tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59371282024-03-06T04:43:49.857+00:00Ochran BlogThe transformation of 2 acres in South Wales from flooded field to garden.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-13462935190060931972013-03-13T08:50:00.001+00:002013-03-13T08:50:11.516+00:00Random photosAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-16451730071322155572012-07-05T20:55:00.003+00:002012-07-05T20:55:45.571+00:00Closed in 2012Just to let you know, due to a serious family illness, the garden will not be opening in 2012.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-66881273982035127792011-05-30T10:30:00.004+00:002011-05-30T11:26:07.391+00:00Pretty PicturesSome of the flowers that are out in the garden at the moment.....I was going to spend the day in the garden today, but rain stopped play !!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-68799111778341453582011-05-29T08:35:00.000+00:002013-03-13T08:37:52.346+00:00Some more photosAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-173946623586038852011-05-24T19:41:00.001+00:002011-05-29T19:47:33.133+00:00Our new Feature !!A quick wander around the garden and I came across this, no longer having the protection of the woods this tree and a couple of others decided to come down in the strong winds. This was the only one that came into the garden, the others are precariously leaning into the trees beside the brook....I hope the wind doesn't change direction! Anyway the tree is now fire wood for next winter..... Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-75911933230719745472011-05-03T08:29:00.000+00:002013-03-13T08:35:30.091+00:00Just some pictures of the garden this year
As I'm so busy I just thought I'd post some photos of the garden here.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-76841182262787791532011-04-24T19:01:00.003+00:002011-04-24T19:13:24.738+00:00I'm back !!!Ok, ok I know its a long time since I posted on this blog, but hopefully I'll be posting some pictures of the garden soon, all the Rhododendrons and azaleas are just coming into bloom and its looking pretty good....Apart from tomorrow (Mon 25th APr) we will be open every afternoon till the 2nd May, I'll then post our opening days from then.Our NGS garden openings this year are:June 19th 1-6pmJulyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-44935654702204174022010-04-28T10:19:00.001+00:002010-04-28T10:23:31.573+00:00This blog has moved This blog is now located at http://ochranmill.blogspot.com/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://ochranmill.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960303531909014089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-79860936375291137992008-09-26T09:11:00.010+00:002008-10-29T17:21:25.729+00:00Welsh Classic Pinball OpenLast Sunday Ochran Mill played host to the First Annual Welsh Classic Pinball Open. As anyone who has visited the garden will know we house a collection of early solid state pinbal machines from the 70s and 80s, for the competition other collectors brought along several machines of this era as the competition was specifically for older machines. The Classic was approved by the International Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960303531909014089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-59631341565476829932008-03-14T23:06:00.002+00:002008-03-14T23:16:51.129+00:00Not enough time for the garden.Life is so busy at present I have spent very little time in the garden. I hope this weekend to make a big effort to start clearing the herbaceous borders, I have 20tons of manure dumped at the bottom of the lane to spread. We have already had people asking if we are open yet, apparently we were last Easter!!Failing starting this weekend the Easter holidays are booked for work in the garden, so I Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-65432210456227315862007-07-14T22:02:00.000+00:002007-08-03T22:04:47.109+00:00Saving GraceIn the third in our series on summer gardens to visit, Elspeth Thompson basks in the shoestring splendour of Ochran Mill.With eight children between them, and up to three foster children at a time, you wouldn't have thought Elaine and David Rolfe had much opportunity for gardening. And yet, in less than five years, they have not only created a beautiful garden from a couple of rough fields, they Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-13489526967178314432007-06-09T21:46:00.001+00:002011-04-07T18:55:38.234+00:00Evening Opening Don't forget our open evening this coming thursday (14th June 2007).We've got a licenced bar so it should bequite fun! click on the poster for a large version.DaveDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960303531909014089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-61848509056761633412007-05-06T11:01:00.001+00:002011-04-07T18:56:07.364+00:00First NGS Day of 2007 Today was our first NGS opening of the year and to my untrained eye the garden seemed pretty much up together. I spent the first part of this week building a new summerhouse structure next to the pond and I was quite pleased with the results. I also cleared a bit more of the woodland path and built two new seats in the woods. Elaine was pottering about doing weeding or what ever it is she does. