Author Archives: Susanne Raven

Stormy and Quiet Times

29-2-2020
There seems to be a storm every weekend at the moment. Plants seem to take the weather in their stride and do their quiet early spring work. If you look closely, you’ll see fresh green emerging, buds swelling or even opening, bulbs pushing out their leaves. Daffodils, Ornamental Cherries, Magnolias, Wild Plums etc are flowering.

Garden work has picked up. It’s unspectacular at the moment, but it’s ongoing and getting everything ready for warmer weather and faster growth. Pruning, weeding, digging, planting, planning.
No news from the young apple tree. It’s biding its time at the moment.

Do go out when the weather lets you. Enjoy the warm rays of sunshine, relish the shades of green, treat your nose to the faint-but-sweet scent of early flowers.

Resting apple tree
Veil of blue and green: Omphalodes verna
Must-have: Honesty (Lunaria annua)
New leaves of Geranium, Hemerocallis and Tulips

Murky Mist and Splendid Sunshine

31-1-2020
January is an odd mix of rest and activity. The new year has started and hibernation is clearly over, but things aren’t in full swing yet. The weather might turn really cold yet. Snow and frost might yet come. There’s still a holding-back before the year gains momentum. And yet, work is getting done, mountains are being moved.
It’s fruit pruning time now, and a good time for other winter pruning. We prune many trees and shrubs in winter, because plants are resting. After pruning, when the new growth begins, they can fill out their new shape without wasting energy on branches that have been removed. Pruning is also easier when branches are bare. Once the leaves have appeared, it’s more difficult to see the structure of a tree or shrub. Also, it’s better to prune before birds start nesting. Who wants to build a nest and then be disturbed by the gardener?
Pruning keeps trees and shrubs in good health, balances out irregular growth and enhances flowers and fruit.
Now is also a good time for cleaning up the garden – digging, removing weeds and briars, tidying overgrown areas – and plan and plant anew. The photos show a somewhat untidy bank, overgrown by briars and last year’s flowers. After the clean-up, most plant debris have been removed. Red and yellow stemmed Cornus (dogwood) have been planted, together with cuttings of red, orange, green and brown stemmed willow. Last year’s flowers will have self-seeded. Over time, the bank will offer lots of food for bees and other wildlife from early in the year onwards. In summer, there will be a good cover of leaves and flowers. In winter, the different coloured stems will make a great display.

Ongoing projects are coming on nicely. An area planted with Erica (heather) in summer 2018 is now in full bloom and starting to spread and cover the ground. A wildflower bed sown in September 2019 has turned green with brave seedlings that will not be deterred, whatever the weather.
The young Braeburn apple tree has been pruned back and is now, once again, smaller than the gardener – but not for long! 160cm tall today. Let’s see how long that lasts.

Pruning time!
Before: area to be cleared, December 2019
After: area cleared and planted, January 2020
Before: area to be cleared, November 2017
After: area re-vamped in 2018, now flowering, January 2020
Wildflower mix sown September 2019
Wildflower seedlings have emerged, January 2020
Braeburn apple tree
Clematis ‘Winter Beauty’
Iris reticulata
Sweetly scented Daphne

Winter Rest

31-12-2019
The year will be over in a few hours. It was a year of thriving, hard work, new and old skills, finding solutions, making things happen. The weather has been very kind. Now a time of rest is much needed.
The young Braeburn tree is now taller than the gardener and has reached a height of just over 2m.
The various willows have done very well and are ready for harvesting. They will be used as cuttings (to be planted in other gardens) and for basket making and staking.
As usual, some plants won’t be daunted by cold or by short hours of daylight. Vinca, Fatsia, Arbutus, Eleagnus and the odd willow are flowering, and even rose flowers can be seen here and there.
While it’s a good time to take a break, winter is also a good time for pruning and planting trees and shrubs, and for planning, of course. Don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Braeburn apple tree
Willow ready for harvesting
Flowering Vinca (periwinkle)
Flowering Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree)
Frost-enchanted garden

Early Autumn Activity

30-9-2019

While the young Braeburn apple tree continues to stretch towards the sky, Aphrodite’s Gardens put the newly learned skills into action and sowed wildflower meadows in two gardens. Two weeks later the first seedlings were already showing!

