Winter clean your garden shed

The Shed

Mid winter, particularly that nomens-land between Christmas and New Year is a great time to tackle, possible the most forgotten place in the garden, the shed. Often crammed to over flowing with, broken and discarded tools and cracked plastic pots and some very suppositious looking chemical bottles and boxes which have gone soggy and have labels falling off. This is the time to put aside a day or more and get things ship shape, ready for the growing season ahead.

The lawn mowers and other kit

The first thing to tackle is getting your lawn mowers and strimmers in to be serviced and have the blades sharpened, before Christmas if possible. Hopefully on the last couple of cuts, you managed to use most of the petrol, so it want go ‘stale’ sitting in the lawn mower/strimmer tank over the winter. Next unhook the spark plug for safety and on a dry day tip the mower over and remove all old grass and brush and scrub down also clean the surface of the mower. With strimmers give a general clean and in particular all guards. Ready to take your machines in for servicing.

Next check all seeds, they should be stored in a water proof box some where cool and dry. It is very easy to end up with lots of half packets of seed. Look at the ‘sow by date’ this is a good guide, however of course some can still germinate after this date. If you are not sowing direct into open ground of course you can use the seed and see what happens. If the seeds are for direct sowing, then perhaps use then up on a small area and buy fresh seed in date for a more guaranteed show. Always sow, carrot,parsnip, sweet corn and lettuce for example as fresh seed. Last years half opened seed will give poor results.

washing plant pots

Most sheds seem to be two-thirds full of plastic pots in a variety of shapes and sizes. Get bold and really reduce them down. Decide are they all going to be round or are you going for square, the stacking and sizing will be easier if you keep to the same shape. plastic pots also crack and break over time. So get sorting the sizes out and washing in a mild disinfectant solution, dunking in water afterwards and then leave to dry before stacking in the sizes back in the shed. Sadly plastic plant pots are the real environmental disaster of the horticultural industry, with few nurseries having a returns policy and at the moment as most pots are black, they can not be recycled in local authority recycling systems. However, there is some hope on the horizon, plastic pots in colours that can be recycled are being used, light blue and pink etc. But much better; pots are being produced for the nursery sector using compostable materials like cardboard fibre and coconut fibre etc. so we all have to hope this will become much more wide spread and will become the future

chain saws

If you have completed your winter hedge cutting and have used your chain saw a lot, then now is the time for them to have a full service. Disable the machines so they are safe to clean, with a soft brush, brush all surfaces and the blades and chain, so they are ready for surfacing. It is advisable to have at least one spare chain for the chain saw, so all the chains will need to be sharpened.

Fertilizers and plant food.

So now is the time to sort your way through your garden ‘Medicine Cabinet’ wearing rubber gloves. It is far to easy to keep that box of sequestrated iron over a number of years and then realise with the damp it is now one huge solid lump and falling out of the box. Some old compacted plant food/fertiliser can be broken up and dissolved in water and still used as a liquid feed. Follow all manufactures instructions.

Herbicides and Pesticides.

Then turn your attention to the ‘nasties’ these are the herbicides and pesticides that you have in your shed. Again were protective gloves and long sleeves and possible a face shield. Follow manufactures instructions on safe handling.

Firstly are they all still licensed for use? www.rhs.org.uk/prevention-protection/withdrawn-chemicals. Would be the first place to check, to see if the old bottle at the back of the shelf should still be in residents in your shed. Check all the bottles and containers are in there original packing with their instructions on use and handling attached. Check there are no broken or leaking containers. Check use by dates.

Any chemicals that need to be disposed off, must be in their original packaging. Contact your local authority for advise on where you can take your unwanted chemicals, you can also have a look at the website. www.gardenchemicaldisposal.co.uk

Sort your chemicals safely.

I would suggest having 2 separate high shelves, one for foods/fertilisers and one for chemicals/herbicides and pesticides.

