From hydrangeas to dragonflies to donkeys and alpacas and family workshops to open air theatre and a fabulous festival of music - there's so much to see, experience and do at Exbury Gardens this summer.
As summer gets underway, visit beautiful Exbury Gardens in the New Forest - and for unlimited visits and many more benefits, become a Friend of Exbury Member!
Although Exbury Gardens are now closed for the winter (except Christmas Weekends), as all gardeners know there are plenty of jobs for the cold dark months! Some of the Exbury to-do list may be ours too: lifting tender perennials to store under glass, collecting fallen leaves and making leaf mould, removing dead and damaged tree branches now to protect the trees from storms...
Although Exbury Gardens are now closed for the winter (except Christmas Weekends), as all gardeners know there are plenty of jobs for the cold dark months! Some of the Exbury to-do list may be ours too: lifting tender perennials to store under glass, collecting fallen leaves and making leaf mould, removing dead and damaged tree branches now to protect the trees from storms...
Exbury Gardens New Forest Seasonal News for Lymington October 2023: read here how the team at Exbury will be preparing not only for winter but for next year's displays too.
Exbury Gardens New Forest Seasonal News for Lymington September 2023, by Exbury's Head Gardener Thomas Clarke: read here how the wet summer has led to some magnificent displays now.
Exbury Gardens New Forest Seasonal News for Lymington August 2023: read here all about heavenly hydrangeas and upcoming events at Exbury
Last year may have been a terrible year for most, with everyone affected in different ways, some tragically more than others.
Whilst we can feel the collective weight of the sadness of the last year, we should always try to focus on its positives. It can be hard to see past the bad, our priorities have though been re-established. Neighbours have connected again with offers of help and chats over the fence. Family life has drastically changed and we now have more time for each other. Making quality time together like enjoying walks together, baking or playing games.
Also more time at home combined with a drive to keep busy means our gardens have never had so much attention. Be that colourful pots filled with annuals & artificial grass or lawns, ponds and large perennial borders. A shortage of food combined with more time at home meant a massive boom in the ‘grow your own’ market. The RHS said views of web pages with advice on 'grow your own' and growing vegetables in particular more than doubled in March 2020 compared with the same time the previous year. Homeowners turned areas of garden into vegetable patches, took on local allotment plots or simply grew tasty salad vegetables on their balcony, with much success!
February 2021 is not the time to forget these new found skills!
Garlic, broad beans and peas can be planted this month in the vegetable garden and your seed potatoes can be chitted ready. Decking or patios can be super slippery in the winter so cleaning them now can make them safer and ready for use when the sunshine appears. Make time to look at your flower beds, old plants can provide habitats and food sources for wildlife, so don’t be in too much of a rush to cut things back. But once they’ve become a soggy mess you can cut them back and put the remains in a compost heap where they will rot down and make mulch.
February is also a pruning month for a tricky climber, Wisteria. Getting wisteria to flower is more reliable if pruned correctly, cutting in the winter and mid-summer will encourage good quality and plentiful blooms. During a mild spell in February is also the time to prune a Buddleja Davidii for the best summer flowers, making them an excellent invitation too many butterfly species in the summer. Not forgetting lastly to take time to focus on late spring and summer flowering bulbs, February is the perfect time to plant alliums, lilies and Anemones. Anemones are best soaked overnight before planting. There are lots of summer flowering bulbs in the gardens centres but make sure they are hardy & frost proof varieties before planting out now.
No two springs are the same and it’s no wonder we brits are obsessed with the weather: we have one of the world's most changeable climates. February though brings us an average temperature of 7c and 2 inches of rain. Whilst it not an obvious time to get out in the garden it’s the perfect time to prepare for those long summer days we all dream off.
Whether you can identify your Helianthus tuberosus from your Solanum tuberosum or not, let us all make the time for a little garden planning this month. Dig out your seed catalogue, grab and pen and paper and make a plan for your space.
Whether your idea is to make your garden easier to maintain, start your own vegetable plot, improve the soil or simply give the decking a pressure wash, contact Sterling Gardens to help you get your plan in action - and let us brave the February weather!
This year’s Lymington & Pennington Flower Festival saw three stunning entries win ‘Gold’ awards. The competition was judged by Everton Nurseries, Otters Nurseries, the Lymington Camera Club and the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Lymington & Pennington, with Gold, Silver and Bronze winners receiving a certificate from the Mayor.
Congratulation to all who entered!
Gold, Silver and Bronze winners of the competition’s three categories will have their beautiful photographs displayed as part of a Lymington Camera Club exhbition which runs from 12-30 August at Lloyds Bank, High Street, Lymington.
Many thanks to the winners for granting permission for their photographs to be published.
For more information, contact Lymington and Pennington Town Council on
Fairweather’s Wholesale Nursery in Beaulieu opens its doors for the 7th year running. Opening for just one weekend a year, it enables everyone to enjoy their exotic collection of Agapanthus plants.
This flowering spectacle will proudly show the plants that were judged and awarded and AGM (Award of Garden Merit) by the Royal Horticultural Society. It will include the award winning Agapanthus Fireworks (pictured), which received 3rd place for the Best New Plant at the Chelsea Flower Show and crowned Best in Show for the New Plant Awards at the HTA National Plant Show.
On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 July, visitors can see behind the scenes of one Europe’s largest growers of Agapanthus and help build on the £20,000 to date that has been raised by Fairweather's for charities for the National Gardens Scheme.
Fairweather’s hold a National Collection of Agapanthus, that extends to over 500 cultivars gathered from around the world. Hardy deciduous types are planted out in beds and the larger flowered evergreens forms are grown in large containers.
Agapanthus gets their name from the Greek word agape (love) and anthos (flower) and are also called Lily of the Nile
Fairweather's Hilltop Nursery will be open from 9.30am with tours of the nursery with Patrick Fairweather, at 11.00am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm, including a demonstration of how to get the best from your Agapanthus, including tips on watering, feeding and dividing. Patrick will advise how to combine Agapanthus with other summer flowering plants.
Lavenders and a wide range of other perennials are also grown on the nursery which develops many new plants each year. Throughout the open weekend, agapanthus, lavenders and other perennial plants will be on sale at special prices.
The adjacent garden of Aline Fairweather who runs Fairweather’s Garden Centre in Beaulieu with her son, is open all day for Cream Teas and refreshments. Find out more about Fairweather's Garden Centre here.
Entry is £3.50 per person to the National Gardens Scheme. To date Fairweather’s have given over £20,000 to the charity which provides valuable support to Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Hospice UK plus other worthwhile charities.
Fairweather’s Hilltop Nursery will be clearly signposted off the B3054 between Dibden Purlieu and Beaulieu at Hilltop, Beaulieu Hampshire SO42 7YR
Visit www.fairweathers.co.uk or call 01590 612113 for more information
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