Bulb planting has also started. www.futureforests.ie and www.fruithillfarm.com have a good choice of (organic) bulbs on offer and deliver fast and hassle-free.

Seed saving is in full swing. The seeds of summer flowers are safely dried and stored for next year, while tree seeds are only starting to ripen.

To find out how to make your garden more pollinator-friendly, take a look at the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan at https://pollinators.ie/ . Lots of information to be found here!

Freshly sown wildflower meadow 1
Newly sown wildflower meadow 2
A green veil of tiny wildflower seedlings
Bulb delivery – planting time is between now and the end of December
Seed saving – next year’s summer flowers packed away safely for the winter

Outings and a New Skill

16-8-2019
A mighty, beautiful, bountiful summer! Gardens are flowering, fruit are ripening.
The Braeburn apple tree has added 50cm to its main shoot and is now as tall as a tall person.

Aphrodite’s Gardens went on four exciting outings:
First to Nangle&Niesen Wholesale Nurseries, where the head gardener showed us rows and rows of amazing trees of various ages and sizes. Tree heaven!
Next came an Open Day at Sandro Cafolla’s wildflower farm. Mr Cafolla supplied excellent information on how to start and maintain a wildflower meadow and its benefits for biodiversity. He has been supplying wildflower seeds for 30 years and puts an emphasis on native seeds. The website www.wildflowers.ie provides plenty of information and many different seed mixes to choose from, something to suit each site and soil type.
Autumn is the time for soil preparation and sowing, so if you’d like to have a wildflower meadow or even a small wildflower area in your garden, start planning now and give us a call!
The next outing took us to Fota House&Gardens, where a free guided tour takes place every Wednesday during the summer months. Fota has a great collection of native and more exotic trees, many of them planted many decades ago. In the walled garden, some sections of lawn have recently been transformed into areas of wildflowers and pollinator friendly flowers. A different take on what we saw at Sandro Cafolla’s farm.
The last outing was a scything course. Mowing by scythe is a big trend in the UK and on the continent. It is an eco-friendly way of maintaining meadows and weedy areas, as it uses no fossil fuels and causes neither air nor noise pollution. A great skill to add to the services provided by Aphrodite’s Gardens!

Braeburn’s main shoot
Open Day at Sandro Cafolla’s wildflower farm
Cornus kousa flowering at Fota House&Gardens
Mowing by scythe

Projects and Plans

30-6-2019
The past months have been filled with big and small projects – not only in private gardens, but also in a public location in Whitegate. Two enthusiastic groups of school children, together with their dedicated school principal, helped to finish the Whitegate project and turned it into a much-appreciated community event.

A sensory path is gaining shape in a garden where children with autism and other special needs come to visit regularly. The idea is to fill the path with sections of different materials like sand, stone, timber etc., so that people walking the path barefoot can feel the impact of different materials on the soles of their feet.

Nature is thriving in abundance this summer. There is a good amount of growth and plants are richly adorned with beautiful flowers.
The Braeburn apple tree is stretching its main shoot and side shoots and is slowly beginning to look like a proper tree.

July promises a number of gardening outings and acquisition of new skills – watch this space!

Whitegate school children planting a public plant border
Chamomile lawn on sensory path
Shells and pebbles on sensory path
Hand-sewn ‘scarecrow’ curtain to keep birds out of a client’s greenhouse
Braeburn apple tree
Main and side shoots stretching
Abundant flowers in a border newly planted a year ago

Apple Blossom Time

12-5-2019
While Magnolias and Cherry Blossoms were outdoing themselves with a magnificent show of flowers, apples were taking their time this year. But now they’re covered in beautiful white flowers with a touch of pink, and their fine scent attracts lots of pollinating insects.
The young Braeburn tree isn’t flowering yet, but its neighbour Early Victoria, two years older, is joining the more mature trees by blossoming fully.


Aphrodite’s Gardens has been busy planning and planting new projects on top of the ongoing maintenance work. The weather has been great, and it’s a pleasure to finish projects within schedule.


