Honey Fungus

It's hard to believe that I am approaching the end of my first year in retirement, but as the nights grow darker and the days get cold, I am reminded that the next few months are the most challenging.

The Summer has progressed well, I have played too much golf, but have won a tournament and come second in another so that has served to keep my handicap stable. I have played some great courses and met a lot of new people so no complaints there.

The garden has been my other source of activity, as I see my running days being put on hold for a bit longer. I gave the grass its final Autumn cut this week, and built the latest folly. It's a grass bench modelled on a design spotted at the RHS Tatton Park flower show, and it works well in a troublesome spot behind  the rhododendron's . Only time will tell if it gets enough sunlight to be sustainable

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My other Summer project has, of course, been the new shed, and
here it is finally completed save for the final coat of paint. Given the size   of it, I am quite amazed that it is now appears to be full. Three  bikes, loads of garden furniture, paint, a marquee, two gazebo's, hordes of car boot sale items, old golf clubs, spare pictures, ladders, wood offcuts  and several cases of wine have seen to that.



The down side to the gardening this season appears to be the fact we have honey fungus.  Here is the mushroom style evidence which I am basing it on, and it has killed this Silver Birch. A similar fate befell our only apple tree. That was the sole survivor of when the site was all orchards, so it might have been on its last legs anyway, but it is still a great loss to the landscape.

 Two Hornbeam's also had to be felled this year, although they have no mushroom infestations in evidence, nor does one of the larger Holly tree's which is also looking distressed, I am just keeping my fingers crossed that we have no other species which are susceptible to honey fungus, although I am nervous that Acer is one such and we have a fair few of those, one of which travelled with us from London and would cost over £1000 to replace size for size. Seems like I must do some more research  as the fungus is resilient to treatment and can only be contained by physical barriers. This might be the  first Winter project I am looking for.

So onward into the wet season, that of rugby internationals , long lunches and Christmas cheer, with a new Grandchild to look forward to any day,  ( herein referred to as GC1, 2 or 3 as appropriate) and 18 round the festive  dinner table.  Note to self, must win that Turkey Trot at the golf club again, we will need the food. Ho! Ho! Ho!

Doghouse

Just spent the weekend at the Tatton Park RHS garden show. It's the first time I have been to such an event although SWMBO has been to the Chelsea flower show in the past. Two things struck me; it's very old pound oriented with most of the clientele making me look young, and, loads of people walk round with these plastic collapsible shopping trolleys which get in everybody's  way

The event was quite interesting though, and I took a couple of shed shots to see whether they inspired me

This one had the Plymouth word on it, but I was taken by the astroturf SHED on the orange one. They do both look a bit like beach huts though, so I will not be using outrageous colour schemes when it comes to painting mine.



That moment is still sometime off as I have been faced with a leaking roof crisis. The recent downpours have certainly indicated that the pitch on the roof is inadequate, so the felt has all come off and its back to square one on Monday, with a different fall angle and slope. Hopefully that will work, then the sides can be completed and the shed used for its main purpose.



I am still being pressured to have a sofa and TV in there, but as the only power source is going to be solar, there is little point in the TV or kettle. If I am sent to the doghouse I may just have to revert to the original shed which is all powered up. Lets hope it doesn't come to that though, and the Tatton Park plans can all be hatched and installed ready for next season.

This one really has been a bit of a wash out.

Prunus pendula

After a few days away with 'the lads' playing golf in Portugal, I was faced with another 50th birthday at the weekend. They seem to be coming round like 18th and 21st did all those years ago. Great excuses for a few beers with people you generally see all the time.....anyway it allowed us to stay in a new hotel attached to the Talbot Inn in Ripley. Very nice it was too as it was only a short cab ride to the restaurant where the gig was being held. The present theme at these things is often odd, and on this occasion it was 'old gits' gear, anything from slippers and a pipe, to incontinence pants and pile reduction cream!!

At one party we went to everybody had brought salt and pepper sets for the poor victim. His mum and dad did not see the funny side of it!!

Ripley is a pleasant little village very close to the RHS gardens at Wisley so it was a perfect excuse to wander down there and have a look around. The weather became a bit inclement while we were in the new glasshouse, so we took the opportunity to dive into the library and do a bit of research on one of my relatives, John Weathers.

John was a bit of a gardening character, and a market gardener in Isleworth in Middlesex, and for eight or so years he was assistant secretary to the RHS, when the Reverend W Wilks was secretary. It was he who discovered the Shirley poppy, which was the emblem of the team I used to play rugby for in Croydon. Some co-incidence eh.

John left the RHS under a bit of a cloud according to his obituary, as he released an incorrect list of Gold medal winners to the press, to much embarrassment. John also did not suffer fools gladly and was outspoken in many areas of the gardening community, he was however much admired for his illustrations, gardening books and knowledge of French, Latin and German, from which he translated a number of gardening novels. When he died suddenly it was considered a great loss to the horticultural landscape of West London.

I was unaware that John had a brother who shared his talents. Patrick was curator at the Manchester Botanical Gardens in Old Trafford until it closed. He then returned to Isleworth to work along side his older brother.

I am sure there is much more to find out about these two particular characters, but for now its good to know my gardening interests are strongly embedded in the Weathers family tree.