The Swilly Gardening Club were out and about again visiting gardens around the peninsula. Don’t worry. Fifteen keen gardeners don’t just turn up in your garden and start sniffing the roses and poking their noses into the greenhouse, you will be pleased to learn. They are invited first.
This time they were out with Caroline McGonagle, who lives at The Rock on the way to the Illies. Caroline has been an active member of the Gardening Club for a few years now and her skills as a horticulturalist are becoming very apparent as she regularly talks about topical issues at the club. Her garden has a wide range of planting styles from bee gardens, water features, vegetables and alpines to bog garden plants. Her garden has a very long season of interest and there is usually something in flower at all times of the year.
GIANT CACTI
I missed the Gardening Club visit, so I decided to call in to visit Caroline myself to see her garden and pick up some gardening tips.
Of course it was raining, so Caroline and I started off in her hand built greenhouse. The good-sized structure is made from recycled double glazed windows and it kept the rain off of us as we waited for a dry spell. There were plenty of interesting plants in there, especially her collection of cacti. Caroline collects these tender, prickly plants and starts them off from little babies. The most dominant one at the moment is a big hairy white fluffy thing that it trying it’s best to poke out of the roof. “You can tell the age of the tubular cacti by counting the rings” Caroline tells me. “ They are not like a tree where they run along the inside, but up the length of the plant” she continues, pointing to her favourite one at the moment. “This one is about 16 years old and in that time had grown to about nine feet tall, you can tell if the plant has had a good year by the amount it grows in one season. It’s getting a bit too big now so it might end up for sale”. She smiles.
To brighten up the greenhouse, Caroline enjoys growing fuchsias and begonias in between the tomato plants. The tomatoes were ripe and ready and after I had my fill we decided the rain wasn’t going to let up. So we got out the brollies and made our way to the veggie patch.
GROWING WITH CONFIDENCE
With the present climate of food prices increasing it is becoming more important for us to grow our own vegetables. Hopefully there will come a time when it is seen as the norm to include a patch of home grown organic produce in the garden. Caroline has done just that, and is growing carrots, lots of spuds, salad plants, onions, peas, beans, herbs and a giant Pick and Come Again American cabbage. “One leaf will feed a family of four” Caroline tells me as she lifts up one of the bottom leaves. They are the size of a dustbin lid. Her raised beds are very simple and clean and because of the gravel paths, they will be accessible all year round without trailing mud into the house. “I feed my veggies with comfrey juice,” Catherine explains. “Putting the liquid into a bucket of water is a smelly job so my husband has come up with a great idea for extracting the juice from the plant with no odours at all”. Caroline explains how to make the fabulous contraption.
CAROLINES HOME MADE COMFREY PRESS
What you will need
Long plastic drain pipe with a 4 inch radius
Another pipe with a smaller radius of 90 mm
A flat disc with a 4inch radius to push into the larger pipe.
Rope and weights (bricks) or ratchet straps.
A large bucket
Take the long plastic pipe with a 4-inch radius. Into that place the comfrey leaves. Push a flat disc into the larger pipe and place the smaller pipe in. Push the smaller pipe down and compress the comfrey. Keep on the pressure by adding the ratchet straps along the length of the pipe or put the rope on top of the pipes and tie on the bricks. Place the pipes into the bucket and secure in an upright position.
As the leaves start to decompose the neat comfrey juice will seep out into the bucket. This can be diluted to use as an effective plant food. Caroline is devising a method to capture the liquid straight into a bottle, which can be stored for later use.
CAROLINES TOP TIP
Caroline loves small Acer trees and has a few in the garden. “The Acer palmatum and Acer Dicectum are lovely trees but can be a bit sensitive” Caroline begins. “When you feed them, don’t use tomato food. I have known a few people who have lost their plants, as there is something in the solution the trees don’t like”.
