters. We should have started with a layer of Terram (a geotextile that allows moisture to pass through but won’t allow bigger particles such as leca or soil to pass through and mix), followed by two bags of leca. Then, another layer of Terram was placed on top and we shovelled in the soil. To make sure the soil level was correct, I hopped into the containers and treaded the soil, to find any gaps and remove large air pockets, before filling it to the desired height.

As the trees are only being delivered tomorrow, when we’re studying from home, we did not fill the containers to the top and instead only filled them halfway. This will allow space for the rootball to be placed without double handling of the soil.

Tomorrow is all about catching up on the work I missed while my laptop was being serviced and I couldn’t complete classwork virtually. Wish me luck!

Gardening Journal – Entry 10

Monday 26 October 2020

I’m finally back! After a week off work due to COVID symptoms (the test came back negative, don’t worry) and being without a working laptop for three weeks, here is another Gardening Journal entry.

A lot has changed in the past four weeks. Spaces that were once a lush mass of green have an added depth as the russet, gold and crimson foliage reminds us of the beautiful variety of plants all growing together. On a more somber note, the clocks have gone back, making the morning commute into work a little less miserable. However, the change has stolen away our evenings somewhat. I’m still getting used to going to sleep at what feels like 11pm. I don’t even know if the clock changes help us, really, but that’s a different post for a different day.

This week we are without supervisor and although we had a plant to work to involving some lawn cutting and shadowing a senior gardener, all that flew out of the window when some turf arrived to finish a lawn. We had started working on it almost two weeks ago, however, we came short due to heavy rainfall damaging some of the turves. So off we popped with a van-load of turves and enough tools to sink a ship.

To lay turf you need:

Broom – for sweeping the area before and after the job (particularly in autumn and winter when there are always fallen leaves everywhere)
Large rubber rake – for removing fallen leaves and debris from the soil before laying turf
Wheelbarrow – to carry said tools, as well as to move the heavy turves without injuring your back
Flat-head garden rake – to tamp down the turves after you’ve laid them
Clappers – to pick up swept leaves
Scaffolding boards – to distribute your weight when standing on laid turf
Half-moon – to slice through turf when you need to cut it
Edging shears (this will make them blunt, so always use a dedicated pair for turfing) – to cut through the turf if the half-moon won’t do
Loads of green bags – for the leaves, debris and turf offcuts

The first step in any turfing job is to measure out the area. As the standard size for turves is 1m² (2m x 0.5m), you simply need to buy as many turves as the size of the site. For example, in the area we were finishing off, it measured approximately 9m by 2m. We counted the turves we used for this project and the total came to 18 turves, excluding offcuts.

The next step is to decide where to begin working. The two most important things to consider are how you can use the turves efficiently to reduce as much waste as possible and how you can avoid leaving smaller pieces on the perimeter of the space. Smaller pieces on the edge of the area are more likely to dry out and possibly go brown or die off entirely.

My method is to work from the outside in, as this guarantees that the edge will have enough large pieces to keep it moist. We were working on a slightly awkward space, which had a couple of jutting spaces and was not completely parallel. While I laid out the turf on the far edge, Laurence worked on the inner strip.

The edge usually takes quite a lot longer to lay out, as it needs to be as straight as possible. This can often mean re-rolling the turf and repositioning, as the turves as so heavy that any tugging or pulling can tear, stretch or weaken it. Once the first pieces is correctly positions, the second can be lined up at the end. The idea is to work in one direction and weave your way up and down the site, as this will create the striped effect usually achieved using a mower with a mower roller.

All the edges of each turf (except the side on the perimeter of the site) have to be ‘knitted together’. This involved getting the turves close enough together that there is a slight overlap. Then you can lift the two pieces and effectively drop them into a perfect, joined position. This can then be tamped in either by giving the seam a good punch or using the flat-head garden rake to smack it in. Needless to say, laying turf is a good outlet for anger and frustration.

Sometimes the turf will need to be cut once you get to the end of the strip. This can be achieved through laying a scaffolding board along the line you want to cut and using a half moon to slice along it, creating a clean, precise line. For trickier areas, it may be necessary to use the edging shears.

As the site was not parallel, the final strip in the middle became wider and wider towards one end. After a certain point, the distance was too wide or the turves to fit in lengthways. As such, as I turned them to the sides and lay them that way, making sure the longest piece was laid on the edge, to it wouldn’t dry out.

The end result was something we were very proud with, especially as it was only the second time we had ever done it! All newly laid turf looks a little like a patchwork, but in a week or two it will look lush and the seams between individual turves will begin to disappear.

Gardening Journal – Entry 9

Tuesday 29 September 2020

We started the day off with a lovely bit of constant drizzle. Not enough to rain off the day and study from home, but definitely enough to soak you through on your 40-minute cycle in.

We started the day catching up on Learner Journals and updating our time logs. Then we worked for a few hours on stripping out more bedding and soil cultivating, only this time on some raised containers. This was good news for our backs and shoulders.