Of course once you started sorting through your garden ‘medicine cabinet’ you might decide you want to go organic and let nature take control.

Clean tools and oil.

Now after a growing season of hard graft, check and clean and care for your hand tools. Do any need new handles? clean all mud and soil from the blades, sharpen spades and hoes, or send them off to be sharpened and oil all tools. Shears and secateurs after a long season will need sharpening, again you can do this yourself with a wet stone, but if you are not comfortable, then many garden centres and nurseries offer this service.

Go through you bags of opened compost, reduced them and roll or tie the top. If you can get them under cover so the rain is not leaching out the nutrients in the compost, that is better, perhaps a spot at the back of the shed. Also now you are not in a flat spin in the growing season, get that muddle of a fruit net out of the shed and fold or roll it and put in a labelled bag, do the same with any garden fleece.

hand tools

So now you can see the back of the shed and you can move about in it, would more selfing help or hooks to get the hand tools off the floor of the shed so there is more room for the mower be a good idea? As the enthusiasm is now high this is the moment to get going on some shed DIY.

Get painting or staining your shed.

Perhaps the shed it’s self could do with some TLC? a fresh coat or couple of stain or paint? re-felting? new door furniture, now is as good a time as any.

I hope I have inspired you to work off some of the Christmas pudding and get cracking on a winter clearance of your shed. One thing is for sure, you will have earned a cup of tea and a big slice of Christmas cake!

Planting steep slopes and Banks.

A stunning example of a sloping garden.

Although lots of people feel a steeply sloping garden or area is a hindrance and a problem area, they do have their advantages. It allows you to see a cascade of planting with different textures and colours, also most banks can be viewed from many angles giving alternative views. But there is no doubt they do have their planting and maintenance challenges. Here are some plants to consider.

Cotonester dammari: This is a must for all steep and sloping sites, this plant will grow almost any where, although it will not like water logging. a very low growing shrub that hugs the ground. With evergreen foliage of neat dark green leaves and small white flowers in spring, followed by blood red berries in the autumn.

Ceanothus griseus var. horizontallis ‘Yankee point’

Ceanothus griseus var.horizontallis ‘Yankee point’: This is a prostrate form of ceanothus with dark evergreen foliage and small mid blue puffy flowers in May-June. Grows on most well drained soils. It reaches heights of 1-1.3m or higher on good soils, and has a very wide spread. It will add a good splash of colour to a planted bank and may even have the odd repeat flower in the early autumn.

Rosa ‘Snow Carpet’

Rosa ‘Snow Carpet’: This delightful rose, literally crawls along the ground with neat leaves and small clusters of mini white roses, repeat flowering through the summer into early autumn.

Juniperus horizontalis ‘Bar Harbour’

Juniperus horizontalis ‘Bar Harbor’: This is a wonderful low growing conifer, it may be a bit slow but it is worth planting. It has attractive blue green foliage which turns a dusky purple in cold winter months.

Helianthemum ‘Wisley Primrose’

Helianthemum ‘Wisley Primrose’: This is a wonderful rock rose, low growing it will spread well. With sliver evergreen foliage and a clear yellow open flower from May to June.

Rosmarinus officinallis ‘Prostratus Group’

Rosmarinus officinallis ‘Prostratus Group’: This lovely shrub has evergreen sliver foliage which is low growing and spreading. With rich mauve flowers in late spring to early summer. With the added advantage that it is a good cooking herb.

A planted bank with dram from top to bottom

Top Tips: When considering planting a bank, do look at how steep it is, will you be able to comfortably stand to weed and prune? Also think about the depth of the boarders on a slope, if possible you want to be able to stand on a path or step and lean into the planting to weed.. Particularly as most of the shrubs I have suggested, have a dense habit of growth and standing in amongst the planting would be difficult and may well ruin the shape of your shrubs. So if it is a very wide slope, or very steep it may be advisable to break the slope up with a flight of steps with wide landings and possibly the odd path, so you can maintain your planted slopes better.

