Another year and the start of another series of End of Month posts. Time for some new views, projects and pondering.
I plan to start with the view above which is the grass path between the Big Border and the former Bog Garden which is in need of a new name but first of all it needs some sort of identity. I have some plans for the area on the right of the photo to give it more structure and interest but I think there will be a pinky/red/white theme picking up on the prunus flowers and the berries of the sorbus. The Big Border still needs some rejigging to get the planting looking right. The Euphorbia dominates the border and I want to try to tie it in with the planting around it more but I’m not sure how yet. There are lots of asters and late flowering perennials in this border but I think I want to try to give it interest earlier in the year. I have added some bulbs but I can’t remember where so I shall be watching to see what comes up and where I need to add more.
This is another view I haven’t included before and shows the whole of the former Bog Garden as well as the newish Hardy Exotic Border. The tin bath is earmarked to be filled with some white Zantedeschia. It will be interesting to see how much light this border will get now that the willow that shaded most of it has been significantly reduced. I want to tidy up the planting on the left hand side to try to reduce the impression that plants have been dumped there, which they have to a degree. I also fancy a bit of sculpture and I have my heart set on some willow sculpture which would be kind of ironic. The other thing that bothers me is the camber of the grass path which slopes down the garden and is quite frankly hopeless as I find it impossible to cut. I keep bouncing back and forth between taking it up and replacing with a gravel path or relaying the grass on a flat base.
As an aside I am also hoping to sort out the border along the fence which has troubled me ever since it was created. The bamboo are doing very well but I need to add some other plants, maybe shrubs, to fill the border and provide a good back drop (and mask the fence). I just can’t think what and I haven’t really applied myself so I need to make a concerted effort this year.
I am particularly taken with the view up the garden from the patio to the shed so I have decided to include that this year. I suppose the view is mainly of the shed and gravel path which won’t change much during the year but I do put out pots on the steps and I intend to do more. Also the Stipa gigantea is on the list from removal this Spring. It has done well for years now and unwittingly was positioned so it catches the afternoon sun especially in the Autumn. However since I got my darling cat it has suffered from her attacks particularly in the summer when crickets seem to live in the middle. It is also planted in the wrong place as for years I have had to cut back the leaves which were engulfing every thing including the steps so its going. In its place I intend to plant things that love the sun and good drainage like bearded irises which I love far more than grasses and maybe some hardy agapanthus.
The other part of the garden I thought I would focus on was the Woodland Border at the end of the grass path. This is a couple of years old now but has had to have some replanting as I lost an Acer last year which dominated part of the border.
Over the Autumn and Winter I had added a Viburnum, Berberis seiboldii and a Leptospernum myrtifolium. The border has benefited from the emptying out of one of the compost bins and last week before the cold snap I gave it a good mulch of wood chip. So now I will be waiting and watching to see what comes up where. I know there is a large Hosta Sum and Substance in there as well as a couple of clumps of Solomons Seal. I think this border just needs some tidying along the front edges maybe with some more bulbs for next year but we shall see.
The rest of the Woodland Border which has a number of shrubs in it but as they are bare stems are difficult to see. I am hoping that the Mahonia in the background will put on some real growth this year. It was cut back to the ground two years back as I wanted to stop it growing on one stem taller and taller. It has branched now and is starting to grow but sadly there were no flowers this year. I also need to tweak the end of the Big Border in the foreground which is quite frankly shabby most of the year. There is a large Dicentra here which dies back and leaves a gap so I need to think about what to plant with it to hide the gap when it dies back.
So those are this year’s End of Month Views. Hopefully next month there will be a little more green and less brown and maybe even some new plants added – the greenhouse and cold frame are full of things waiting to go out.
All are welcome to join in with the End of Month View meme (EOMV). All I ask if that you link to this post in your post and leave a link in the comment box below so we know you have joined in and can come for a look. You can use it in any way you wish. Some do as I do and look at one particular area through the year, others do a tour of the garden or feature whatever is pleasing them.
If you want to get an idea of what is where in my small garden take a look at the Garden Plan which you can find from the tab along the top of the post.
