2017 June

The Garden in late Spring & early Summer 2017

Overview

This year has seen some changes… apart from moving a lot of pots around (as one finds out where they do not do well once can ring the changes) we also decided that we did not get as much out of the garden as we could as the least interesting area is that we see every day from the kitchen window. This year we moved a lot of more interesting plants there, maxed out on colour and crammed in as much as we could.

This is what we looked out onto as Spring had just sprung…

And from the other side a month later…

From a little further away…

Looking back from the shed more changes are apparent…

…and changing the angle…

Nothing stands still in a garden, plants die or grow, and gardeners can’t resist buying new plants. But the learning curve is what makes most difference. Some of us read the label, discard it and instantly forget the advice. It wasn’t until I moved an epimedium from an exposed (albeit shaded) place to full sheltered shade that it flourished.

Having moved some plants to the back gate because they were not fitting where they were I found they too flourished linking shade and damp and loving it.

The view from our back gate…

…and a closer view of the garage roof from the side…

…and close still…

The small border in front of the shed is another area we have somewhat neglected until this year. With a pyracanthus and an abelia taking up much space and an acanthus hiding a birdbath there is only room for Solomon’s seal to make an annual appearance (food for its own saw fly), it needed a more colourful edge which the posts now give it.

When we moved to this house in 1999 the garage, set down hill poked up into a tiled space. The roof had loose pebbledash on top and no fencing. A friend added a fence on two sides and later someone added thin tiles. Of course it looked like a patio and cried out for pots… so we began to add them until it became a fully integrated part of the garden.

Early June 2017 this is how it looked…