The rain actually worked in our favour, as by the time we got out there, it had stopped drizzling but the soil was soft enough that the plants came out very easily. I started by removing the edging plants, which were tougher to get out, and then I worked towards the centre. The sub dots were scent marigolds and they came out of the soil really easily. Lastly, we used a border fork to remove the dots: cannas. These were tricker to remove but eventually came out after some teasing. When removing plants from a display, it is important to tap off any excess soil, as this prevents too much soil from being lifted and helps to keep the green waste bags light. We set the cannas aside for one of our colleagues who runs a plant recycling and reusing scheme.

We then used the same border fork to simple dig the containers, lifting and turning the soil methodically across all the containers. After getting the soil level and removing the roots left behind by the plants (and in particular the cannas), we created an edge and swept up.

Then it was back to the study bunker to work on our plant idents and complete some learner journals. Just as we were about to leave, the sun came out for our cycle home. Perfect; still in our wet clothes from the morning!

Gardening Journal – Entry 8

Monday 28 September 2020

Today was a really good day, and a great way to kick off the week. Between pandemic fatigue and not feeling very inspired, I needed a day like this to get me back into the swing of things.

I started off with a litter round first thing, while Laurence worked on stripping out one of the summer bedding displays. Then, we worked on raking off any leaves, stones or pieces of plants removed before. After that we began simple digging.

Unlike single digging – which involves digging a trench as deep as one spit length and backfilling the trench with the next row of soil – simple digging is not as time ( or back) intensive. It involved lifting and turning over the soil. This can be done by thrusting the fork into the soil and flicking it around using the shaft as a pivot. Otherwise, if the soil is more compacted, you can use your foot to push it in to a spit’s depth and lift the soil clear of the ground before dumping it in upside down.

Soil cultivation is important in gardens like the ones I work in, where sites see a lot of foot traffic and, as a result, suffer from compaction. Cultivating the soil also helps to aerate it and allows for gaseous exchange within the soil. When planting bedding – and in particular when planting winter bedding, which requires lower depths for bulbs – it is important to prepare the area by single or simple digging. Otherwise, if you are short of time, a rotavator can be used. Nonetheless, it is important to note that while rotavators quickly cultivate the soil, they cause compaction in the subsoil and should only really be used once per year, either for summer or winter bedding.

Once the soil had been dug over, we roughly raked it to get a decent level before treading. Treading is important in helping the aerated, ‘puffy’ soil sink down somewhat. Without treading, as soon as plants are watered in or it rains, the soil will sink down in an irregular way and could lead to water pooling in certain areas. You tread in by walking methodically across the soil, putting your weight in your heels. It should create almost a herringbone pattern when done correctly.

After that, we began to rake again. Initially, we were raking to collect up any detritus, such as leaves, rocks or dried clumps of soil. I learnt last week at college that you can use your rake to collect together any larger lumps of soil and bash at them with the rake and it breaks them down nicely. It also feels good to give something bit of a bash after digging and raking for two hours!

The final rake is the most important one, and what usually takes the longest. The aim is to create a level. Sometimes, it can be difficult to create a level if digging or rotavating has lifted the soil height too much. In this case, it is best to create a gentle gradient upwards towards the middle, as this will not be noticeable once planted and will help drainage towards the edges.

After lunch we worked on another bed, in exactly the same way. We stripped out and raked off any debris. However, due to time constraints, we used a rotavator to cultivate the soil. At the beginning of my apprenticeship – and on a chaotic day where everything went wrong and the shouting was WAY too much – I used a very old and very confusing rotavator that had about 10 levers too many and had bits falling off it as we used it. (If I have learnt anything in my nine months’ experience it’s that old machinery needs to get replaced).

Luckily for everyone involved, this machine was newer, lighter and very simple to use. Before our colleague started it up, he said, “Just to let you know, it’s quite fast,” and was immediately dragged about 5m into the bed. Important information: this man is the tallest person I’ve ever met and with legs twice as long as mine. Needless to say, I turned it right down to a modest Gear 1 before taking it for a spin.

To get the best out of a rotavator, it is worth bouncing weight down on the handles, as this helps the blades penetrate deeper in the soil. It is also advisable to switch off the blades when moving it back into position, or you’ll give Lili a heart attack as she sees the blades spinning over concrete – and your feet.

After that, we raked – following the same steps as above. Then we called it a day. I’m really glad the weather is changing and making hard work like today much more bearable. I didn’t even break a sweat while digging, raking, rotavating or lugging tools around in a wheelbarrow. I’ve got autumn to thank for that.

Gardening Journal – Entry 7

Thursday 24 September 2020

Today I woke up to the sound of rain on the roof of the boat and I half expected to recieve a message telling me to stay at home and study. (Un)luckily, there was no message and the rain had slowed to our work day started as usual.

