Dominic is at Chelsea

Do come and see Dominic at this weeks Chelsea Flower Show (21-25th May). He has created a wonderful woven metal fence along the back of the Alitex Greenhouse stand (on Main Avenue opposite the large show gardens). Alitex are amazing, high quality aluminium greenhouse suppliers to the National Trust and Kew Gardens. Both Metallurgi and Alitex have a modern take on a traditional idea so they fit well. Dom is on the stand every day bar Friday and I am there today (Tuesday) and Saturday. www.metallurgi.co.uk

The garden here at Rushbrooke is open EVERY FRIDAY 10-5 and looks amazing at the moment with a sea of blue Camassia. We have also opened a second B&B room on the ground floor - The Moroccan room. So a choice of Morocco or India now! See pictures on my website www.lucyredman.co.uk

Year review

We have had a fab year, despite the weather. We've had coaches of visitors to see the garden all the way from Australia to Poland and America. Not to mention all the lovely garden clubs/WI's and Art groups who have sat and painted amazing pictures of the garden and also inspired our girls to sit and paint!

We have welcomed lots of lovely B&B guests and are excited to announce that we are extending the B&B to two rooms. The second room will be on the ground floor with twin beds or super king size bed with en suite shower room. So two couples visiting gardens in the area can be accommodated. Pictures will be available soon! We had a sweet postcard in August from the great Beth Chatto wishing us good luck with the B&B and saying ' ..Lucky people who stay and are cared for by you." What a kind and amazing lady she is. It is an honour to know her.

The girls are thriving and Dominic's company  www.metallurgi.co.uk is going well. He has been busy making and installing metal edging and smartening peoples gardens. The tree seats are fun too and using www.easigrass.com (artificial grass) as a more durable and very convincing top makes the seats a superb feature underneath large trees such as Oaks or London Plane trees and storage spaces for tools or a crochet set are created where the soil would be in turf topped seat version more suited for small to medium sized trees.

                                    Woven metal Turf Tree seat in The Lucy Redman Garden, made by
                                                      Dominic Watts of Metallurgi.
                                                       Photograph copyright of Marcus Harpur    

THE LUCY REDMAN GARDEN AND BED & BREAKFAST! 

We have had a busy summer of opening the garden and welcoming guests to our new B&B which is very busy. We have been inspected by Alastair Sawday's sister and are now registered with them! Yesterday a group from the Pennsylvanian Hardy Plant Society, USA came around the garden, which rounds off our visits from overseas which also saw coaches from Poland and Australia! How did they know about our little patch of paradise here in Suffolk! It is always fun talking plants with fellow enthusiasts.

Today (Friday) we had record amounts of guests come around the garden, it was a beautifully sunny day with plants such as the Eucomis, Galtonia and Polygonum scoparium heralding the end of summer sadly.  We are also beginning to get students enrolling on our 14 week part-time course in garden design which starts mid September.(Once a week 10-2.30 held on a day which suits everyone).We visit each others gardens and have a good look around the house too! It is a good icebreaker and fun to see what everyone is contending with - sometimes it makes you feel better about your own ground elder infested patch!

We are also working towards opening for the NGS (National Garden Scheme) on Sunday 9th September 2-5pm in conjunction with Home Farm, also in Rushbrooke. We look forward to seeing you and if you have visited us already this year, thank you for coming and see you next season.

Garden Lovers Bed and Breakfast!!

We are preparing to open in March our new Bed and Breakfast. We have a sunny double room which overlooks the Pebble Parterre. The snowdrops are beginning to flower in the leaves of the parterre which are followed by crocus,Narcissus bulbicodium and delicate Fritillary's finish the show when the surround borders burst into life! If you come in April the Azara microphylla which is now at the same level as your window will scent the room with it's heady 'sweetie' smelling flowers, which my girls love!
This weekend we are making marmalade and our plum jam from last summer is delicous too! Three families are raising three pigs, one of which we are using for our BandB bacon!! Our free ranging chickens will be providing lots of lovely eggs by march and if I can swing the bread making machine into action there should be homemade bread too!!
Do come and see us and I'd be delighted to give you a private tour of the garden and for a small extra fee advise you on a tricky border you may have. Give us a call  01284 386 250. More information on website very soon!!

Jordan's10% Garden Wildlife Challenge

I was delighted to be invited as part of the Garden Media Guild to the launch of Jordons 10% Garden Wildlife Challenge at Jimmy's Farm near Ipswich. Bill and Jimmy talked us through Jordons initiative of encouraging gardeners and smallholders to have at least 10% of their garden devoted to wildlife. I totally agree and here at Rushbrooke we are all for it. Not only do we have wildflowers here and as they touched on in the launch to encourage gardeners not to be quite so tidy thus leaving areas for animals and insects to find homes to hibernate in. They talked about using plants to attract butterflies, bees, moths etc and also using lots of autumnal/winter berrying trees or shrubs in your garden for the birds so plenty of Sorbus (Mountain Ash), Crab Apples and Hawthorn. I am a great lover of seedheads and our 20metre Celtic Racetrack houses a collection of Agastache Liquorice Blue with its tall brown flower spikes which not only look fantastic throughout the winter in the snow and frost but provide seeds for wildlife. Our free ranging chickens are also enjoying scratching around in the fallen leaves.

