Which brings me to where I shall start the review of this month....
The front hedge is officially out of control. It is probably about eight feet tall and my house is disappearing behind it. People are ringing me from outside my house saying they cannot find my house. It resembles those houses that old ladies with too many cats live in that are hidden behind massive hedges............... I have been waiting for the birds that nest in the hedge to fledge before cutting it and it has taken advantage of this and grown and grown and grown. It will be tackled soon, promise.
The Knot Garden has been trimmed at last. It looks a lot neater. The front garden is also a bit out of control at the moment. The lavender edges which you cannot see are full of weeds and will be dealt with soon - promise no:2
The Quince Hedge has been trimmed with hedge trimmers, it is now officially a hedge. This makes me happy.
Around to the back garden and the cardoons are starting to flower. A sure sign that summer is getting on a bit. I love these cardoons, they are ten years old now and flower every year. Bees love them as much as I do, maybe more.
The Formal Lawn is looking very green and the borders seem very full. This is good.
This part of the Pond Border has always been problematic until this year. I planted these hollyhocks last year after growing them from seed; they have added good height and I am pleased with them.
The Courtyard looks quite green. After dosing the pots with nematodes for vine weevil the plants seem a lot happier. I have repotted a few of them as well and that has perked them up too.
The spikeys and pelagoniums are also doing well. This staging seems to suit them as they can drain quite freely and also catch the sun.
The Wild Garden is about at its peak and will be cut by mid-September. It is full of ragwort this year and the yellow rattle does seem to have reduced the vigour of the grasses a bit. This part of the garden is alive with bees, moths and butterflies. It is a total delight.
The teasel patch is also quite wild, and this year has flowered well and is also a magnet for bees and butterflies. The patch varies greatly year on year. The biennial nature of teasels tends to mean I get some years that are better than others. This is a good year.
The Woodland Border seems on first glance to be mainly full of euphorbias and echinops. They do dominate the border a bit but not beyond bearable yet.
The Exotic Border is quite green from this view at the moment. I am liking this border a lot at the moment.
The edgeworthia (with lurking Bruce) has grown very well this year.
There is a good six inches of new growth. This gives me hope that if we have a harsh winter that it might be big enough to survive.
The fernery is very ferny. They are loving this shady damp corner.
The hornbeams are striving to meet each other to fill the gap left by the pergola removal.
The vegetable beds are largely full of flowers growing for my daughter's wedding in October. So far all seems to be on track.
I think I have enjoyed growing flowers in these borders more than I have done growing potatoes. I have also kept them weeded better than usual.
and I have grown some vegetables. At the moment there are runner and french beans doing very well. The courgettes are not glutting yet and I am very excited about the sweetcorn ripening.
Ray the otter sits by the pond, after a couple of tumbles into the pond (I suspect a cat) he seems to have settled now.
I end as usual on the pond, which is looking fairly clear and the parrot weed is not so prominent this year. I will remove more soon. The pond had got a bit low but the recent rain has helped it recover a little.Thanks as ever to Helen for hosting this meme.
