Notes from RHSI Bellefield

Late summer brings challenges to the garden, especially when the temperatures stay high. The last few days have seen some of the herbaceous planting struggle here in Bellefield; but at least the weeds are behaving! We have a strict no water policy for established plants, but as we have so many new planting and pots, we’re not off the hook that easy!

We’ve been busy mowing more meadows, in anticipation of our meadow event on the 13th September, which promises to be a fascinating day. Our Daffodil lawn finally had its annual haircut. We were lucky to have established some yellow rattle in it this year too, so hopefully we’ll see more of that in future.

We were delighted to welcome 40 folk from near and far on Tuesday for our Heritage week event where we gave tours of both house and garden and told some of the history of Bellefield. Thanks to all who helped make it a success.

Summer is the best time for stone fruit pruning as it reduces the risk of various infections. This dry spell has been ideal and our volunteers last week helped us tame some rather unruly wall trained plum trees. It’s the perfect weather for clipping box, as the dry spell helps keep box blight at bay. Here at RHSI Bellefield, we prune every second year, and that approach also seems to lessen the risk of blight.

If you’re interested in joining our volunteers please email bellefield@rhsi.ie

Paul