Molly Hibbert

My dad didn't cut the lawn - or at least not often - he let it grow until it was knee-high and the neighbours muttered. Admittedly, my dad isn't much of a gardener and the lack of lawn-mowing was mostly because he never quite got around to it. But there was something so lovely and lush about our wild front lawn. It's strange when you think about what is considered a 'beautiful' lawn; tame and trimmed, bowling green-esque.

Here at Thyme, we are embracing the slightly wilder look and letting our lawns go for No Mow May. There's no need to let it grow as long as my dad's but let's not be Stepford Wives. Abandoning the mower is brilliant for plants and insects; it can increase the diversity of plants resulting in nectar for ten times more pollinators.

The fields at Thyme are buzzing with insects and bright with buttercups, dandelions and daisies. Bright pink and frilly, white and delicate, everything is in full flower; the cow parsley along the lane, the whitebeam tree in the manor garden and the hawthorne and red horse chestnut trees on the lane. When standing underneath one, flowers fill your whole field of vision. And when you try to take a picture - even with a fancy iPhone - the result never does it justice.

The garden team has been busy. Most of our time has been occupied with weeding - and watering. The last few months of relatively dry weather will make the next couple of months tricky. The forecast for the weeks ahead looks sunny and frost-free so we have decided to plant out some of the annuals earlier than we usually would. In the cutting garden and in the borders around the hotel, there are hundreds of cosmos and zinnias, and in the kitchen garden, tidy lines of broad beans, peas and lettuces. Let’s just hope there’s a little more rain (only gardeners get excited about the rain).

Three things to do in the coming weeks:

Gently tuck straw underneath your strawberry plants. This keeps any fruit off the ground and stops them getting damaged. The straw also deters slugs!! If you have anything to scare off birds - wire cages or scarecrows - now is also a good time to get them out of the garden shed.
Deadhead spring bulbs - this stops them from going to seed. However, don't remove any of their leaves, as they need these for photosynthesis.
Keep an eye on roses and clematis and tie them in as they grow.