 |
| Frog Pond |
 |
| Bug Hotel |
Today, I attended a sensory garden training day in the breathtaking gardens of Ellicar House owned and maintained by Sarah Murch.
http://www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/gardenfinder/garden.aspx?id=22803
 |
| Spooky Garden |
 |
| Natural Swimming Pool |
Her garden is a veritable feast for the senses with botanical delights packed into every inch of the grounds. The natural swimming pool was absolutely astounding (though not something we could possibly hope to replicate in school!) There are many other aspects of the garden that we could adapt to areas of the grounds.
Sarah gave us a tour of the gardens and explained how the different plants stimulate the senses and how different plants can be grouped by colour, sound,smell and structure to create various atmospheres such as vibrant, ethereal, spooky or calming.
She explained how to group plants starting with a tree, then structural shrubs, evergreen shrubs, perennials and bulbs.
 |
| Euphorbia Underplanting |
One of the most important things I learnt was the importance of improving the soil structure before even considering planting anything. We face a number of challenges relating to this in our school grounds. Our soil is heavy clay over a sandstone bedrock which makes it quite heavy to work with and slow to drain. To make matters worse, much of the soil is seriously compacted due to the need for vehicular access during building works and general heavy use of the grounds. When the soil is compacted it lacks air meaning the water will not drain through it easily and plant roots struggle make their way through the dense matter.
Sarah suggested that attempting to improve the soil structure of entire areas would be costly and time consuming so to concentrate on improving the the soil structure of areas directly around planting sites. (by digging over thoroughly, breaking up the heavy clay and rock with a metal bar if necessary and mixing in plenty of soil improver).
She also emphasised the importance of choosing plants suitable to our soil type and lighting conditions.
She provided me with a list of plants suited to clay soil that would provide year round interest.
We learnt about the importance of having a long term plan for our site which incorporates a wish list of everything we would like to achieve in the grounds and what is required to achieve it. This will enable us to break jobs down into tasks that can be tackled as funding becomes available.
Myself and the gardening team will look at how we can implement these ideas.
 |
| Storage Disguised as Beehive |
 |
| Bee Hotel |
 |
| Geum Mrs. Bradshaw |
 |
| Mini Pond |
 |
| Spooky Garden Entrance |
 |
| Herb Towers |
 |
| In the Spooky Garden |
Sarah suggested that attempting to improve the soil structure of entire areas would be costly and time consuming so to concentrate on improving the the soil structure of areas directly around planting sites. (by digging over thoroughly, breaking up the heavy clay and rock with a metal bar if necessary and mixing in plenty of soil improver).
