Wyevale Nursery Trip

 During the past YFP week, the University was kindly hosted for a day at Wyevale Nursery commercial site in Hereford.  We were able to see their production greenhouses, potting machines, propagation areas and tree fields, as well as being presented with a selection of planting to experiment with. Below is one of the mixes we came up with. Including a Hebe, Phormium 'platts black', Yuka, Ceanothus, Hedera, Choisya ternata, and Nandina domestica. Not pictured well is also a Fatsia japonica. The ability to experiment with planting in real life was really worthwhile as you could grasp the scale, form and contrasts far easier than working with images or in plan. Seeing in real time how different species contrast each other or blend, it was the closest you can get to painting with plants bar actually planting a scheme. 

The final image at the bottom of this post is Wyevales new Hedera cultivar, Hedera algeriensis Bellecour. Which, unlike standard hedera, is a solely creeping ivy. Providing evergreen ground cover quickly, it is perfect for shady areas and dry soils. Its tendrils stretch between 8-10m in length, but can only support itself 40-50cm in vertical height. Acting as a weed deterrent around trees without the risk of colonisation.