Month: April 2011

Water Crisis Averted

Hurrah! The irrigation system is back online. Auto-Rain have disconnected zones 3&4 and the rest of the zones are working fine. In a week or two problem zones should be repaired too.

The garden has been without a working irrigation system during one of the warmest and driest Aprils I can remember. Peter and the team from Garden Associates and Lady Marshall have been watering the newly planted shrubs by hand but this was only ever going to be a stopgap measure so we are all very relieved that the system is running again. Continue reading Water Crisis Averted

Irrigation Alert

water leak jpg Our irrigation system has a leak and is currently out of action. We’re hoping it’ll be restored to health by mid-May and a little rain in the meantime wouldn’t hurt.

Our water experts are Auto-Rain Irrigation and they found the initial leak when de-winterising the system in March. Our system is constructed of (now old-fashioned) PVC pipes and at some point over the winter a careless spade or fork has shattered a section of the main water pipe. Continue reading Irrigation Alert

All Change at Montpelier Square

On April 1st after 20 years of service Spike Jackson stepped down as gardening contractor. The current fine state of the garden owes much to his and Lady Marshall’s efforts over those two decades.

Our new contractor is Robert Player, an expert in London garden squares. He manages over 20 other gardens and he brings a brisk, professional attitude that is immediately bearing fruit.

His team have already cleared away an overgrown section of Snowberry that had threatened to completely overwhelm the NW corner of the garden (where the swing used to be).

The gardens Mr Player manages are regular prize winners in the annual Square Gardens competition and he feels that our garden has potential just waiting to be unlocked.