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GARDEN 2 |
The House Borders: North & East.
The front borders to the North and East of the house were the first borders I tackled on my arrival in 1984. The soil here was particularly poor and the area had been laid to lawn for quite some time. After several weeks of labouring with a pick-axe, sieve and shovel, I had removed 20 skip loads of solid chalk and increased the soil depth to about 9" deep. The depth continued to rise with the application of 12 cubic metres of manure so that the soil here is now a generous 12" deep. To maintain this position, these borders have to be top dressed with further applications of manure and compost every year. Surprisingly, although these borders face both North and East, they are the most sheltered from the prevailing winds. Plantings here are generally taller than their counterparts that face South. They can also flower possibly up to two weeks later than those on the other side of the garden as for most of the season these borders are generally the most shaded.
(L) The quintessential cottage border. A fireworks display of mixed annuals and perennials running together in gay abandon. (C) Yellow Crown Imperials are the stars of the show in early spring. (R) I am particularly proud of this Corsican Hellebore seedling. The flower heads are three times the size of the normal variety.
Winter flowering, Clematis "Cirrhosa Balearica" has only taken three years to climb 15' into the Sycamore tree.
(L) Double celandines are almost too luminescent to photograph properly. (C) Ladies lockets, Bleeding hearts, Dutchman's breeches - all far better names than Dicentra spectabilis. (R) Solomon's Seal. All these plants will tolerate the hostile conditions under the sycamore tree.
(L) New colour strains of Astrantia have made it exceedingly popular recently. The original,- and still the best, has been grown for hundreds of years. (R) The foliage of a Thalicterum can fool you into thinking it is a new form of aquilegia.
These are very dry borders and watering can start in earnest as early as the end of May. Astrantia suffers particularly in the heat and has to be watered nearly every other day. The situation is exacerbated by a large sycamore in the corner of the borders that not only prevents rain from getting to the plants underneath but also sucks every ounce of moisture and goodness from the soil. If this sycamore has any use at all, it is to provide support for a newly planted, vigourous climbing rose, "Paul's Himalayan Musk" and an equally vigourous clematis cirrhosa balearica. I am constantly surprised by what will actually do well under this tree. "Solomon's Seal", "Bleeding Hearts" and "Elephant's Ears" do well in the shadier corners and grey leaved plants such as Nepeta, Sedum and Kniphofia tolerate the drier conditions towards the front of the borders. Globe artichokes seem to be more than happy growing almost abutting the trunk.