For more interesting items from Gardening Six on Saturday Leader 'The Propagator' do visit his site.
The first of this week's Six on Saturday is the diagonal view across the back garden towards Acer Corner. The bed on the left, and the right, the paths, the circle in fact everything except for the acer which I planted from a large container brought from our last garden within months of moving, and the Mahonia now in flower has only recently been planted. Over the wall we have extremely quiet neighbours with a tall Holm Oak on the North Eastern corner.
The second item is a view along the shady border. I love shade gardening and missed my patch of ferns and other shade lovers. With only a narrow strip along the south of the plot, it is evolving.
For the third item, I present shrub of the week: Sorbaria sorbifolia 'Sem'. The enjoyment watching the pinnate leaves emerge like colourful anemones, is savoured each day. From the kitchen window you can see the tiers that the leaves form. For the moment, it is posing on the gravel garden. After I first bought this at the Bishop's Palace at last year's Rare Plants Sale it went up a pot size, and in a month or so, another large pot will be needed.
For the fourth item here is a little heirloom primula: Primula Wanda. Its one of my friend's Kaye's Heirlooms, brought from her father's garden. Isn't it wonderful to have an 'heirloom' which can be increased and shared around? I have been enjoying it whatever the weather, and it is bulking up nicely. It grows well in sun, shade or semi shade, and without doubt will be divided into three as soon as the flowers are over. I was delighted to receive this, as this is one I had grown in my previous gardens, but had forgotten to bring it along.
The fifth item is an example of my enjoyment in finding uses for 'discarded' materials. Here the prunnings from the Amelanchier trees in the front garden has been used as 'bower' to support the clump of Aster x frikartii 'Mönch'. Again another plant which I grew and brought a section to the new garden. Last summer it performed well but flopped over its neighbours a little too much.
The Sixth item is this week's gardening experiment. The branches on the Plum Mirabelle de Nancy...I am already tasting my plums before they are even set, were growing very closely together, and I wanted a more open branching tree. Soft green coloured raffia was wound around the branch to prevent digging into the soft bark, and then weighted down with a small rock. I had started with a sort of art installation...with smaller rocks handing in mid air but after a little playing around opted for a more workmanlike effect. I've seen branches braced apart with sticks but wondered whether rubbing may open wounds and allow infections to enter.
Art installation: Stone Fruit
Ridiculous enough to be 'Art'
Stones used
Plum: A Stone Fruit
Cannot be moved, a temporary 'Installation'.
Great minds think alike. I have done something similar with supports for my helenium. Your garden looks interesting from the view down the path. Look forward to seeing more of it.
ReplyDeleteThere is no really much more, but each week, you will see a slightly different view to piece the whole lot together. I am finding keeping records of different areas at different times of the year useful for further planning and planting, and just looking back when one needs to retreat!
DeleteThe garden looks great. I especially like the Sorbaria. Will it be staying in a pot? They seem to have a habit of popping up all over the place once they’re in the ground!
ReplyDeleteWhat a 'kind heart' your have Andrew! and thanks for pointing out its little habit of spreading. I had thought that may be a little problem in such a small garden, and had planned on keeping it constrained in a pot. I love my pots and have more shrubs in pots rather than 'flowers'.
DeletePrimula 'Wanda' is a plant I remember from childhood and we have plants from one that Sue brought with her from Scotland over 30 years ago. I was recently given it again, but side by side the two forms are not the same, the new one being redder. They're both lovely but our original is unshakeably 'Wanda' in my eyes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for confirming this Jim...I see that you are a Camelia connoisseur. Do you post SOS I could not work out where?
DeleteI like the structure of your garden seen in the first photo...those gently curving paths and a pleasant sitting area. It’s all going to look lovely when the plants grow up. Also, your shade area, something I don’t have in my garden- still waiting for trees to grow.
ReplyDeleteIt's a small garden here, and the shade strip is being made the most of. The land is sloping, and paths almost made themselves...we just marked where we walked on the rough grass laid temporary lines and waited a few months and with some small adjustments laid the edges etc. Getting quite impatient with the plants...but then it would be all over too quickly, wouldn't it?
DeleteI went the other way, gathering together limbs that sprawled in the path. Tying a gentle bundle with garden twine. Now the twine has rotted away, the tree grows up not out.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite fun to train the plants. Good to hear that your design worked.
DeleteWow - your garden is looking great Noelle!
ReplyDeleteQuite a change since you visited only last year in February. The plan did itself following best seating positions, and the lie of the land sloping as it does towards the South. Mr S can take all the credit for the hard landscaping....I did loads of stone shifting too! Of course the soil prep and planting down to me.
DeleteYes, quite a change - hearty congratulations!
DeleteNoelle - Only just got round to reading your post and there it is - the plum tree weight trick. Great to see these pictures. I bought the same Sorbaria last year and you're right - its leaves are fabulous.
ReplyDeleteBest to research the festooning thoroughly...mine was done on original thinking basis before checking, hope it works. Great to hear that your sorbaria is pretty too.
DeleteOh the shade border sounds just my cup of tea Noelle :) What have you planted in there so far?
ReplyDeleteThat's a crazy question Anna, and you have got me thinking. I think I would be ashamed to list them all, as I am sure there will be one or two that ought not to be there. I have started to make a plant list in Excel..and realise that it will be helpful to add a column to show where plants are...so many thanks again for the question which will get me drawing up a plan. Just a selection: ordinary single and double snowdrops, Corydalis Tory MP, Dicentra Eximia, Parahebe, Erythronium Pagoda, and dens-canis, Saxifrage stolonifera, Astilbe glaberrima var saxatilis, Primula alpicola alba etc...the ferns I brought from my last garden. Some of the plants were planted temporarily and will be moved.
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