I hope I have given you some ideas and inspiration to get started on tackling your own planting bank. If you need help with your planting project or with any aspects of garden design, then I know just the woman to give you a hand. Do give me Emily a ring on 01273 470753.

Sliver and White Planting

Sissinghurst famous white garden

The concept of the white garden was created when at the turn of the 20C Vita Sackville-West designed her famous white garden at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent. No doubt many before her had hit a upon this winning formula, but as a prolific garden writer her creation hit the fashionable gardening titles and garden supplements of her day. The fashion for the white garden or just white border for those with humbler gardens was born.

Here are a few plants to consider adding to your sliver and white border.

Pyrus salicifolia var. orientalis pendula

Pyrus salicifolia var.Orientallis ‘Pendula’: A beautiful small weeping tree, with delicate thin foliage held on graceful dipping branches. This tree will give height and elegance to a white garden.

Philadelphus coronarinus varigatus

Philadelphus coronarinus varigatus: This medium sized shrub is a must for the white garden, with an upright habit and almost sliver variegation, and strongly scented white flowers in mid-summer.

Hebe albicans

Hebe albicans: A wonderful small compact shrub with a domed habit, this evergreen hebe is a must for the front of the border . With tight sliver foliage and small white flowers in late summer

Artemisia absinthium ‘Lambrokk Mist’

Artemisia absinthium ‘Lambrook Mist’: Has fine feathery aromatic foliage with a colour of soft grey. With clusters of small white flowers in mid-summer. It is a small sized sub-shrub which can be a bit tender, but it’s dramatic foliage means it is a worth while addition to the garden.

Convolvulus cneorum

Convolvulus cneorum: A delicate small mound forming shrub. With soft sliver foliage. Small white blushed trumpet flowers are produced from mid to late summer. This evergreen, is a valuable shrub for the front of the boarder.

Helianthemum ‘The Bride’

Helianthemum ‘The Bride’: For a sunny spot at the edge of a path, or tumbling over a wall, this rock rose, has small grey evergreen leaves and a mass of semi-double white flowers produced in mid -summer. A good addition to the white garden.

White and sliver planting

Top Tip: White is a recessive colour so it makes things seem further away, which is a good illusion to use in garden planting, It enables the designer of the planting to use white to give a stretchered and false prospective. Also white as a colour ‘leaps out’ of darker surroundings so is wonderful in shady spots. A Sliver and white border will particularly come into its own in the lower light levels of twilight and into dusk. As wonderful as a solid white and sliver border may be, consider using splashes of soft mauve and light blue, intermittently through the planting, to help to add visual lift the planting palette.

white and sliver , make for a dramatic cut flower display

I hope I have inspired you to get creative, if you need help to design your white and sliver garden, I know just the woman to give you a hand. Do give me Emily a ring on 01273 470753, I would be delighted to design your garden project with you.

Autumn Lawn Maintenance

Hard working lawns

September is the time to give your hard working lawn a little TLC. After a long summer of ware and tare and this year 2022 a draught. There is enough warmth to germinate grass seed and with the early autumn rain, to help repair bold spots and get the lawn in good health ready for the winter.

Cutting lawn edging with edgeing shears.

Cutting lawn edging with edging shears.

1) Edging: Over the summer plants have no doubt spilt out over the lawn, so re-defining the edges is important, be weary of constantly making the beds a little larger as the plants flop forward. This ends up with wobbly edged beds and more weeding. Better to sharpen the edge of the lawn and repair any bold patches where the plants have grown over the summer. For existing edges, just a short trim with lawn edging shears should do the job. To redefine a long edge, mark with pegs and string or use marker spray and a good sharp half moon edging tool, to cut a clean crisp lawn edge.

Scaffing a lawn with a wire rake.