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12960303531909014089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-5139917400348114122007-03-29T20:02:00.000+00:002007-03-29T20:33:49.068+00:00Spring Once AgainWe've got the waterfall in the ponds working now, and moved in some of the fish from the waterwheel pond. Millions of tadpoles now inhabit the wildlife pond which give the children endless hours of interest. Further around the garden the hellebores and daffodils planted last year are in full bloom and very colourful. My bargain £5 camellias have flowered their socks off above the ponds.The new Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-14279610561982304682007-03-06T21:15:00.000+00:002007-03-07T21:37:11.493+00:00Under WaterYesterday after heavy rains the herbaceous garden has flooded in parts, the worst since moving here nearly 5 years ago . Our usual fast flowing brook rose by about 1m during the day. We also have rivers flowing through the woodland gardens down the slope. During the night the river has risen even further resulting with it bursting its banks into the garden, most of the debris is sand and bark Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-53885363049914894502007-02-20T21:08:00.000+00:002007-03-07T21:14:35.942+00:00Even More Snow.We've had even more snow today, totally un-forcast(whats new)! We had more than yesterday, about 10" in all. Traffic has been very slow moving on the main road. It started snowing at 7.20am and continued until about 5pm. Of course the children were delighted, 2 days off to play in the snow.They've managed to make a roof for their igloo, so thats kept them busy for the best part of the day.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-5955625884162682772007-02-08T15:08:00.003+00:002007-02-08T17:23:35.061+00:00They Got it Right for a Change !The snow fell as predicted overnight and by the morning was about 6" deep, the most we've seen in our 5 years here. The children have the day off school so are busy building an igloo in the field. The pond that has been frozen for the past 5 days is the only clear area.The view from the field across the river. The chinchilla's seem to be absolutely fine in their avairy. We put some clear plastic Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-47076815508701926772007-02-02T19:19:00.000+00:002007-02-03T19:59:17.526+00:00Sunny days in the gardenI didn't think I had done much out on the raised circle, but judging by the photo I reckon I've worked quite hard..good job the weather is so nice at the momment, I've been working in a t-shirt for a couple of days. I've filled in too much of the circle with poor soil from other parts of the garden, so the back area that I'm still digging out will be going down to raise some of the beds back up Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-1170102864223689802007-01-27T20:13:00.000+00:002007-01-29T20:40:25.160+00:00Early Spring, this Year ?This stunning sunset really was this colour, we woke up one morning with the bedroom clouded in pink, it was quite spectacular, it went within 10 minutes to be replaced by a much paler version.The temperature today reached 13degrees, rather warm for this time of year. I noticed 2 butterflies on the Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postill', it smelt wonderful too, luckily I was working in the bed just Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-1168114757313514322006-11-29T20:07:00.000+00:002007-01-06T20:19:17.326+00:00Quick updateThis is the view from our bedroom window, towards the woodlands. We get a good view of the pond, and the dining area, and usually see what the children are up to.I quite often spend time looking out over the garden, making plans of what I'd like to do next. Its a good exercise in disipline, as I always make far too many plans, and have to reduce all the ideas in line with the space I have Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-1164317893121602082006-11-23T21:18:00.000+00:002006-11-23T21:47:52.820+00:00Pond In ProgressI managed to line the ponds with extensive carpet donations, this hopefully protects the liner and stops the moles digging through and ruining the pond, perhaps the weight of the water will stop too much damage...they just seem to dig under the swimming pool. With the help of one of the children I managed to get the liner laid out in an afternoon, it looks easy, but I assure you its not..I waitedAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-1162245982013610062006-10-07T14:32:00.000+00:002006-10-31T16:29:11.436+00:00Finished digging wildlife pond at last!The roses on the arbour have been flowering for weeks now, even some of the clematis have recovered from being stuck in pots at the garden centres and put on an impresive display, next year should be stunning. The wildlife pond at last has been dug out and I've managed to get some old carpet to line the bottom, m'spouse is getting a bit fed up of me stopping at every skip to see if they've got Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-1162401861833080212006-09-09T17:13:00.000+00:002006-11-01T17:30:50.483+00:00"The Times Back Garden of the Year 2006"Back Garden of the YearStephen Anderton begins his countdown of the winning plots: Week one, the runners up"Some journalists are sent to war zones; I get to look round gardens, which is fine by me. My idea of heaven, in fact. And in June I was looking round your gardens, judging the shortlisted entries in this year’s best back garden competition; what wonderful places there were to see – Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-1162243806684265662006-09-09T15:17:00.000+00:002006-10-31T16:48:44.950+00:00An Update on earlier projects.I don't think I've posted any pictures of the dining area now its sort of finished. I've built a retaining wall about 1' high out of left over stone to hold back the soil and also to define the area. We serve cream tea's at weekends if the weather is nice, and it has proved very popular. The steps are still not finished as the stump at the top has proved very difficult to remove, we're going to Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5937128.post-1162242871196985142006-08-01T16:57:00.000+00:002006-10-31T16:32:03.693+00:00Busy digging and shifting.I've made a start on digging out the ponds, the lower edge I'm building up slightly to reduce the digging, I've also laid a waterproof membrane punctured in places under this area to create a bog garden. Run off from the pond will probably help keep this area wet too. I've moved some of the top soil to the area behind the shed as this needed building up, some of the turf has been relaid there in Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587143084110425888noreply@blogger.com0