My Garden This Weekend – 20th October 2013

Viola Sorbet XP Raspberry

I have to say that I am surprised at how much I have done in the garden this weekend considering the forecast was dire with heavy rain forecast for both Saturday and Sunday, including thunder storms.  Saturday started bright and mild although soggy underfoot due to the torrential rain overnight.  I havent been sleeping that well this week, due to too much happening at work, so my mind has been wandering and much mental replanting has been going on.  One of the plans hatched in the early hours was to sort out the border at the far end of the front garden which has been bugging me all year.

It’s the Deschampsia which has irritated me.  I think I choose the wrong grass for the effect I had in my mind but they were what I had available and it reminded me that I really need to remember to research things properly.  They just look so messy and they have been like that for months.  I initially thought I would redistribute them weaving them amongst the other plants, so I cut the flower stems down and instantly realised that getting rid of them all together was the real answer, so they went.  I worked through the whole border reducing the perennial planting to just Phlomis russeliana, Francoa and Alchemilla mollis.  Removing the Deschampsia has allowed the two red salvias to shine out from the border.

I also added Perovskia atriplicifolia, Russian sage.  I have been admiring a similar combination of Russian sage and red flowered salvia on the way home from work for the last month so decided to try to replicate it.  I also added a Libertia which has been lurking on the patio for about two years in desperate need for a home. So that was Saturday – 4 hours work and a quick trip to the dump to get rid of all the grasses and also the perennial weeds.  Well timed as the heavens opened as I left the dump.

Sunday has also seen rain but in short bursts with long periods of sunshine in between.  However, due to the amount of rain we have had over the past week and the incredibly heavy downpour last night it really wasnt practicable to work in the main garden.  Saying that I still managed to dig up the Witch Hazel which has been died all year.  I only bought it in January but for some reason it turned up its toes very quickly and the fact that it snapped when I went to dig it dispelled any thought that it might still be alive.  I had decided, more mid night pondering, to move a Magnolia stellata which was being crowded out and also competing with my neighbours trees.  Hopefully in its new location it will be happier.

I also had a quick trip to my local plant center which is just wonderful.  I went to buy some cyclamen to replace the fibrous rooted begonias in the large square planter on the patio.  I got the cyclamen but also some more terracotta pots for the bulbs and three conifers.  Yes I know conifers are meant to be out of fashion and I have never been a fan but I have been thinking that some prostrate conifers in the fence border was the right thing so I bought them.  I will post about them in the future once they are planted up.