2) Scaffing Lawn: Over the growing season the lawn will have built up thatch and possible mossy areas, on a dry day, get a good strong spring-bok or similar wire rake and rake the lawn hard. Start at one end and edge of the lawn and work your way over the whole lawn. Then for a really good job rake across the lawn over the grain as it were, in the opposite directions. All the material you have removed from the lawn, can go into the compost bin.

Aerating with a garden fork.

3) Aerating the lawn: Aerating compacted areas of a lawn is really important it aids drainage and gets air and moisture down to the organisms that live in your lawn and make it healthily, It might just be the areas that have been the goal or a worn path across the lawn, or the dog run route or it could be the whole lawn. If it is just patches then using a folk will be fine or if it is a very small lawn, for anything a bit bigger if you are doing the whole lawn then I would suggest hiring an aerating machine or getting a lawn maintenance company in to carry out the hard graft. For small patches, starting just beyond the bold compacted area, hold the fork vertical and dig down to a ¼ spits depth about 75/100mm, give the fork a bit of a wiggle not too much and pull out, you need to work your way in lines over the whole area with a gap of about 70mm between each forked area. You can get specialist aerating forks that have hollow tines and remove a plug of soil, but unless you are doing a lot, I would say that it is a bit of kit you can do without.

An airrating machine, being used on a lawn.

An aerating machine, being used on a lawn.

Re-seeding the lawn.

4) Weeds and Seeding: So no doubt your lawn is now possible looking a bit bald after all your efforts of scaffing and aerating. Walk over the lawn with a small hand trowel in hand and dig up any really large and persistent weeds, unless you are happy with a more flowery lawn approach. Dandelions, plantains and the odd nettle. So identify the areas of the lawn that need seeding all those bald patches. With a fixed tine rack, rake them hard to get a thin soil thilth to seed into. Buy some lawn sand, or a lawn sand top soil mix, lightly spread this over the bald patches, to make a thin layer. Now with a watering can with a fine rose, gently water the areas you are going to seed. Now using a good quality grass seed for hard wearing domestic use, follow the quantise recommend on the packet and lightly seed the areas. For larger areas of the lawn where the grass is just looking thin after all your work, rake with a fixed tine rake, then water with a fine rose and the seed direct onto the existing grass. If you can you need to stop animals and people walking across the newly seeded areas, also anything else you can do to try to keep the birds of the seed is good. Water with a fine rose very few days, but making sure you do not displace the grass seed, if it is raining this will not be needed. After about 3 weeks the grass should be germinating well if it has been wet and warm enough. Re-seed where needed.

A beautiful striped lawn.

So don’t delay now is the time to be kind to your lawn, whether a small patch in a court yard that you sun bath on or a family lawn that has had ball games on all year. Or a lawn that has had the dogs running circles on. All can do with a little lawn TLC.

Hebes: a garden staple.

Mixed shrub planting with Hebes

Hebes, are a wonderful shrub with a good growing habit adding structure and form to mixed planting and dense evergreen foliage acting as a main stay of the winter garden. With the added advantage of a long flowering season and coping with tough growing conditions including exposed coastal sites. There is much to commend this shrub and it’s many varieties. Here are some to consider.

Sadly there is no ‘free from copyright’ image to illustrate this plant.

H. ‘Blue Clouds’: This small compact shrub reaches about 1m in height, with dense glossy green foliage with tints of purple in the winter. With long flower spikes of light mauve from August to October.

Hebe Cupressoides

H. cupressoides: This unusual hebe is a one of the ‘whip cord or conifer’ hebes. With very different foliage. It is a dwarf shrub with spreading habit. With grey green conifer like foliage. Soft purple flowers in a small clusters June to July.

Hebe ‘Great Orme’

H. ‘Great Orme’: This is a small to middle sized shrub with a rounded habit and slightly lax growth. Long green purple leaves and long pink fading to white flower spikes in mid summer. Can be tender.

Sadly thee is no ‘Free from Copyright’ image to illustrate this plant.

H. ‘Black Beauty’: A beautiful small neat shrub with bark purple foliage, to 60cm. with small neat purple flowers mid summer. Can be tender.

