Diary of a weekend gardener

A two day gardening fest

Scratched forearms, warm shoulders from six hours spring sunshine and a thoroughly sated gardening-thirst.

Spent today in the front garden - for such a tiny space it always takes so much time, mainly because I only tackle it twice a year, by which time it's desperate. Picture a Victorian double fronted brick house, higher than street level with a central stone path, steps to the front door and a raised garden either side, held back from the path by a stone wall topped with plain wrought iron railings. My aim for the front garden is a structed, low maintence(!), striking and exuberant look which is chock full all year round. This means that when I do get into it I'm pushing between and under permanent plants to get at weeds and excess self-seedings. I've removed three barrow loads of weeds and surplus plant material from the two 6ft x 12ft planted areas and they still look full!

What's left on each side:
- a big clump of acanthus mollis - it usually gets knocked back in winter but we didn't get a really cold spell.
- two big phormium tenax which flowered last year with 10ft spikes
- a line of lavender either side of the path
a 3ft x 3ft clump of dark pink valerian (centranthus rubra) which is bombproof, and flowers all summer but does self-seed a bit excessively really
- a group of allium christophii which got completely overwhelmed by the valerian and won't flower this year. Hopefully I've recovered them in time for next year.
- two shrubby white flowering potentilla which are getting a bit woody
- a stretch of white saxifrage along the front
- Lavatera 'Barnsley' which I cut back to nothing in the winter behind the Phormiums but which will tower above them by August.
- a clump of the winter flowering Corsican Hellebore which is still stunning, even though it's past it's flowering peak.
- Cotoneaster horizontalis - vertically flat against the house wall under the windows.

The saxifrage and the valerian fall through the railings a bit which I'd planned so I'm pleased that it works. What doesn't quite work is that the potentilla and saxifrage are both white. Now that the potentilla is ageing, I might go for a pink or pale yellow instead which will give it a bit more contrast. I also put in some 'Queen of the Night' black tulips a few years ago, but they've been swamped by the phormiums. I'll move them next to the hellebores, I think they'll look great against the lime green flowers.

posted by Sue Beesley @ 8:43 pm