Long overdue garden update….

I see that back in April I was filled with good intentions to do monthly garden updates but here we are in June…..  So, to go back to soon after I left off in April – and the vibrant plumes of ajuga outside my study window. Sadly they do not last that long but are magnificent while they do.

Less vibrant but very pretty were the forget-me-nots and the bluebells around the pond – and indeed over much of the garden. Soon to be joined by my flame azalea which sits in a pot in a new spot to the right of the pond. Knowing that it is very fussy about where its pot is placed, I was nervous that it might have gone into a sulk but, as you can see, it obviously likes its new home!

Round the front of the house the paving was now finished, the new soil dug in and the plants well set. I very nearly lost the two pretty little variegated Irene Patterson pittisporums by moving them when they were just throwing new leaves. But, having looked very sad for a few weeks, they have now bedded in and although they are definitely short on leaves for this year, I am sure will be fine next.

On the right hand side where the soil was very poor and full of builders’ rubble I had struggled to get anything other than the unstoppable Hot Lips salvias to grow. So I dug in some new soil and splashed out on half a dozen each erigeron and campanulas, both of which will grow on walls so really do need that much in the way of lush soil. I then covered the whole lot with coarse bark. That was about a month ago and so far all is going well and both are now flowering.

In the big bed around the patio in the back garden the cardoon was, meanwhile, continuing its quest to take over the garden. And since I took this picture it has continued its climb skywards.

But it is not alone in reaching for the sky. Back in bulb planting time I bought a selection of allium bulbs and stuck them in without much expectation of success – I am not good with bulbs. A few have done some not very inspiring things but these guys seem to be climbing their own personal beanstalks! I can’t wait to see both how high they will eventually go – and whether they will have any energy left for an actual flower.

Mind you, it is not only the nutty alliums that are shooting up. We are doing ‘no mow’ May – and June, and July – and the grass is already knee high. I am mowing ever widening paths through it but hope to keep biggish ‘islands’ of long grass right through the summer. As you can see, Tawny Pipit, my wire foal, is having a great time.

And before we leave the bank, let me show you that rose (a David Austin of course…) in full flow with the geum and snap dragon behind – cardoon still climbing!

Moving from that bank over to the bank outside my study – the erigerons are in full flow….

…along with a very pretty little dark red dianthus – Deltoides Flashing Lights.

Even more enthusiastic are the wild strawberries round the base of the holly tree.

They are the descendants of the ones that we were given MANY years ago by James’ aunt for our Lawn Road garden – ‘Productive ground cover, my dear – that is what you want!’ Unfortunately, however productive they were in Lawn Road the birds always got there before we did. However, so far the birds seem to be so occupied with their bird feeders in the apple tree that they have not noticed the strawberries on the other side of the garden. Nor, fortunately, are they interested in the little hanging basket that I have slipped in among their feeders.

The Growing Garden

Down behind the garage ‘things are happening’….  Our first success is our stepping stones path where the grass, after a second seeding, is now growing quite well.

As you my remember, we are hoping to turn the bramble covered wilderness behind the garage into a vegetable garden to be used by the Urban Forest Tribe children and possibly other groups. But first we have to tame the brambles.

A couple of weeks ago Michael, our lovely ecologist and I were joined by two corporate volunteers who set to work with a will and got us this far.

I know it doesn’t look that great – but you should have seen it before! Then I put in a good morning’s work and got us to the point that we could at least see the wall at the back.

Tomorrow our volunteers are back – along with five of their colleagues! – and we plan to mattock out all those bramble (and bindweed, and geum, and green alkanet) roots and build a second compost heap.

And then we are going to sit down and plan (I have just measured it all up) so that we can decide exactly what we would like to grow and where it would grow best.  Watch this space….

Meanwhile….  Please admire my new garden shed….

Addendum

If you are interested in the Marc Quinn exhibition at Kew check into this post – I put it out a few weeks ago but the mailing system was not operating and you would not have got an alert. The exhibition is on till the end of September. More details here.