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Introduction
It has always been our dream to ‘retire’ to Cornwall and develop a garden with a nursery open to the public. Eventually after much searching we moved here in November 1999 with a thousand plants and a 10ft X 10ft greenhouse in a large removal van. This had to park a mile up the lane to unload, and all our possessions were delivered in small loads.
 
The property is a barn conversion that needed extensive works before we could open. We had the builders in for over a year, but they just finished in time for opening at Easter 2001.
The nursery and garden are now taking shape after much hard work. The apartments and nursery are run single handed by me with some help in the garden. I specialise in cultivating perennials for sale, which can be seen growing in the garden. It is not a typical Cornish garden with rhododendrons and camellias, although eventually I hope to develop a woodland garden in one area with various trees and shrubs. I propagate many of the plants for sale in the nursery from my garden and although I have limited stock it should be interesting. The garden is well labelled and visitors are welcome to walk around. There is a new hut I am using as a sales area, where you can serve yourself tea and coffee. There is also a toilet and picnic tables.
 
Garden Newsletter Christmas 2009
This time of year is a good time to have a break from the hectic garden schedule and reflect about the previous season. Many Cornish gardeners were caught out with a drop in temp in November 2008 and snow in January. In November we had -7C and lost many tender plants, but a gardener’s memory is short and most of us will be planting our favourite tender plants again. I find it best to look upon the ‘loss’ as a new planting opportunity, replacing plants and perhaps trying something new!
Suddenly, we realise we have been at Hidden Valley Gardens ten years! The garden has had time to mature with height from the trees, hedges and shrubs. Because you cannot see the entire garden at once now, it is more interesting to explore and I hope I have created an interesting flow from one area to another. The wonderful thing about gardening is there is always something to look forward to, with new projects and ideas. Our latest is a 36 metre long wooden raised bed to enable us to grow dianthus and lavenders with better drainage and lighter soil – the bed was my special birthday present in November (that’s Peter building it in the photo). I am looking forward to having the delicate shapes colours and fragrance of the flowers and to hear the buzz of the bees in the summer. Another new addition is a Clematis trellis fence which we have erected at the top of the Iris bed replacing a poor Escallonia hedge – I am now building up my stock of Clematis for spring planting. We have also ordered new natural grey paving for the curved path which runs from the Nursery sales area to the large greenhouse replacing the path of chippings. This will greatly enhance the look and practicability of the pathway. Our large pond had to be dredged this autumn because of the build up of sludge and, with the resulting organic waste, we have created a new area for bog plants - this will be planted up when the mud has settled.
At last Peter has really retired so we can now spend more time out and about together. We will be closing the gardens two days per week, on Tuesdays and Wednesday, but we will still open five days a week from 10am to 6pm for 20th March to 15th October. We look forward to the coming season working together (as long as Peter is under-gardener!) I still get lots of help from Caroline, Shirley, Andrew, and, of course, Mum and Dad. Charlotte successfully completed her apprentice year in June and has started her own business. David and Alison have joined us this year.
Our National Garden Scheme days were successful (and sunny!) and we only just kept up with the serving of the cream teas. In 2010 we are having three consecutive days on August 14th 15th 16th we hope by having three days in a row it will spread the visitors out and they do not all come on the Sunday afternoon. Also because it is in August there will be different flowers to see compared to our usual June and September NGS openings, such as Agapanthus, Crocosmia and Dahlias. I now have quite a collection of Agapanthus (see photo over page) and there will be lots for sale. The collection of Dahlias exceeds 60 (see just one in the photo) and I have more than 50 Crocosmia. Some of these collections will be on sale in the nursery as well as many other plants I propagate from the garden.
Despite the recession this year our visitor numbers were good. I believe people are returning to the simple pleasures in life and enjoying growing their own food, flowers and visiting gardens. The self catering has done well and we even have a couple booked in for the Christmas period, plus a number of bookings for next year. I do not know how I fitted in doing the Bed & Breakfast for 8 years - it is so much more relaxing now.
The vegetable potager was very productive this year and we have a freezer full of fruit and veg. The green house tomatoes Apero F1 were really good a small red variety with a very fine flavour. I shall be growing them again next year. Peter’s blackcurrants planted last year had some blackcurrants the size of grapes (see photo) and this year he has added another 50 plants of a different variety!!
As you will probably know, the bees in our garden belong to a local beekeeper, Louis Riley, who is a leading beekeeper in Cornwall. This year he has written an update on the bees in Cornwall and, in particular, the bees in our garden apiary. He writes “The apiary at Hidden Valley Gardens has been established for several years and provides a pollination service for a radius of about 1½ miles around. The plan is to maintain six working hives at the apiary, allowing for seasonal losses and gains. The bees are bred in the south-west and are of good temper but the temper of the bees does depend to some extent on external conditions, they become a little teasy in strong winds and thundery conditions. Although bees are managed, they cannot be tamed and the beekeeper must work with them rather than positively control them. There is a project to breed back the black Cornish bee and I hope that in a few years the apiary will contain a few hives from this source. The Cornish bee is not necessarily superior in honey production but is more suited to the climate and able to work longer hours. Honey production in the garden has been somewhat disappointing for the last three years, mainly due to the excessively wet weather in July. The abundance of nectar produced by white clover and blackberry flowers during the hot weather in July provides much of the surplus in this area. By July I aim to have 50-60,000 bees in each hive. The bees cannot fly in very wet weather and the clover does not produce nectar unless the temperature is 72ºF or higher. This year there was a week of typical July weather before the rains came and so some local honey was obtained. I must allow the bees 35-40lb of honey to take them through the winter and can only take the surplus. Under "normal" conditions a hive of bees which has been brought on for July will provide about 40lb of surplus honey. There are three colonies in the apiary at present and three waiting to be moved there. Colonies from unknown sources are kept in a home apiary until I am sure that they are not diseased. The apiary will be up to its quota of six colonies by the spring.” I hope this information from Louis answers some of the questions about the bees I am frequently asked.
I am now looking forward to seeing my snowdrops and hellebores in January and February. The spring comes early in Cornwall and soon our lanes will be filled with primroses and I will be enjoying the new garden year at Hidden Valley. With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.
Tricia Howard
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