Finally I can stop moaning about the lack of rain as the last week has been decidedly wet leaving the garden looking very lush. I surprised myself at how much things had grown in the last year when I looked back at last year’s August EOMV post. It just shows you how easy it is to forget what progress has been made and how things have developed and I think it reinforces the benefits of taking regular photographs of the garden, and maybe participating in this meme.
So to start with the usual path up to the workshop. I have been on a bit of a grass-fest this last month while I have been on annual leave and you might just spot a Stipa tenuissima near the foreground. I want to soften the edges of the steps and given how sunny this part of the garden is with good drainage grasses seem a good partner to the numerous bulbs I have planted here. If you look closely at the far end of the steps you can just spot the cyclamen that have been flowering for the last couple of weeks.
Turning left from the bottom of the steps we have the lower path which runs almost along the top of the retaining wall. The border to the left is really a rose border, although the flowers haven’t been that great this year, and I have been adding other plants such as sedum and penstemons to bring some late summer color. To the right is the bottom of the Big Border which slopes down from the grass path. This border’s season of interest is primarily late summer due to the various asters that are planted here. I am still trying to get their arrangement right since they were originally acquired for the back slope before the workshop gobbled it up. I struggle with balancing the tall and shorter varieties in a border where they are seen from both sides and which slopes. I am slowly moving most of the tall asters to the middle of the border and it does seem to be working. I now need to work on planting around the bottom of the border to disguise the legs of the asters.
From the far end of the bottom path you can look back to the workshop through the Calamgrostis ‘Overdam’. The Calamgrostis has been victim to my tweaking, being moved by all of a foot backwards into the border. It was right against the top edge of the border and hemmed in by a tall aster to the point where it didn’t seem to be able to waft in the breeze and what is the point of having grasses if they aren’t allowed to waft. The aster has been relocated, it’s not looking very happy but hopefully the rain will help, but the grass looks so much better now and there is movement and that’s what I want in the garden – a realisation that has crept up on me during my various garden visits this year.
At the end of the bottom path you come to the lower part of the woodland border. Looking back it hasn’t changed much since last year except the plants are larger. For now I think it is working although there is a bare path where the Solomon’s Seal was before I cut it down to counter the invasion of the Solomon Seal Sawfly.
The other end of the woodland border has seen major upheaval a year ago when the acer died. I am beginning to get an idea of how I would like it to look and you might spot a miscanthus in the background along with a carex and hosta still in their pots waiting for planting. This area isn’t as shady as it was due to the removal of the willow canopy and it is interesting to see how the shade lovers have thrived due to the increase in moisture despite the border being sunnier.
From the top of the woodland border you find yourself looking across, again, to the workshop, across what was the Bog Garden. This is now a much drier area due to the holes I over zealously punched in the liner – opps. If you look back at last year’s post you will see how this area has grown up over the last year and last week I moved the Paulwonia tomentosa from the back slope to this border. I felt that the Paulwonia was struggling on the slope which is very free draining and think its height will add interest to its new home.
Finally the grass path which runs along the top of the Big Border and is looking very neat thanks to a quick haircut ready for its photocall. In the foreground you can see the Anemanthele lessoniana that has been added in the last week. There is another to the right of the path and a third at the far end of the border. I hope that the third one will draw the eye and add some cohesion to my eclectic planting. I need to work on the border to the right of the path next year as whilst I am happy with it in spring it falls apart the rest of the year. There are some phloxes here which I have persevered with for a couple of years but I am really tired of now as they aren’t performing and the large white one looks terrible when the flowers fade or get damaged by rain. I seem to be adopting a warm orange, rust and yellow theme here so I think I might try to see where that goes.
If you would like to join in the End of Month meme you are very welcome – the more the merrier. All we ask if that you add a link to this post in your post and that you leave a link to your post in the comment box below so we can all find you.