"Let It Go, Let It Go" according to Elsa

The other day I went on a group garden visit to a fellow club member’s garden. The garden, in my opinion, was stunning although the owner thought it was only at its best in June/July. The garden’s topography is similar to mine ie it lies on a steep slope, the only sizeable flat area being where the house stands.

I was interested to find out from Derek and Pat (the owners) how they managed to keep the plants so green and lush on such a steep slope.  I also wanted to know how they kept all the soil in place instead of sliding down the slope which happens in mine garden.

First, I asked Pat what sort of fertiliser she uses and how often it is applied – Pat said every spring a very thick layer of garden compost, bought from Newcastle CC HWRC site, was spread everywhere.

Then I asked her why the compost and plants didn’t end up at the bottom of the slope as it does in my garden.  The answer to this was simple – Pat said that the plants are allowed to grow densely so that the compost is kept in place by the plants themselves.  

In fact, when walking round the garden I noticed that no soil could be seen and that the plants are left to grow into large clumps so they merge with their neighbours.  Pat went on to say that she does not divide perennials but only digs things up when she wants to sell a plant for charity.  

This was a revelation to me because as gardeners we are constantly being told to divide perennials up every 3 / 4 years which is what I have been doing until now. 

Lastly, Pat gave me a bit of advice, “Let it go, Let it go” she sang happily which is what I am going to do in future.   I am going to let plants spread and grow towards their neighbours thus creating a continuous expanse of colour.  Come spring I shall be out there piling on homemade compost and mulch in even greater amounts than previously.

On my way home I mulled over my visit.  I thought to myself “This is why I love visiting other people’s gardens.   I had learnt a new take on fertilising the soil and the garden had inspired me to start new projects and to try new things. What an enjoyable and inspiring visit to a beautiful garden”.

 

The following day I was still buzzing from the garden visit.  I felt that there were bare patches in some of my borders which needed filling.  I paid a visit to my local garden centre and bought a few plants to put in some gaps.

The heucheras and ajugas went in the rose/winter border, geranium Rozanne - the south facing blue border, the limey leaved golden marjoram  - the herb garden, the ferns ended up in the fernery and the three little anthemis went in the south facing rockery style border.

Derek and Pat have a beautiful garden filled with so much colour. It contains many ideas one can take away and illustrates what is possible on a challenging sloping site.   

August Update

We are at the end of August and already there is a slight autumnal feel to the mornings.  When I get up and open my bedroom window I can smell the crisp, fresh air, and everywhere is bathed in a bright, clear light as the watery sun creeps higher in the sky. (I did want to include a picture of the view from my bedroom window in the morning sunlight but unfortunately for 7 mornings running it has been either misty, overcast or raining, perhaps another time).

In the garden the June/July perfusion of colour has finished but there is still some splashes of colour here and there.

At the foot of the terrace on the south side of the house runs the blue border. 

Here the Agapanthus are doing their stuff in the free draining baked soil, they are spectacular shades of deep blue, this one is called A. Blue Dot.  

Further along the blue border is Clematis heracleifolia Cassandra.

I gave the hardy geraniums a trim just to tidy them up and I have been dead heading the roses as often as I remember to.

In the fruit cage I have had a good supply of fresh fruit.   The redcurrants and blackcurrants have finished fruiting and we have enjoyed many variations on Eaton Mess as well as summer fruit pudding.

I under planted the blueberries with Fragaria vesca (wild strawberry) and these tiny little plants have provided us with lots of delicious fruits and with little-to-no slug damage.

The wineberries need picking now – what we don’t eat fresh will be turned into jam.

This year’s new canes of Raspberry Malling Jewel need tying in to supports and I can already see lots of flowers on Autumn Bliss.

The wildflower hedge was such a great success that I celebrated by buying 20 Harebell plug plants.  As they are so small I have potted them up and will keep them protected until they are bigger and stronger then I will plant them out.

 

Out-takes

You may remember Pippin from a previous entry – here she is again.