A word about first communions, confirmations and other events: If you have an event coming up and would like to get your garden into shape beforehand, please get in touch way ahead of the event.
First of all, planning takes time. It makes sense to look at ideas and options for a while, to discuss them and find out what you really want, and then go for it when the time is right.
Second, some plants are available at certain times of the year, while unavailable at other times. Planning ahead allows for the best choice of plants at the right moment and can save a lot of money.
Third and most important, plants are living beings who need time to settle in after planting. A newly planted border still looks ‘empty’ for a while, until plants start to grow and fill the space.
Getting started a year before the event allows ample time for planning, planting and growing. Getting started in January for a May event is a good idea. Getting started ten days before the event, however, is not so great. There are still things that can be done short-term, but it will likely be a stressful experience to all involved, people and plants alike.
So start thinking about next year’s first communions, confirmations, weddings, anniversaries…. now! Do get in touch and we’ll start planning. You can then watch out all summer and autumn for plants and planting schemes you like or dislike and let your ideas grow.

Braeburn apple tree covered in fresh leaves
Early Victoria apple tree in full blossom
Apple trees planted about 10 years ago
Before: border in January
After: same border end of April, after tidying, digging, weeding, planting

Long Lasting Beauty

31-3-2019
The weather remained mild and is now sunny and even warm during daytime. It’s a very good spring for Magnolias and Ornamental Cherries, who keep their flowers much longer than in other years. All the usual spring suspects are flowering profusely. Bluebells are just starting to open, so if you get a chance to visit a woodland area, go there and look for the magic blue carpet.
The Braeburn apple tree is opening its leave buds! While the older apple trees are holding back this year, the young tree leads the way.
If you’re out and about, look at the trees at the road side. Some trees have unfolded their leaves already, while others still show no sign of spring at all. Sometimes one tree in a row of trees will be much further advanced than its siblings.
Aphrodite’s Gardens has been travelling abroad and spotted a massive 100 year old Manna Ash in Amsterdam’s Hortus Botanicus. The tree has been grafted, and 100 years down the line it’s easy to see the difference between graft (smooth bark) and root stock (broken bark).

Braeburn apple tree opening its leaves
Ornamental Cherry
Newly unfolded Horse Chestnut leaves
Buddleia globosa pushing out flower buds
Grafted Manna Ash

Early Appearance

1-3-2019
Due to the mild weather, leaves and flowers are appearing early this spring. Bees are busy already, and even the odd butterfly is flapping its wings in the sunshine.
The young apple tree is still resting, but there’s a slight fattening of buds.
During the past few weeks, Aphrodite’s Gardens has been working on a major project: Planting up a new garden with lots of native shrubs, rockery plants, perennials, a mixed native shrub hedge and an evergreen hedge.
Native trees and shrubs are a great asset. They look beautiful. They do well in our climate. They provide wind shelter. They offer accommodation and food for wildlife. And they’re fairly easy to look after and – depending on the appropriate choice of plants – don’t grow too tall for the domestic garden. Most of them can also be bought bare-root for winter planting and are therefore very good value.
In between working on this project, time was filled by the usual fruit pruning, the creation of plant supports from home-grown willow and a visit to Fota Gardens to see the unbelievably beautiful magnolia trees in flower.

A Mild Beginning

23-1-2019
The new year is off to a mild start. The grass is growing, bulbs are pushing their leaves out of the ground, elder and other shrubs are starting to unfold first leaves, and lots of plants are flowering, seemingly unimpressed by the concept of winter.


While snowdrops, daffodils and Camellias are not an unusual sight in January, Hebe, Vinca and the odd rose flower are certainly unexpected. Now is also the time for less showy flowers. Hazel, alder and willow are important early food for bees and other insects.


The young apple tree is still resting.


Aphrodite’s Gardens is back in action after the winter break, planting bareroot native shrubs and trees and continuing the usual maintenance work. Fruit pruning season has started, so if you’d like to get your fruit trees and bushes into shape, give us a call!

Braeburn apple tree resting
Camellia japonica
Hebe, a great plant for coastal areas
Vinca (periwinkle)
Flowering willow – early food for bees & co.