This morning we completed some individual risk assessments to ensure that health and safety measures put in place meet our specific needs. After that, we returned to the lavender beds near the river Thames to cut the lavender back to the crown. Usually, this is not advised and only to be done in our circumstances – when the alternative is losing the plant entirely.

The rest of the day has been spent studying and working on Learner Journals, which track specific activities we have done and require researching related topics, as well as a plant profile. For example, when I produced my LJ on planting bedding, I researched colour theory in garden design and focused on a Millet plant.

Tomorrow is a ‘study from home’ day, which means getting another LJ finished and working on some website content. Happy days!

Gardening Journal – Entry 6

Tuesday 22 September 2020

Today was another busy day spent hedge cutting down by the river Thames. We worked on cutting back the Trachelospermum jasminoides, which is attached to a wire frame above beds of lavender.

We used the long-arm hedgecutter to cut the jasmine back to the bed size beneath it, keeping the sides well trimmed. Unfortunately the T. jasminoides above two of the beds was in a poor stte, with a lot of yellowing leaves and plenty of dead branches. These were more tricky to work with, as there was less wiggle room when it came to finding the ‘lowest point’ to cut into. Finally, we cut the tops of the jasmine, nonetheless, as it was trained to climb towards an upwards slope, ever bed became more and more challenging to cut, without the use of a platform ladder.

Initially, I used the harness as it is meant to help take some of the weight off the machine and make it easier to manoeuvre. I did not find this to be the case, as the harness was too big for me and did not fit on my back. Instead, it pushed my head forwards when I was working and made it difficult to looking up a the plants without straining my neck. This is another in several examples of manual handling aids causing more issues. Eventually, I used the machine without the harness and – while this made it a lot tougher on my arms and shoulders – it helped my keep the lines (and my neck) straight.

We worked on these hedges for four hours straight and by the time we had finished, we were absolutely shattered. Bear in mind, this included lugging the machinery, cones, green bags, 150m of hose and the rest up and down two flights of stairs; hello manual handling hazard! Just when our arms were about to give out, we lugged more wheelbarrows about to cut the lavender under the jasmine. The lavender is on its last legs – and quite leggy at that – so we gave it a hard prune back. It usually isn’t advised to cut back into the woody part of the plant, however, it can be a way of extending its lifespan, when left unpruned for years.

This week so far has been very hard on our bodies and I’m full of aches and pains again, like I was when I first transitioned into this job! I’m not sure how a whole day of practicals at college is going to go tomorrow but I can’t wait to see our class and tutor again and work on a different site. In the meantime, keep my arms and shoulders in your prayers.

Gardening Journal – Entry 5

Monday 21 September 2020

After a lovely but busy weekend, waking up this morning was a bit of a struggle and I feel like the fogginess of the morning stuck with me throughout the day.

Today, we kicked off the week with a litter round. Seeing as the country feels days from a huge lockdown, people went ham with the public drinking last weekend and we collected two full bags of rubbish.

After our first break of the day, we went back to Greyfriars to finish cutting the low Euonymus japonicus hedge. I also worked on three Ilex topiary balls and managed not to make them look like eggs on their sides like last time!

This afternoon, we spent some time cutting six Taxus baccata hedges. When cutting Taxus, you tend to cut at an angle, creating a wider base and a tapered top. This allows more sunlight to reach the base of the hedge, encouraging vigorous growth and promoting overall health for the hedge. As the hedges were almost as tall as me, Laurence worked on the tops of the hedges using the long-arm hedgecutter and I cut the sides with the normal hedgecutter.

I’m starting to feel more confident cutting different species and heights of hedges and if the feeling in my arms right now is anything to go by, I’m going to be JACKED by the end of this apprenticeship.

Gardening Journal – Entry 4

Friday 18 September 2020

Fridays are always busy, even though I only work until 12:30pm. This is because on Friday I go to the launderette to do our washing and catch up with any work I’ve missed during the week.

Today we had a discussion about COVID concerns for the team in the morning and then Laurence and I went on our litter round. Since our litter round was shortened a few months ago, it usually only takes about half an hour to complete. As such, we treated ourselves to a coffee before our tea break and looked through some of our plant idents.

After tea, I worked with my supervisor on some of the raised lavender and Trachelospermum jasminoides beds. As we didn’t have much time, we worked on the lavender exclusively and will start cutting back the T. jasminoides next week.

When left unpruned, lavender becomes leggy and woody and eventually, very little of the stems bear flowers. Usually, lavender has a lifespan of four to five years. In order to encourage the lavender to produce some new growth and extend its life, we cut back all the diseased, damaged and dead before pruning back to any new growth at the base, keeping any remaining stems to 5-10cm. Hopefully in a few months, we will start to see some fresh, new growth and we can wait a few more years before having to replace the plants.

After I finished at work, I spent the afternoon wrapping up some of the assignments I didn’t have time to finish on Wednesday. This included my assignment on Health and Safety legislation and the costing of planting five different species of hedge. I particularly enjoyed working on the latter, as it was fun to work on a hypothetical gardening project.