In the Wild Garden in 2014

The Wild Garden suffered this past winter during heavy gales. Several months ago we lost both a beautiful rambling rose and a walnut tree, which collapsed over an old Viburnum (and hundreds of snowdrops). All of this needs to be cleared away. Meanwhile I'm researching flowering crab apples and cherry trees to replant in the area. 

All this has rather distracted me from the main task of clearing around the pond. Last year we cleared the self-seeded Salix which sat in the middle of the pond, and two large clumps of dead bamboo. This has allowed light into the pond and surrounding banks, and a few beauties have emerged - a little drift of purple Muscari armeniacumbrightening up one mossy bank. 

Clearing the Salix and bamboo has also made it easier to remove some of the other overgrowth around the pond. Brambles, euphorbia, ground elder, nettles, and self-seeded Syacmores are crowding the banks. We've begun to clear these so that we can move around without prickles - and replant with more interesting plants!

In the meantime, though, we have had some new visitors to the garden - wild ducks exploring the pond. Fingers crossed they may return again. 

Walking around the Wild Garden this winter, I noticed that the tall, mature Magnolia grandiflora appeared to be suffering badly from lime-induced chlorosis. 


Iron is not mobile in plants, so new leaves, which lack the iron required for chlorophyll production, appear yellow, whereas older leaves, which were created when iron was present and hence chlorophyll could be produced, are green.

Magnolia grandifloras are meant to tolerate dry, alkaline soil, which is what we have at Neats Home Garden, but I think it may have reached the end of its tolerance. Last summer's long dry months may also have stressed and weakened it. 

Very few products seem to be available to the amateur gardener for treating mature trees. But I have found one which I am going to try, produced by a company called Solufeed. It's a chelated iron formulation meant to be used for the rapid correction of iron deficiency in most plants. You mix the powder in water, and add it to rainwater, and water in.

After clearing the weeds from under the tree, I’ve treated the tree with Solufeed three times now, and will repeat the application regularly throughout the spring. I will also mulch it heavily with well-rotted horse manure, once I can lay my hands on some. Fingers crossed this combined treatment will help it recover over this year or so.

This spring has been relatively mild and wet, with only the occasional frosty night. It's may be partly down to these mild conditions that my red Camellia is flowering so beautifully. 

Its position also helps: placed against a warm house wall, in a heavily shaded but relatively sheltered part of the garden. I also gave it a light prune in mid summer, to reduce its size, so that it would less likely to tip over during winter gales. 

I have also been feeding it regularly. Earlier in the season I used a domestic product for ericaceous plants. More recently I've dosed it with Solufeed, a specialist powder that you mix with water, to treat lime-induced chlorosis. This treatment - and position - seems to have worked well. After its flowered, I'll repot it with fresh ericaceous compost and some controlled-release fertiliser granules so that it does well next year too. 

Also keeping me happy are some other scarlet beauties - some early flowering Tulips (tulips from early March! amazing!) and two stellar Hippeastrum 'Royal Velvet' (Amaryllis) bulbs. 

The latter I initially positioned incorrectly, in a well-lit but cool room, and they did next to nothing for several months. They actually need warmth as well as light. Once I realised this, and brought them into a warmer room, they started into growth. They have now been flowering for three months, on successive stalks. A big, showy bulb, to be sure, but they did the job and brightened up my winter. I shall be practising my propagation skills on them once they've finally finished flowering.