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Lady Penelope's 10th Anniversary Press Release May 2018

PRESS RELEASE Lady Penelope Gardens… Specialising in the care of fine country gardens and estates and now celebrating their 10-year anniversary …. Angela speaks about her success .. and the need to always keep a pair of rose-tinted specs to hand! how did they get there? “I was filming a wildlife documentary in Mozambique … that is where I decided … it was time to follow my heart” Angela Palmerton, Director and Owner, Lady Penelope Gardens Angela Palmerton established Lady Penelope Gardens Ltd in 2008.  The business has grown from just sole gardener to a full-time skilled team of 12 (and actively growing!), maintaining, managing and landscaping fine country estates and gardens across Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire.  Angela said “My first ten customers knew that I’d just started out, I was self-taught and they appreciated the honesty … they trusted, supported, and were happy to recommend me as a new starter”.   Angela continued “ I’ve always aspired to work
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LADY PENELOPE’S GARDENING TIPS FOR MAY

I love May (and not just because it is my birthday). It is really the first month that the weather is noticeably warmer, the days are noticeably longer, the dawn chorus is earlier and louder, and the garden is burgeoning. I always wash my face in the morning dew on May Day, I can’t remember why now… May sees the last of the frosts until autumn, making it safe to plant tender plants into the garden, after about the 20th of May. The increased daylight really helps give us energy and we are more likely to potter in the garden longer, until the light fades. It is worth making the most of this, because it is only next month that we have the longest day and it starts to decline again, so make the most of it! Jobs to do this month include lifting and dividing overcrowded clumps of spring bulbs such as daffodils and snowdrops and replanting them. This should also be done for primroses as they can get so overcrowded that they actually divide on top of each other creating a tall mound. Not th
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LADY PENELOPE’S GARDENING TIPS FOR APRIL

The kaleidoscope of colour to be seen in every area of soil around us at the moment is breathtaking; yellow daffodils and primroses, camellias, magnolias, wild flowers, celandine…. So beautiful. Just as prolific though are weeds rushing to establish and set seed before we have even noticed them. You must be vigilant with your hoe if you are not to spend the rest of the season groaning at the success of these early seeders. Other tasks to tackle this month are feeding containers; planting out chitted potatoes; sowing carrots and salad leaves; pruning penstemons; potting up shooting dahlia’s; planting lily bulbs; and planting up hanging baskets although these should be kept in a greenhouse until the danger of frost has passed. Planting them now will give the plants time to root and settle in before active growth begins in earnest. No doubt your grass is declaring the need to be cut, if you haven’t already begun this. According to new research, the mowing season now lasts for eight mon
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LADY PENELOPE’S GARDENING TIPS FOR MARCH

Spring is divine! So much emerging life and energy around the garden from plants and wildlife. It is impossible not to be drawn in and find that the faint rays of sun energise and mobilise us to be outside and doing (reminding me of that wonderful line about how we should take time in our lives to do some human  being  rather than human  doing …but not in Spring!). The wondrous scents from spring flowering shrubs such as Daphne odora, Hamamelis mollis (Chinese Witch hazel) and Sarcococca confusa (Sweet Box) are mesmerising. If your garden is lacking in this area, put some scented shrubs on your wish list for this year and look forward to the heady scents next spring. We have had many storms during this winter causing trees to come down, and no doubt fence panels. If you have suffered, it is a good idea to think about planting windbreak hedges, trees or plants. This has many benefits, not only providing a permeable filter layer from the wind, but also contributing to a micro-climate
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LADY PENELOPE’S GARDENING TIPS FOR FEBRUARY

Before I was a gardener, winter seemed to go on for ever, it always seemed to be raining, and the dark days went on and on. As a professional gardener and a keen home gardener, I can honestly say that actual winter does not last long enough… because I anticipate a lengthy rest from the physical demands of gardening and it just doesn’t happen! I had barely made the decision to leave my herbaceous plants uncut for wildlife, before the new growth was bursting through the dead stuff. I had barely looked at my seed catalogue before it was time to sow in earnest. The last cut of the lawn was so late in the year that it now needs mowing to begin again!!! Where’s the rest?? As regards the rain, there is probably only a handful of days’ work lost due to rain. It actually doesn’t rain that much. The daylight is already noticeably lengthening, and it is still only February. So, no rest for gardeners. With that in mind, here are some timely reminders. Finish pruning wisterias back to 2/3 buds;
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