You may also like<\/strong><\/p> With a goal to garden in a more responsible and sustainable<\/a> way, we decided some years ago to stop using synthetic fertilisers and chemicals. As an alternative to chemical spraying, we now spray our collection of once-flowering, old roses<\/a>\u00a0with a mixture of essential oils, including mountain savory (Satureja montana<\/em>), tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia<\/em>), thyme (Thymus serpyllum<\/em>), clove (Syzygium aromaticum) <\/em>and orange (Citrus sinensis<\/em>).\u00a0<\/p> Dilute 0.2ml of each in 10ml of rapeseed oil and 3ml of Castalia black soap. Mix this base in one litre of water with a pH level of 6.5-7. Our first spray is generally in early April as the new foliage begins to break and thereafter we continue twice a month until October.\u00a0<\/p> An essential part of the profusion of Sissinghurst is the carefully contrived yet apparently spontaneous and informal way of growing plants. We continue the planting style of Vita Sackville-West \u2013 romantic<\/a> yet practical, experimental but traditional. Through the year, I continue to cultivate the best of Sissinghurst\u2019s traditions, making comments in a notebook, titled (tongue firmly in cheek) \u2018Great Thoughts\u2019. I note what\u2019s looking good, what should be changed, tweaked or removed completely. In autumn, but more often in spring, we refer to this book to make the necessary planting edits for the season ahead.\u00a0<\/p> Although much of our pruning, particularly roses<\/a>, is carried out through winter, we delay pruning tender shrubs or sub-shrubs until the risk of severe frost has passed, usually around mid-March. Most of our tender pruning is on Delos<\/a>, with lavender<\/a>, santolina, phlomis, sarcopoterium and salvias<\/a> all pruned now. Also in mid-March we prune and tie in various wall-trained shrubs such as solanum, myrtle, abutilon and Magnolia grandiflora<\/em>. Finally, on 1 April we prune our\u00a0wall-trained figs, bending the long, one- year-old shoots into swirls and loops and securing them to wires fixed to the wall.\u00a0<\/p> I\u2019m experimenting with a \u2018new\u2019 method of peony staking<\/a>. The idea developed from the way in which we bend down and secure the long, pliable rose shoots on to hazel rods. I wanted to mimic the rotund shape of the rose domes, by creating smaller-scale cages or lattices of hazel around the peony groups,\u00a0in which we could support the flowering stems as they grow through. In addition to looking good, I hope this method will avoid the delicate peony<\/a> roots getting damaged by conventional staking, which relies on pushing supports in among the roots.\u00a0<\/p> Watch Troy make his peony supports in our video:<\/p>Six key gardening jobs at Sissinghurst in spring<\/h2>
Rose spraying\u00a0<\/h3>
Planting edits\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>
![\"Planting](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/03\/GI-Sissinghurst-April-2023-_502_preview-edited-scaled.jpg\")
Pruning tender and wall shrubs\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>
![\"Pruning](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/03\/GI-Sissinghurst-April-2023-_457_preview-edited-scaled.jpg\")
Peony supports\u00a0<\/h3>