PLANTS IN FLOWER: Roses, Nepeta, Ladies Mantle, Lavender, Meadowsweet, Honeysuckle, Santolina, , Allium, Thrift, Forget-Me-Not, Day Lilies, Poppies, Water Lily, Feverfew.
By the middle of July, the poppies, self-seeded mayweed and day-lilies surrounding the pond are looking quite spectacular; however, the main border is already appearing very overblown. The vigorous nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' is all but suffocating the roses; the swathes of ladies mantle have collapsed onto the surrounding plants, virtually smothering the emerging day lilies and penstemons; while the herbaceous geraniums which tend to dominate the planting, are looking leggy and past their best. I decided it would be best to cut both these latter back hard to the ground this year to encourage a further flush of leaves in August. But in September I will need to review the organization of this bed, as there is clearly not enough evergreen structure to hold it's own at mid summer.
I have also discovered without a shadow of doubt that I've lost every single one of my lovely tall verbenas which I had grown from seed a couple of years ago. The cold winter killed them all, and if I want to enjoy their effect again I will need to grow them annually, as they look stunning amidst the grasses which dominate the area around the silver birch in the middle of the border. I have planted all my new ornamental grass seedling in this border too, but not the masses of aqualegia which are still in pots by the herb garden. My hollyhock seedlings are also still in pots as well as a variety of herbs, waiting to go into the herb garden once the salad crops are finished.
But the real success in terms of planting combinations is the border around the terrace: the drumstick allium, combined with pheasant grass and interspersed with different forms of acer is really pleasing. My plan for the autumn is to under-plant this narrow border with literally hundreds of miniature iris which will flower in February, to extend the season. I also plan to add more types of allium to the main border, along with more of the statuesque bearded iris and some different siberian forms, as they all seem to thrive in this garden.
In the small field the four main vegetable beds have been created from railway sleepers, but are yet to be filled with earth. For the design, I was inspired by a visit to Hackney City Farm with my daughter, where they have an urban organic garden plot about the same size as my small field. Within the plot, they have created an orchard as well as many raised beds using old sleepers as the means of dividing up the different sections. On my plot I want to follow a similar scheme with further smaller raised beds being added between the old stable and proposed orchard. Still, the soil around the old stable needs to be leveled before the paving can be laid and the humble building transformed into a greenhouse/potting shed. The hazel trees beside the vegetable garden and orchard have been trimmed back to let more light into the whole area: and this has given me the idea to match the planting on the other side next to the field with a line of hazels to act as wind protection. However, there is still a massive amount to be done to bring this particular project to completion before the winter.