CAROLINES FAVOURITE
“My favourite tree in the garden at the moment is the Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum Japonicum). It is one of the fastest growing trees but don’t let that put you off. It can be cut back every year. It has an illusive fragrance of caramelised sugar. It has the added benefit of being pest free”
This time they were out with Caroline McGonagle, who lives at The Rock on the way to the Illies. Caroline has been an active member of the Gardening Club for a few years now and her skills as a horticulturalist are becoming very apparent as she regularly talks about topical issues at the club. Her garden has a wide range of planting styles from bee gardens, water features, vegetables and alpines to bog garden plants. Her garden has a very long season of interest and there is usually something in flower at all times of the year.
GIANT CACTI
I missed the Gardening Club visit, so I decided to call in to visit Caroline myself to see her garden and pick up some gardening tips.
Of course it was raining, so Caroline and I started off in her hand built greenhouse. The good-sized structure is made from recycled double glazed windows and it kept the rain off of us as we waited for a dry spell. There were plenty of interesting plants in there, especially her collection of cacti. Caroline collects these tender, prickly plants and starts them off from little babies. The most dominant one at the moment is a big hairy white fluffy thing that it trying it’s best to poke out of the roof. “You can tell the age of the tubular cacti by counting the rings” Caroline tells me. “ They are not like a tree where they run along the inside, but up the length of the plant” she continues, pointing to her favourite one at the moment. “This one is about 16 years old and in that time had grown to about nine feet tall, you can tell if the plant has had a good year by the amount it grows in one season. It’s getting a bit too big now so it might end up for sale”. She smiles.
To brighten up the greenhouse, Caroline enjoys growing fuchsias and begonias in between the tomato plants. The tomatoes were ripe and ready and after I had my fill we decided the rain wasn’t going to let up. So we got out the brollies and made our way to the veggie patch.
GROWING WITH CONFIDENCE
With the present climate of food prices increasing it is becoming more important for us to grow our own vegetables. Hopefully there will come a time when it is seen as the norm to include a patch of home grown organic produce in the garden. Caroline has done just that, and is growing carrots, lots of spuds, salad plants, onions, peas, beans, herbs and a giant Pick and Come Again American cabbage. “One leaf will feed a family of four” Caroline tells me as she lifts up one of the bottom leaves. They are the size of a dustbin lid. Her raised beds are very simple and clean and because of the gravel paths, they will be accessible all year round without trailing mud into the house. “I feed my veggies with comfrey juice,” Catherine explains. “Putting the liquid into a bucket of water is a smelly job so my husband has come up with a great idea for extracting the juice from the plant with no odours at all”. Caroline explains how to make the fabulous contraption.
CAROLINES HOME MADE COMFREY PRESS
What you will need
Long plastic drain pipe with a 4 inch radius
Another pipe with a smaller radius of 90 mm
A flat disc with a 4inch radius to push into the larger pipe.
Rope and weights (bricks) or ratchet straps.
A large bucket
Take the long plastic pipe with a 4-inch radius. Into that place the comfrey leaves. Push a flat disc into the larger pipe and place the smaller pipe in. Push the smaller pipe down and compress the comfrey. Keep on the pressure by adding the ratchet straps along the length of the pipe or put the rope on top of the pipes and tie on the bricks. Place the pipes into the bucket and secure in an upright position.
As the leaves start to decompose the neat comfrey juice will seep out into the bucket. This can be diluted to use as an effective plant food. Caroline is devising a method to capture the liquid straight into a bottle, which can be stored for later use.
CAROLINES TOP TIP
Caroline loves small Acer trees and has a few in the garden. “The Acer palmatum and Acer Dicectum are lovely trees but can be a bit sensitive” Caroline begins. “When you feed them, don’t use tomato food. I have known a few people who have lost their plants, as there is something in the solution the trees don’t like”.
CAROLINES FAVOURITE
“My favourite tree in the garden at the moment is the Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum Japonicum). It is one of the fastest growing trees but don’t let that put you off. It can be cut back every year. It has an illusive fragrance of caramelised sugar. It has the added benefit of being pest free”
