Did anyone see this programme yesterday evening? It dealt with creating
a 1620 flowery mead which Chris Beardshaw did by planting perennials
such as Knautia arvensis into mown grass. There was no mention of the
fact (unless I slept through that bit) that within a week or so the
grass would need cutting or of how that would be done. Presumably
seventeenth century grass-cutting methods would allow cutting right
round small plants, but I can't imagine how it would be done now without
employing an army of gardeners with nail scissors.
Was a non-maintainable plan put into place briefly and just for the
cameras, I wonder.
Janet G

On Sat, 16 Nov 2002 23:35:24 GMT, Janet Galpin and Oliver Patterson
wrote:

Did anyone see this programme yesterday evening? It dealt with creating
a 1620 flowery mead which Chris Beardshaw did by planting perennials
such as Knautia arvensis into mown grass. There was no mention of the
fact (unless I slept through that bit) that within a week or so the
grass would need cutting or of how that would be done. Presumably
seventeenth century grass-cutting methods would allow cutting right
round small plants, but I can't imagine how it would be done now without
employing an army of gardeners with nail scissors.
Was a non-maintainable plan put into place briefly and just for the
cameras, I wonder.

Snap! I thought exactly the same thing. I was busy pottering and doing
other things so I missed the object of the exercise - "the flowery
mead".

I suppose one would only have to hand snip the grass in a very small
area around each plant before getting the mower out - and the area of
mead wasn't exactly huge. In Victorian times they had ample labour for
such things.

I actually noted the plants they were putting in: Hawksbit, Field
Scabious and Campion. Hmmm. Next time a Ranunculus appears in an
otherwise weed less green lawn, out with the scissors and make it a
feature! Except that I think part of the charm was in the regular
spacing of the meaded plants.

The progamme which followed I quite enjoyed however. A year in the
life of various stately and well staffed gardens. One thing I picked
up on was the use of tender perennials, the ones one tends to ignore
but can, albeit with the annual chore of propagating them for the next
season, give quite a lot of interest late in the year.

Respect

Hussein

Did anyone see this programme yesterday evening? It dealt with creating
a 1620 flowery mead which Chris Beardshaw did by planting perennials
such as Knautia arvensis into mown grass. There was no mention of the
fact (unless I slept through that bit) that within a week or so the
grass would need cutting or of how that would be done. Presumably
seventeenth century grass-cutting methods would allow cutting right
round small plants, but I can't imagine how it would be done now without
employing an army of gardeners with nail scissors.
Was a non-maintainable plan put into place briefly and just for the
cameras, I wonder.

Snap! I thought exactly the same thing. I was busy pottering and doing
other things so I missed the object of the exercise - "the flowery
mead".

I suppose one would only have to hand snip the grass in a very small
area around each plant before getting the mower out - and the area of
mead wasn't exactly huge. In Victorian times they had ample labour for
such things.

I actually noted the plants they were putting in: Hawksbit, Field
Scabious and Campion. Hmmm. Next time a Ranunculus appears in an
otherwise weed less green lawn, out with the scissors and make it a
feature! Except that I think part of the charm was in the regular
spacing of the meaded plants.


They did in fact go into the problem of grass growth at some length, and
they also considered Ranunculus species to be included.


--
Art
Swap seeds at
Garden Web http://www.gardenweb.com
My Garden Web exchange page http://www.gardenweb.com/members/exch/art1952

In article , Carol Russell Russells@
queenborough42.freeserve.co.uk writes
I actually noted the plants they were putting in: Hawksbit, Field
Scabious and Campion. Hmmm. Next time a Ranunculus appears in an
otherwise weed less green lawn, out with the scissors and make it a
feature! Except that I think part of the charm was in the regular
spacing of the meaded plants.


I was wondering what they'd do about the invasive tendencies of
_Hieracium aurianticum_ ((Orange) Hawkbit).

They did in fact go into the problem of grass growth at some length, and
they also considered Ranunculus species to be included.

_Ranunculus acris_ 'Flore Pleno', which they said wasn't invasive.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

The message
from "Carol Russell" contains
these words:



There was no mention of the
fact (unless I slept through that bit) that within a week or so the
grass would need cutting or of how that would be done.
Was a non-maintainable plan put into place briefly and just for the
cameras, I wonder.

Snap! I thought exactly the same thing. I was busy pottering and doing
other things so I missed the object of the exercise - "the flowery
mead".

