The Genus Garden

Witty and acutely observant accounts of what is going on in the Genus Garden week by week - written by Joff Elphick our Head Gardener.

Feathered Friends

We love feeding the birds at Genus HQ. A range of dishes from fatballs and peanuts, to suet pellets and niger seeds are on the menu and keep most of...
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Your midwinter gardening to-do list

It may be a quieter month in the garden but there is still plenty to do to keep the garden tidy and weed-free, ready for the year ahead. Clean and...
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Signs of life

We’ve been clearing leaves from the lawns at Genus HQ with huge piles scooped, wheeled, and deposited into our wire leaf-enclosures.  A large mound to the side of the driveway...
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An icy pond

Not long after our first snow of the year air temperatures dropped sufficiently at Genus HQ for the pond to freeze over.  A thriving home for wildlife including toads, newts,...
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Your December gardening to-do list

It's chilly, but there's still plenty to harvest, prune and tidy, and this is a great time to prepare for the busier months ahead. If your garden lacks winter interest...
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First snow

We’ve had our first snow of the season at Genus HQ.  Cold blustery showers on already very wet ground made gardening virtually impossible.  Standing on the paths to avoid damaging...
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Splitting and dividing

Some of our favourite plants in the Genus garden are also some of the most successful; they put on so much growth that we dig up and divide them every...
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Dry stone walls

Dry stone walls are a key feature of the Cotswolds where we are based, criss-crossing the hills and meadows creating beautiful field boundaries that total a remarkable 4,000 miles.  Some...
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Ivy for nature

Much maligned for strangling trees and pulling mortar from house walls, ivy (Hedera helix) is a plant that we should  all try to love just a little bit more.  Surrounded...
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Chinese lanterns

Every autumn our Cape Gooseberries announce themselves with bright orange lanterns that go hand in hand with falling leaves, the smell of wood smoke, and the gradual decline of the...
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Horse Chestnut

We are very lucky to have two semi mature horse chestnut trees in the Genus garden.  They shelter our three large leafmould enclosures and provide us with a degree of...
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Our Himalayan Honeysuckle

Incredibly reliable and requiring so little attention our two Leycesteria formosa or Himalayan Honeysuckle are real beacons in the garden at this time of year.  Making a change from the...
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Blowing in the autumn breeze

We love our beautiful anemones that grow quietly away with little fuss or interference from us.  They bring a splash of light into the north side of the house, welcoming...
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Growing tomatoes

We always grow far too many tomatoes.  Packets of tomato seeds seem to be one of the favourite choices for gardening magazines to give away and we sow all of these free seeds.  Unfortunately,...
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Your September gardening to-do list

There’s plenty to harvest this month. And with the days getting shorter and cooler, try to make the most of the remaining warmth and enjoy your late summer garden. Dig...
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The vole

Found in a hole in the large ash tree next to the front gate was this little fellow; not a mouse, but a vole.  We seem to have a lot...
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Trying to keep up with the work

Joff, our gardener, has been on holiday for the last three weeks so everything is behind and the rest of the team have been struggling to fit in some gardening...
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Harvesting

It’s a very busy time in the Genus garden.  The flower garden can pretty much look after itself for a few weeks, just a bit of weeding, tying in, and...
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Weeding with the hori hori knife

It’s June and the Genus garden is really beginning to bloom. The downside of all the seasonal growth is the constant battle with weeds. It’s one of the most important...
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As worn by...

Last weekend it was World Naked Gardening Day and just for once the weather was kind to those busying with their borders in the buff. Here at Genus we are of...
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Your May gardening to-do list

The days are getting warmer and it’s time to tidy up spring plants and get ready for the summer. Here are our top 10 jobs for you to do now:...
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