Hebe ‘Emerald Green’

H. ‘Emerald Green’: This is a small compost shrub with small mid-green foliage and makes a very dense shrub. Would work will as an alternative to a clipped box ball.

Hebe ‘Red Edge’

H. ‘Red Edge’: This shrub with it’s low mound forming habit and striking grey foliage with the leaves edged red in winter, makes a good low hedge.

Hebes can cope well with coastal planting.

Tips: Hebes are fast growing, but not all are hardy, even in the south East of England, if there is a particularly cold spell, it can kill sections of a mature plant or even kill a small one. But in southern climbs most are hardy, but if in doubt plant with some protection from other shrubs. They do make good low hedges and some of the larger variates informal taller hedges. As they are fast growing, they are not particularly long lived shrubs. They cope well with coastal areas and salt winds, not in the first line of planting by the sea, but in the second planting line.

I hope I have inspired you to add Hebes to your garden planting. If you would like help with designing your garden, then I know just the person to give you a hand. Give me Emily a ring on 01273 470753, to discuss your garden project.

Hooray for Hemerocallis

Hemerocallis in mixed planting

These tough as boots grow pretty much any where hard working perennials, need to be ‘shouted’ about much more. They come in small up to 50mm to pretty large up to1m in height and will grow in sun or partial shade in most moist soils. They come in a wide range of colours from white, pink, to many different yellows and golds to burning oranges to deep reds. Some are even multi coloured. From robust singles to ruffled doubles and delicate spider trumpets, there surely is a Hemercallis to suite every taste! Here are just a few to sample.

Hemerocallis ‘Corky’

H. ‘Corky’: This is a top favourite of mine, with robust mid green sword like foliage and refined slim trumpet flowers on tall stems in buttery golden yellow with stripes of brown on the back of the petals. Flowering mid summer with a later splash of flowers in late summer.

Hemerocallis ‘Joan Senior’

H.’Joan Senior’: This is an elegant mid height hemercallis, with clear white flowers with a deep light green throat, wonderful for a white planting scheme or dappled shade.

Hemerocallis ‘Luxury Lace’

H. ‘Luxury Lace’: This is a rather blousy soft focus Hemerocallis at 60/70cm tall with mid-green foliage and large ruffled edged flowers in soft apricot/pink with a green throat.

Hemerocallis ‘Stella de Oro’

H.’Stella de Oro’: this is a wonderful small variety up to 40/50cm with clumps of skinny light green leaves and wide open bright yellow flowers. Flowering mid-summer.

Hemerocallis ‘Burning Light’

H. ‘Burning Daylight’: This Hemerocallis creates a large bold clump up to 70cm tall, with eye popping intense fire orange flowers which are scented, one for the hot garden. Flowering June/July.

Hemerocallis ‘Crimson Pirate’

H.’Crimson Pirate: This is a striking Hemerocallis with spidery vivid red flowers a real garden talking point. Flowering mid summer.

Mixed Hemercallis together

This over looked perennials demands more use whether as a splash in mixed planting, or a giant edging sweep along the front of the border. I hope I have inspired you to look again at Hemerocallis.

Rambling and Climbing Roses

A mass of blooms

June is all about the mighty rose this is the height of the rose season and if you are lucky enough to have the space then a mighty climber or rambling rose can be a show stopper! From a mass of colour up the façade of a large barn to a romping rambler over a crumbling garage, these roses are goliaths and add drama and romance to the June garden.

Dramatic arches

The difference between Climbing and rambling roses: Rambling roses normally only flower once. They have clusters of blooms in bunches. They produce long lax stems of growth, they are very vigorous and very tough putting up with even dry shade, doing well planted up trees to ramble over. Climbing roses, normally have single roses, or small groups of flowers, growth is upright and there are climbing roses in most of the rose groups, Noisette, English Roses, Tea Roses, Bourbon and Hybrid-Tea Roses. Here are some classics to consider.

