...slowly, but surely 😊
I mentioned previously that I had dug up all the Fox and Cubs plants from one of the kitchen garden borders. Well as you can see, I've ended up with a fair few plants from the three little ones I started off with ~ and no effort needed on my part at all! Between them and the creeping jenny along the back I'm hoping that the bare soil will soon be covered.
Here's an up-to-date photo of the last section all planted up now, too. As I mentioned before, between the Balfour willow and the forsythia is a daisy bush and an oleaster. I bought three more sweet woodruffs to finish edging the front; I'm sure it won't be too long before they have spread out like the one already planted near the Whitebeam.
Looking back along the hedge border...
...and down towards the front wall border.
To be fair, once I'd got the thistles out it wasn't as bad to clear out the remaining weeds as I'd feared. On the left is a clump of escallonia that's been sitting in a pot near the house for a good couple of years now ~ I could almost hear it sigh with relief when its roots touched the soil! It's joining some that were planted when the border was first made. I'm hoping to make a nice clump similar to the one in the right-hand corner of the wall border, on the kitchen garden side.
The shrub in the middle is oleaster Limelight, one of the new ones that I didn't really have space for in the new hedge. Either side is verbena hastata Pink Spires that I moved from elsewhere. The peony on the right popped up from nowhere when we took out the old hedge! I dug it out and was able to split it into four pieces, all of which have gone in this border; they are all doing much better than I expected considering how they were swamped by the other plants/weeds.
Peony either side of this section, with spirea nipponica Snowmound in the centre. It was planted when the border was first made and I'm sure it's relieved that all those weeds are gone! Either side, looking a wee bit sad at the moment, is some more of the achillea that I can't remember the name of. I had thought it might be Summerwine but I'm now wondering if it's actually Cerise Queen. The little plant in the front right corner is papaver rupifragum, one of the new plants I recently got from Shire Plants.
Peony again in the left-hand corner, with another papaver rupifragum in front. In the centre are three of the Russell lupins I moved from elsewhere. I know that they are planted very close together but I'm hoping they will help to support each other, although I will most likely still put in some plant supports in front of them. Either side of the lupins are pennisetum alopecuroides Hameln. Again, I know that they are planted very closely to the other plants in the border but I wasn't even sure if they were alive when I moved them! They are starting to show new shoots now so I will just have to keep an eye on how much space they take up as they grow.
On the right-hand side of the border is viburnum bodnantense Dawn, again planted when the border was first made. In front of it is euonymus Blonde Beauty. They have both suffered somewhat from being overrun with weeds, so I'm hoping that they will start to perk up now that they have some space to breathe.
The honeysuckle, American Beauty, over the arch is doing well and has had some flowers this year. I pulled out a lot of weeds and dead plants from around it and have decided to just let the crocosmia fill the space ~ I know it will be more than happy to oblige! When we first moved in the garden was full of it and we have removed a lot as there was just too much. I kept a few clumps as it does have attractive flowers, I just don't allow them to run riot.
I've been moving plants into the path border from the other borders that I've been weeding and thinning out. The two clumps of tiger lilies have gone over but hopefully will be looking good again next year. Between them is viburnum burkwoodii Mohawk, which was looking very sorry for itself when I finally rediscovered it amongst the weeds. Behind it is an achillea which I think may be Terracotta ~ we shall see when it (hopefully!) flowers next year!
To the right of the viburnum, in front of the tiger lilies, is potentilla nepalensis Miss Willmott. Then we have a rose, Lochinvar, that was being swamped in one of the kitchen garden borders. Next is astilbe chinensis Vision Inferno that I moved from the other side of the gate. Amazingly it doesn't seem to have even noticed that it's been moved ~ no drooping, nothing! Then we have viburnum opulus Roseum, which was also smothered by weeds, with one of my favourites, alchemilla mollis, in front of it. Finally, before the run of dwarf elder, are a couple of echinops bannaticus (blue globe thistles).
The same border, from the path side. Down by the gate is a fern, dryopteris affinis Cristata. Then a grass, briza media (Quaking Grass). To the left of the tiger lilies is lamium maculatum Beacon Silver. Behind the astilbe are some short orange-flowered lilies that I don't know the name of; they were a free gift with a plant order from a couple of years back. The border is edged with clumps of London Pride that were all over the garden when we moved in. I dug them all up and split the clumps so that I could edge all along both sides of the path.
Back to the new border and the third section is fully planted now...
...as is the "starlings" border. I hope they won't be put off by all the changes and will come back to nest in the wall again next year 😊
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