I suppose one would only have to hand snip the grass in a very small
area around each plant before getting the mower out - and the area of
mead wasn't exactly huge. In Victorian times they had ample labour for
such things.


They did in fact go into the problem of grass growth at some length,

Ah well, that proves it. I did nod off!

Janet G

"Janet Galpin and Oliver Patterson"
from "Carol Russell"
They did in fact go into the problem of grass growth at some length,

Ah well, that proves it. I did nod off!

They'd chosen particular types of ground-hugging grasses apparently, and
also prepared the site with the top layer of soil being sandy and less
fertile while underneath was richer for the deeper rooting perennials. But
even so they'd still been a bit taken aback at how much the grass had
actually grown in the first week or two.

I hope there's some follow up. I'd like to see the result when it's in full
flower and hear how they've been maintaining it.

Sue

Xref: 127.0.0.1 uk.rec.gardening:162205

The message from "Carol Russell"
contains these words:

They did in fact go into the problem of grass growth at some length,

I missed the programme. Could someone summarise what they suggested
please? (If it's likely to be long then don't and I'll understand.)

--
dave @ stejonda

calculate your ecological footprint http://www.lead.org/leadnet/footprint/

I missed the programme. Could someone summarise what they suggested
please? (If it's likely to be long then don't and I'll understand.)

dave @ stejonda


It will probably be on a BBC website somewhere


Art
Swap seeds at
Garden Web http://www.gardenweb.com
My Garden Web exchange page http://www.gardenweb.com/members/exch/art1952

Did anyone see this programme yesterday evening? It dealt with creating
a 1620 flowery mead which Chris Beardshaw did by planting perennials
such as Knautia arvensis into mown grass. There was no mention of the
fact (unless I slept through that bit) that within a week or so the
grass would need cutting or of how that would be done. Presumably
seventeenth century grass-cutting methods would allow cutting right
round small plants, but I can't imagine how it would be done now without
employing an army of gardeners with nail scissors.
Was a non-maintainable plan put into place briefly and just for the
cameras, I wonder.
Janet G

They did say that there would have been plenty of manpower to cut the grass.

Art

I was wondering what they'd do about the invasive tendencies of
_Hieracium aurianticum_ ((Orange) Hawkbit).

They did in fact go into the problem of grass growth at some length, and
they also considered Ranunculus species to be included.

_Ranunculus acris_ 'Flore Pleno', which they said wasn't invasive.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Would they be concerned about self seeding.
It seems to me they are after a chalk downland effect but with different
plants


--
Art
Swap seeds at
Garden Web http://www.gardenweb.com
My Garden Web exchange page http://www.gardenweb.com/members/exch/art1952

In article , Carol Russell Russells@q
ueenborough42.freeserve.co.uk writes
_Ranunculus acris_ 'Flore Pleno', which they said wasn't invasive.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Would they be concerned about self seeding.
It seems to me they are after a chalk downland effect but with different
plants

I had the impression that the intent was to have dot plants in the lawn
(the technical term was an enameled mead, which would not be the same as
a typical flowery mead) so I would have thought that they would be
concerned above self-seeding. However, some double-flowered plants are
sterile; perhaps this buttercup is one such (but in that case how would
it be propagated?)
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

On Sun, 17 Nov 2002 21:46:13 +0000, Stewart Robert Hinsley
wrote:

In article , Carol Russell Russells@q
ueenborough42.freeserve.co.uk writes
_Ranunculus acris_ 'Flore Pleno'

However, some double-flowered plants are
sterile; perhaps this buttercup is one such (but in that case how would
it be propagated?)

Division.

It's a very nice plant.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Janet Galpin and Oliver Patterson wrote:

Did anyone see this programme yesterday evening? It dealt with creating
a 1620 flowery mead which Chris Beardshaw did by planting perennials
such as Knautia arvensis into mown grass. There was no mention of the
fact (unless I slept through that bit) that within a week or so the
grass would need cutting or of how that would be done.

It was mentioned but Chris Beardshaw gabbles away at such a speed
that anything worth listening to, whether coming from him or from
others on the show, is totally lost.

--
Nick Wagg
TranscenData Europe Ltd, Oakington House, Oakington, Cambridge CB4 5AF
Email: URL: www.transcendata.com
Tel: +44 (0)1223 237111 Fax: +44 (0)1223 234192