Well March has been a blustery month from start to finish and last night was the worst for some time. Whilst the temperatures haven’t been particularly low for the time of year I think we have been lacking in sunshine and many of the plants are behind last year. As I am on annual leave this week I was thrilled yesterday that the forecast was wrong and we had a lovely sunny day, the calm before the storm. I spent most of the time weeding and sorting the border on the right of the picture. I really need to come up with a name for it. It generally gets called the border formerly known as the Bog Garden but that makes it sound like an egomaniac pop star. It might get changed to the cherry border or the sorbus border as these are the two main plants in it.
The cherry is Prunus kojo-no-mai which is a real gem and constantly earns its place in the garden with wonderful wonky branches in the winter, spring blossom and good autumn foliage. I have added some Iris sibirica to the border which I grew from seed so I am hoping that these will establish. I had planned to paint/stain the shed this week but I am still dithering about the color. My sons won’t engage in the conversation any more as they are bored with it. When it was first put in two years ago I had just come back from San Francisco where I saw lots of bright and strong colours on the wood facias of houses. I had thought for the last two years while the green wood dried out that I would stain it virtually black with orange accents. Then recently it changed to sage green accents to tie in with the back door. But the more I look at it from the house the more worried I become that as it is of a significant size in the garden that if I paint it very dark it will leap out more and push forward into the view rather than recede which is what I want. I like the way the door has mellowed to an almost silver color. I have toyed with leaving it but it does need some treatment to protect the wood. The current thinking is a pale sage green for the body of the shed with cream or very pale green accents. Or maybe I should try to find a very pale wood stain. Even I am sick of the subject.
I spent a ridiculous amount of time yesterday pulling up sycamore seedlings. I have never known a spring like it. We always have a few from sycamore in next door’s garden but this year it is like a plague, they are everywhere. Anyway, the one good thing is that while you are focussing on pulling up the pesky seedlings you spot all sorts of plants beginning to emerge – Dicentra, hostas, epimedium flowers, fern fronds and other woodland treats.
I think in the next month the Woodland Border will really fill out with plants and color. I am waiting to see what appears where as I have lost my bearings along with the dead Acer. I have decided that I will add lots of early spring bulbs and hellebores to this area as it just so bare. I need to divide a load of snowdrops so those can go in here and I will have to mark out spots for hellebores before everything disappears underground at the end of the year so I know where to plant them next February/March. I know I could plant some now but I have already invested in a number of new hellebores this year so it will wait a year.
The other end of the woodland border looking a little fuller but it needs a quick weed as the dreaded sycamore seedlings are popping up left, right and center. I am on hosta watch as I have a large hosta in here somewhere which I want to move but I need it to put its head above the ground first.
So that is my garden at the end of March 2015 showing lots of promise and if I am honest I am rather pleased with it as I think it is looking the best it has ever looked in March.
Everyone is welcome to join in with the End of Month View and you can use it how you wish. You can show the same area month on month or give a tour or show us the areas that you are most pleased with. All I ask is that you include a link to this post in your post and leave a link to your post in the comment box below.
