I have been off work for just short of two weeks and have completely lost track of time and the date so unfortunately the photos for this post were taken at midday when the sun was shining in my eyes so apologies. August has been very mild this year and wet and has, along with Dad’s illness and death, has meant that the garden has been somewhat overlooked.
I will start with the Big Border which I am really pleased with considering the planting was done this Spring. Tweaking is required as there are far too many strappy leaves at the sunny end and I want to increase the amount of yellows, oranges and blues as the intention is that this time of year will be the real focus of the border.
Conversely the Cottage Garden Border is having a real overhaul as it hasn’t been performing as per my imagination. I now have a scheme for it which should have interest throughout the summer with some late spring interest. I am currently digging up everything that isn’t in the right place or I have doubts about and then I am going to improve the soil and then plant out all the plants I have collected over the last couple of weeks.
The Hardy Exotic Border is slowly filling out and I am pleased with the textures. It will be interesting to see how it progresses next year and I want to add a mass of bulbs to give it Spring interest but I haven’t decided what. My first instinct is tulips in reds and other rich colours but I am reluctant to do this as I am sure it will encourage the badger to visit and big up everything in the border. I recently threw a load of tulip bulbs on the compost heap and surprise surprise the badger visited and trashed the place again. I don’t want camassias as I have those in the Big Border so maybe a load of daffodils would be a good idea.
The Not Bog Garden is looking OK but needs some work to give it more structure and definition. I am still pondering this but I feel a shrub is needed in the gap to the left.
I am really pleased with the original woodland border this year. I had been frustrated with it as after the spring bulbs and flowers it looked flat and uninteresting. This spring I added a large persicaria from elsewhere and repositioned a shrub and this height at the back of the border has made a huge difference and added lots of interest. In fact it has gone a little too far the other way and I need to reposition some of the original plants.
I am also pleased with succulent border under one of the front windows but I still have to get rid of the dandelions! The sempervivums have really bulked up in the trough and I am now thinking of adding more around it.
Nipping back round to the patio the Patio Border is entering its late summer period when the Kirengeshoma palmata comes into its own. I need to reposition the Edgeworthia to the left of the border to balance it out better and add some more bulbs for spring.
Finally the Staging area is at capacity with pelargoniums and succulents enjoying the last of summer. I need to do more weeding here and remove the Mind your Business Plant yet again – never by this plant you will regret it!
So there we are at the end of August. Not as much progress with projects as I had hoped when I wrote this post in July but then life has a habit of throwing curve balls and there isn’t anything that can’t wait.
Everyone is welcome to join in with this meme and I love visiting all your gardens to see what you are up to. You can use the meme as you want whether its to look at one area over a period of time or just to have a tour of the garden. All I ask is that you link to this post in yours and put a link to your post in the comment box below so we can all find each other. Have fun.
