Border tidied and ready for mulchOne of the borders in our garden has not really been touched for several years. We have kept up with the weeding and pruning as well as applying mulch each spring and autumn, but many of the plants are perennials and the time has come to dig out big pieces of the most vigorous plants and move some of the others around. The soil is quite heavy, which is great for many of the plants there - they like a ‘retentive’ soil, which means that it retains moisture but is not waterlogged – but not so easy to dig!
One of the problems with perennial plants are seedlings. I am loathed to weed them out in case we need new plants for another part of the garden, or they can be potted up to sell at open gardens and other fund raising events. I always hope that one will turn out to be something that is different and highly marketable to help my pension pot!
Ladies Mantle (Alchemilla mollis) is such a useful plant in so many situations but it is a voracious seeder. The sprays of tiny lime green flowers seem to go with anything, both in the garden as well as in a vase and it’s one of the best plants for the front of a border where it will flower for months. I don’t mind a few seedlings in paths but there were a lot in the middle of the border suffocating a small Day Lily (Hemerocallis) so they had to go! The Day Lily didn’t flower well last year – a sure sign that it is congested and beginning to lose its vigour – so I have dug it up and carefully split the clump to create three ‘new’ plants that have been put back in a group, utilising the space left by the Alchemilla.
The Purple Cone Flower (Echinacea) has been a big attraction for butterflies this summer, especially the few Commas that I have seen. I would usually leave the seed heads on for the birds but the damp weather of late has turned them to a soggy mess and the plants look much better with the spent flower spikes removed, so that they can concentrate on building up the crowns for next year. Echinacea are long lived plants in the garden and don’t really like to be disturbed, so I will work around them and put any seedlings that I find next to the parent plants to make a larger drift.
The Rudbeckia Goldsturm has been in flower for months – from mid August and still glowing gold in the border. Much as I love it, it really is time to cut this plant down to size by digging out a big piece! Mrs McGregor also has this in her cutting garden – it is one of the best plants for summer and early autumn arrangements – but I think I can find a spot on the edge of the bog garden in moist soil where it should do well.
All this activity will no doubt lead to a few spaces for new plants and I will soon be off to Notcutt’s again to look for more plants and perhaps some Tulips to plant amongst them for early color.