A Long Border and How to Manage It

On the south facing side of the garden is this long border which is planted up with Geranium macrorrhizum Bevan’s Variety.

It is virtually maintenance free, requiring only a short trim with shears after flowering to encourage a second bloom. 

This  border, however, has two small patches of couch grass at either end so I used the strimmer to cut back the geraniums.

Then a quick rake over to gather up the old growth and to expose the basal roots. Now it is easy to see and weed out the couch grass when it grows back.

Every year in early spring this bed is strimmed to cut away the previous year’s growth.  I find it keeps the plants less congested and easy to weed.

I hope you find this method of coping with large areas of the same plant interesting and useful.

Happy Gardening

 

 

What a Difference Some Lavender Makes

Lavender is such a useful semi-shrub.   It can be used in so many different ways – for cooking and medicinal purposes, in the garden it attracts pollinators and can be used to create a variety of “feelings” in a given planting scheme.

Here in my Northumberland garden I use it to edge the raised terrace on which our house stands.

Lavender loves a sunny spot, it prefers free draining soil and apart from a trim when it’s finished flowering and a quick feed, it’s practically maintenance free.

The terrace is raised up about three foot from the rest of the garden.

The bare stone work is severe as can be seen here but isn’t our view fabulous

About five years ago I purchased, online, 50 Lavender Hidcote plants in 9cm pots and planted them in the gravel between the paving slabs and the sheer drop of the terrace.

I also planted them in the narrow border between the paved area and the house.

before

after

before

after

Now the terrace to the east and south of our property looks like this.

on the east side of the terrace

 
 

on south side of terrace looking east

I hope you enjoyed our spectacular lavender bushes and incredible view.  

Hope to write soon.

June: Where has the month gone?

For me, June has been a very busy month in the garden. 

On the 2^nd and 9th I took some surplus plants to sell at my local mid-week car boot sale.  I thought the stall looked very good but next year I will need to increase the range and amount of stock.  The first week I took £86 and the second £65.  I think this is pretty good considering all the plants were propagated from those I had divided last autumn.

Spraying was required on our three lawns (450sq m, 190sq m and the 210sqm lawn).  I always use lawn weed killer in an 8 litre sprayer.  I like to keep on top of the speedwell, thistle and dandelions as the seeds are constantly drifting over from the neighbouring fields.  

I also sprayed weed killer on our paved areas, the courtyard and the drive.  I find spraying so much quicker than hand weeding especially given the large paved areas I have to deal with.

In the courtyard there has always been an area I thought was unsightly, between the rose/winter border and the greenhouse.  As you can see, it is shaded by two large hollies and a Scots pine.  I thought that as weeds clearly thrive here why not perennials. 

It did not take long to clear the area of weeds and fork it over,

this barrow load of leaf mould was dug in

and the plants came from a social distanced plant sale organised by the gardening club of which I am a member. 

There were two astrantia - one pink one white, and a lamium, I also added some plants from my garden; geranium macrorrhizum and geranium maderense. I think they will all do well in dry shade. And that’s Pippin in the back ground, she is constantly by my side when I am working in the garden and sometimes gets into shot.

Once planted I spread more leaf mould around the plants to act as a mulch then added a metal orb to give height at the back.  In the photograph the orb doesn’t really show up so I might paint it.

It hasn’t rained here for I don’t know how long and the south facing main lawn (450sq m) is suffering.  We haven’t cut it for at least a month and I think the grass seed heads give it an American prairie feel to it. 

Thursday was such a gorgeous day in the garden I decided to finish it off with a bbq.  I lit the charcoal and went inside to prepare the food and, would you believe it, the heavens opened and down the rain came.  Not to be put off with a bit of rain I was inventive with the location of the bbq.  This is the open porch over the front door.

Lastly, thought you might be interested to see a handy hint which I have been doing for a few years now.  I find that with so much to do in the garden some things get forgotten such as which plants to divide in the autumn or spring.  So Instead of writing a list and putting it where it might get lost, I now write the instructions on  metal plants labels which I then push into the ground next to whichever plant needs attention. 

Happy gardening.