It was fantastic to meet Bill Jordon who started Jordans cereals and I thoroughly enjoyed the tour around Jimmy's Farm which I last visited two years ago when a fantastic violinist I follow - Seth Lakeman was playing at Harvest (If you like 'Raw' dramatic violin playing he's your man!. I also hadn't seen the beautiful barn Jimmy has converted into a stunning restaurant and farm shop. It was a fun and delicious morning and 10% Wildlife Challenge is a good initiative I also back!

Welcome back to my blog!

• METALLURGI is born. Having worked on the estate for 29 years Dominic is being made redundant as the farm is being contracted out. As well as being an organic farm advisor he is setting up a business making woven metal items for the garden, one of which being this tree seat which surrounds our Apple tree. It is ideal for small trees and makes a pretty and longlasting focal point from which to view your garden. See his website for costings www.metallurgi.co.uk 
• WE ARE IN THE AUGUST EDITION OF THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAGAZINE. Rachel Warne's photos look superb and we are grateful to the English Garden for covering us again following Marcus Harpur's beautiful images in May 2007. The article is resulting in lots more visitors for the garden and interest in our Gardening courses (see website)
• CALLING ALL GARDENERS KEEN TO LEARN PRACTICAL SKILLS. We are running an Autumn Practical Gardening course where we will visit each students gardens armed with gardening tools and under my instruction will show the group how to prune, propagate or split various plants. Bulb plant etc. See website for details. 
• GARDEN OPEN EVERY FRIDAY TIL SEPT 30th 10-5. We would love to welcome you to the garden - it is looking pretty lovely with all the Agastache flowering in the 20metre long Celtic racetrack - the bees are loving. See above photo. 

How lucky am I!

What a diverse and lucky life I lead. Just thought I'd fill you in on the last couple of weeks and what a mix of lovely people I have met through the wonderful world of plants.Thursday March 11th - Took a great friend - Christine Lavelle or Haggis as I call her to the lovely Beth Chatto's Garden, Elmstead Market, Essex. We were met by a warm mix of nursery staff and gardeners, who were all very chatty and friendly even down to the sweet lady in the cafe. Sadly caught a glimse of Beth when we were having lunch but she was gone by the time we finished.
Delighted however to say hello to her and Asa at Dan Hinkleys talk at Writtle Colllege on Friday 12th March - absolutley fantastic presentation. He had a split screen presentation of the globe spinning in one corner an image of the garden and video with birdsong - wow - Mackintosh is amazing - must try to up my game!!
His garden near Seattle looks superb - what a setting on the cliff overlooking Pudget Sound.
On Monday 15th I spent the day cutting ornamental grasses back in the garden - Gardeners Question Time on Radio 4  said not to cut Stipa tenuissima - they must be mad it loves a quick short back and sides!
On Tuesday I taught at my girls Primary School - we were removing a wildlife pond which takes up precious space and the headmistress feels would be better turned into a scented garden. The children loved heaving the mini bullrush up out of the muddy quagmire (or however you spell it!)
Wednesday 17th I drove upto Brandon to give a multi sensory talk to a group of adults with learning difficulties and some patients in the Nursing home. It was a humbling experience. I took Daphne bholua Jacquleine Postill and Lonicera fragrantissima for superb strong scent and Contorted Hazel for its wacky stems and catkins as a lovely sign of spring. I so enjoyed it and I think they did too!
Thursday 16th - went back to my old High School at Hadleigh to work with 3 sets of 30 children in year 7 (age 12) to fire up their interest not only in gardening but trying to get across how we can use our garden as a cross curricular space - so somewhere to perform drama, exhibit sculptures/try to recreate historical elements like turf tree seats etc. I have a pile of thier designs to put togetrher and come up with a garden for them. They loved using my measuring wheel and transfering our measurements onto the drawing board - it really brought maths to life - into the real world.Am heartened to hear that they are going to teach Agricultural Science - bring back Rural studies and link to healthy eating/living.
Gardening at Rushbrooke again on Friday. Then on Saturady lecturing to 100 members of the U3A (University of the Third Age) as part of their day long Garden Study Days where I was one of 4 speakers - it was a fascinating day listening to talks on Garden History and how climate change will effect our plant choice.
On Monday 22nd I ran a one day Plantaholic Course for 5 people based at Rushbrooke. This was a lovely day teaching 5 ladies how to construct a border and showing them around the garden.
More Primary shcool teaching on Tuesday at Great Whelnetham and Wednesday at Tudor Priamry School in Sudbury. We were busy seed sowing in their beautiful new raised beds which are a tribute to parent power and a couple of very proactive teachers - fantastic.
Two nights ago we went to a superb talk by the very lovley Tom Hart Dyke whose enthusiasum I love. I drovw down to Kent to hear a talk given by my other great plant hero - the god of gardening - Roy Lancaster (Beth being the Goddess!) gave at Lullingstone Castle and it was a delight to see the two great plant enthusiasts together - I was on a high for several days after that!!

The 'other girls' admiring my Parterre weeding!

So in the last couple of weeks I must have taught about 300 people and have had a real treat listening to other people and hearing their experiences - it's not a bad life!!