I am still aching from my gardening session yesterday which shows either just how unfit I have got over the winter or that I took on more than I should have. It doesn’t matter though because despite the aches I am really pleased with what I achieved and it certainly clears your head and recharges you mentally before another week at work.
Not the most prepossessing photo but it signifies a good couple of hours work and much hauling of heavy and awkward objects. This is the space that was formally occupied by the Stipa gigantea and I was intent on improving the soil so I could plant out at least one of my new peonies. Having dug up the couple of bearded irises which had disappeared under the skirt of the grass and hadn’t flowered for years I added a bag of gravel and some sand to improve the drainage and break up the residual clay. This was then topped off with three bags of green waste compost from the local council which is like black gold. The initial planting has been done although its hardly obviously but I am assure you that a Peony Immaculata, Agapanthus ‘Alan Street’, Agapanthus ardernei hybrid and the original irises have all been planted. The Agapanthus had been growing in pots on the patio and overwintering in the garage. However I read somewhere that deciduous Agapanthus are generally hardy so I have taken a gamble and planted them out – fingers crossed. I now need to think about what additional planting is needed to fill in. I am thinking of Aquilegias as I have a number of plants to plant out but I also need something for late summer but without strappy leaves.
Before I added the compost etc to the border above I took a soil sample so I could test the PH. Now I know it is basic horticultural practice, what you could term gardening 101, but I realised the other day that I had never tested the soil in my garden. I planted a rhododendron from my last garden when we moved in and as it has done alright I had assumed the soil was acidic. My neighbor has a wonderful Pieris (top pic) in his garden which grows over my fence and is healthy and floriferous so knowing Pieris need acidic soil I don’t think my assumption was too daft. So I was completely flummoxed when the test showed the soil was alkaline (7.5). This is Ok for the bearded iris and means I don’t need to add lime to the soil but it got me wondering about the rest of the garden and the two rhododendrons I had recently bought. Three further tests later from different parts of the garden and the conclusion seems to be that the soil is alkaline this would explain why eranthis do so well in my garden but I am still perplexed as to why the Pieris looks so good and what to do with the two new rhododendrons!
The view above makes me much happier. I have still got some pots of bulbs in the greenhouse including some S. African ones which won’t do well outside and the Narcissus bulbocodium whose hardiness I’m not sure on and need to research. As the bulbs go over they will be moved to under the staging to dry out and rest. I will have to rejig things at some point in order to accommodate the hall hardy annuals I want to sow but I am OK for time at the moment.
As you can imagine after all that labouring I was quite exhausted but I was thrilled at what I had achieved. I have no plans at all for next weekend so weather permitting I will have two days to garden and hopefully the other two peonies will be planted.
