Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2018 | Page 79

Country life
NEW SEASON AT QUARR
by Matt Noyce, Head Gardener at Quarr Abbey
How time flies. I have been at Quarr
Abbey for six years now, and have seen
a full complement of different seasons.
Much has happened in that time, and
looking at the diary, this year already
looks like it will be a busy one. With light
levels and temperatures increasing,
things are already starting to stir in the
gardens at Quarr.
With the sowing season upon us, I have been
spending time putting together our growing plan for
this year. By discussing with the team what has worked
and what hasn’t, we can tailor the crop list each year.
This ensures that we grow varieties that will not only
taste great when used in the kitchen, but that will also
add a bit of interest whilst meeting the requirements
of the Quarr chefs and the farm shop. More Heritage
and unusual varieties will definitely be appearing in
our farm shop and on the menu again this year.
Around the estate, we have been busy hedge
cutting, clearing overgrown brambles, clearing
and digging out ditches and removing fallen tree
debris from the woodland walks and paths. Good,
wholesome work to keep you warm! Basal sucker
growth from around Lime trees can be removed at
this time of year, along with the last chance to prune
your fruit trees before the buds start to burst. The
Wisteria will soon be temporarily tamed by pruning
the present year’s long tendrils back to two to three
buds for its winter prune. Then, its whippy green
shoots will need to be pruned to five or six leaves
again in late summer, after it has flowered.
The vegetable plot has benefitted from its usual,
generous helping of soil improver. By leaving a layer
of nutrient-rich compost on the surface of the soil, the
winter weather can break it down somewhat. Then
you can rotovate or dig it in when the soil isn’t too wet
and sticky, which reduces the potential of damaging
the soil structure. We’re already keeping an eye on
and removing emerging weeds to get on top of them
before they become a serious problem, especially the
perennial ones.
We now have space along the recently-rebuilt walled
garden wall to plant some select espalier pears and this
is a good time to do so. Espalier trees are a specialised
form, pruned to maximise growth and trained against
a wall. The rest of the orchard fruit trees have had their
winter prune, being cleaned out of any poor and weak
limbs or any rogue skyward ‘scaffold’ branches. They
were then given a good feed to set them up for the
growing season. Here’s hoping that it’s a good one!
Pictures by Matt Noyce.
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