Merrist Wood

On the 2nd March earlier on this year, myself and a group of fellow students spent a day at Merrist wood near Guildford. The day was organised by Sophie Mc'Guiness who teaches Horticulture at Merrist Wood College. It was a great opportunity for us Landscape Students to do something practical and out of the ordinary of our usual routine so i took the opportunity.

We firstly sowed seeds in planting trays, I sowed Verbena Bonariensis. We were advised to make the sure compost level on top was very level otherwise it affects the plants growth and changes the way water filters through.

 I then sowed 'Ipomea Heavenly Blue', We used a layer of cork chippings over the surface as this plant grows best when the seeds are partially shaded, we then moved our sowed plant trays to a greenhouse for them to begin growing.

 'Grafting' was explained to us, its when two plants within the same species are fixed together, often a more specific stem is grafted to a common root within that species, this gives a less common type of tree a greater chance of success as the root is strong. The two stems are cut horizontally to create a larger surface area, then they are wrapped tightly and placed within a moist heated tube to encourage the grafting. Fascinating.

This is an example of grafting, a 'Fraxinus Excelsior Jaspidea' has been grafted to a common Ash root, with the advantage of a more favourable and strong root system.

 Taking a heavily developed plant, with all its roots we wanted to divide the plant out into pots to develop them further. We used hand blades to cut through the root system and break the plant apart, it seemed quite damaging but our tutor assured us the plant was strong enough to cope with such treatment.

 This is part of that plant i potted, now within its own pot, with space and light to flourish.

 One of the extensive Greenhouses at Merrist Wood, they have a good range of examples of common plants, and also conditions that effect them. It's a constantly developing horticultural environment with its main aim to help students understand the diverse plant world.

 In the afternoon we were taught about the great benefits of developed hedging and how vital they are to our english wildife. Richard took us out to a an ongoing hedge that he and the students are creating. The trees were planted 11 years ago and were ready to be bent and weaved into a medieval style hedge.

The process involves more thought than i assumed, making sure each tree is correctly tucked into its 'home' in the hedge with its branches weaved through. Stakes give structure support to the hedge, a line of willow is threaded through the top and pressed down. where we chopped 3/4's into the trees base to bend it down, shoots will now grow from this base creating a dense wall of growth. The tree now threaded into the hedge carries on living and growing through only one strip of wood and bark connected to the root, i was very surprised by this!
The day at Merrist Wood was greatly beneficial to myself and my colleagues as we are inexperienced within the practical side of landscaping. The areas we covered were quite basic but if we took more trips like this out i'm sure they begin to greatly benefit our work in the studio.