Old Vicarage Archives

An Artful Gardener - An Artful Blog - Topiary 2 Old Vicarage Rear View House and Garden

Plants The Garden The Old Vicarage

November 22, 2020

Topiary 2 – Osmanthus Burkwoodii and the Battle of Box Blight

The Full Monty The flower bed at the rear of the house at The Old Vicarage is a bit of a disaster. Over the years we have made a number…

Neil Kinsella

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An Artful Gardener - An Artful Blog - Topiary bushes at the Old Vicarage

Plants The Garden

November 14, 2020

Topiary – Living Sculpture in the Old Vicarage Garden

It Ain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It As ever, serendipity has been my friend when it comes to developing topiary as a key element of…

Neil Kinsella

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An Artful Gardener - An Artful Blog - A Celt with a burning torch landscape

History The Old Vicarage

November 6, 2020

All Hallows, Samhain and the Grey Lady of Astley Moss

Ghost stories are taken seriously in this part of the world. The Old Vicarage lies at the edge of a wetland wilderness, Astley Moss, now protected as an area of…

Neil Kinsella

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An Artful Gardener - An Artful Blog - Hedges side garden patio landscape

The Garden

October 18, 2020

Welsh Hedge Trimmers Must Self-Isolate!

Aros I Ffwrdd Mark Drakeford, the Labour Welsh First Minister, has locked down my hedge trimmers. They are now self-isolating in a shed in North Wales. What’s more he’s warned…

Neil Kinsella

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An Artful Gardener - An Artful Blog - Jimi Hendrix playing guitar landscape

Music The Garden

September 11, 2020

Would you Adam and Eve it? Jimi Hendrix just interrupted my drive on the third tee

First a flash of green appeared. I wasn’t sure what I’d just seen. Was it a bird or a plane? Then squadrons of vibrant lime green Aussies appeared cartwheeling across…

Neil Kinsella

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The Garden

September 7, 2020

A Leap of Leopards – in a Manchester Garden

We have a leap of leopards in our Mancunian front garden. It’s okay though, they’re no trouble and it’s safe to approach them. They definitely don’t bite. They’re spectacular performers…

Neil Kinsella

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An Artful Gardener - An Artful Blog - Vivaldi composer of the Four Seasons landscape

The Garden

August 31, 2020

Vivaldi’s Artistic Challenge – “The Eight Wonky Seasons of the Pandemic” (inspired by a Manchester garden in 2020)

If you’ve been in the garden this year, you can be forgiven for being confused by the comings and goings of the seasons. Whilst, at the same time, feeling blessed…

Neil Kinsella

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An Artful Gardener Artful Blog Oasis at Aboukir

Travel

June 15, 2019

The Oasis at Aboukir

The day after the National Garden Scheme Old Vicarage garden opening, we flew to Paris. Our taxi arrived to take us to the airport at 5.00 a.m. We were tired,…

Neil Kinsella

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An Artful Gardener Astley Old Vicarage Garden visitors cake stall and greenhouse

Charities The Garden

June 15, 2019

Which weekend? Or why it’s better to be lucky than good

The Cleverness of Me. "Oh, the cleverness of me". This is my daughter’s favourite putdown whenever I get too big for my boots - gardening or otherwise. So it is,…

Neil Kinsella

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Charities The Garden

May 30, 2019

When will the Poppy Flowers Pop?

We go live with the garden at Astley Old Vicarage in 2 days when we open under the National Garden Scheme . We'll welcome friends and visitors, old and new,…

Neil Kinsella

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Old Vicarage Archives - An Artful Gardener