Friday, June 30, 2006

Night Owl post

Its half past one in the morning.Thought i'd add a mini post to the earlier pics.I moved some busy lizzies today to the square border, including my pot grown kitchen lizzie.It adds some colour to the negative space.I like the effect, i just need to water daily to keep it lush as the soil drys out so deep!!
Maybe garden borders are like empires, growing, building up untill they are spectacular.But from there they fall into rack and ruin.
My case in point is the front window border.Six weeks ago it was a beautiful collage of colours, foliages, and flowers.Today the cottage pink has flowered, all the Aubretia is dead, and the snapdragons look skinny compared to the back garden ones.I guess thats the soil being more dry at the front.The morning sun cooked those plants several times over.
The Oxalis Deppei look dull, like an army camoflage jacket.Dull brown and khaki green, and worse the flowers hang downwards!
I think they may be better in a pot, whereas in the ground they blend into the dirt.The summer bulbs are a few months from flowering which leaves the japenese maples.I'm considering clearing the debris and just putting bark chippings around the maples.Just have those two and the summer bulbs.
The square border looks okay with mixes of red, yellow, orange, and greens.The arched border is developing with three rose bushes, three sunflowers, and three little leo sunflowers.The morning glory slowly climbs up the arch with garden twine help.The pansys add colour whilst we wait for the main flower shows to start.
The long border looks good as there are over twenty varieties of plants and shrubs, with lots of flower interest.The grass is green and lush, but needs a cut.
I guess as long as one area looks super, you can ignore the others untill new plants or new arrangements lifts them up.
Am i a perfectionist?Maybe yes but thats what drives us to garden daily, and to peruse magasines and blogs for inspiration.Its never fully done, its always a work in progress.
Back to work today for eight day stretch so expect slimmer posts.Keep on growing world.

3 comments:

roybe said...

maybe you could use a fine mulch on the front bed to retain the moisture.

Stunned Donor said...

I like the new look, much tidier.

David (Snappy) said...

Thanks Roy,i am considering some bark chippings as a moisture retaining layer.The clay/coal/stone soil needs plenty of rotted organic matter in the winter layoff.Doing both will improve water retention and the quality of the soil.
Steven, thanks.The new look is using grass clippings as a cheap mulch around the plants, with soil pushed up to the plants.I water these little islands, and the weed control has been better for it.
I like the busy lizzies as they fill negative space.Is that a garden word?Where a plant has died and left a gap in an arrangement.The bare soil was quite evident whilst i worked out what to plant.
I have had wall flowers, summer pansys, and Erysimums all go into that space and die!
lets hope they hold on in the heat.