Rosa Alchymist

R. Alchymist: this stunning climbing rose, with old style rosette-shaped flowers of a warm apricot fading to soft pink, with a strong fragrance. With good vigorous upright growth up to 18ft. One major flowering in June and repeats flowers with less flowers into the autumn.

Rosa Altisimo

R. Altissimo: An eye stooping climbing rose, with large single flowered blood red blooms with a cluster of golden stamens. Repeat flowers but a bit shy, it has huge orange hips that stay on till spring the next year. 12 to 15ft.

Rosa Constant Spry

R. Constance Spry: Named after the famed florist and cook. This is a huge climbing rose up to 20 to 25ft. But what a sight. Cup shaped multi-petalled blooms, in soft pink with a strong old tea scent, this once flowering climber gives an impressive one off show in mid- summer.

Rosa Albertine

R. ‘Alberine’; A traditional rambler with strong growth growing to 20ft. Salmon red buds open to lax semi-double flowers of a coppery pink. Strong scent and free flowering. With one off mass of flowers and the odd one or two produced latter.

Rosa Veichen blau

R. ‘Veilnblau’: This unusual rambler produces clusters of same semi-double flowers, from purple to light mauve and a mass of small orange hips. It is almost thorn less and has a strong orange scent. Vigorous growth up to 20ft.

Rosa Wedding Day

R. ‘Wedding Day’: This is a big daddy of rambling roses getting to 35ft and some with ease. vigorous grower. A one off mass of bloom. With clusters of almost golden buds opening to soft white single flowers. A very healthy rose that is strongly fragranced. For that romantic ruin!

Roses in full bloom add wow factor!

Top tips: traditional climbing and rambling roses, usually only give one off massive displays, more modern varieties of climbers, will repeat flower. It is rare to find a rambling rose repeat flowering. For tips on pruning see January 2017 Blog. If you do not have a large façade or a romantic ruin to grow these big roses over. Then shrub roses can be trained to grow up stranded height fences and smaller arches and pergolas and for most of us this is the best option to enjoy a garden wall or fence with a rose on it. A Rosa ‘kifsgate’ on a bit of trellis next to the sitting room window, will cause nothing but misery. Right rose right place!

The full impacted of the wonderful Rose.

I hope I have inspired you to choose one of these ‘grand-dames’ of the rose world to take centre stage in your garden. If you want help redeveloping a rose garden or a summer mixed boarder or any other garden design needs, then I know just the person to help. Give me Emily a ring on 01273 470753.

Colour Plant Portraits from my Garden

Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’ and Nectaroscorum sisculum

Early morning light on Allium hollandicum ‘purple sensation’ and Nectaroscorum sisculum.

Iris Berkley Gold, Iris Kent Pride and Allium Globe Master

Tall Bearded Irises, Berkley Gold and Kent pride, nestle in the gravel, with splashes of bold purple round heads of Allium ‘Globe Master’.

Iris Jane Phillips and Iris Sable

Soft mauve of Iris ‘Jane Phillips’ and the velvet richness of Iris Sable.

Iris Jane Phillips

The shades of purple from Alliums and Nectaroscorum give way to a back drop of soft slivers of Stachys byzantine and the fresh lime green of Euphorbia characias ‘Wulfenii’

Nepta x faassenii ‘Six Hills Gaint’, Geum ‘Totally Tangerine and Allium ‘Globe Master’

Spires od sliver and soft mauve flowers of Nepta x faassenii ‘Six Hills Giant’, mingle with the oranges of Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’. The dramatic uprights of the drumsticks of deep purple Allium ‘Globe Master’, rise up through the soft spilling planting.

Nepeta and Iris Kent Pride

There is something really wonderful about the May garden, every thing is fresh and new, the planting is beginning to fill out with fresh spring growth. These photos I took one morning while I wondered round my small garden early in the morning with my early cup of tea, the low sun light lifts the colour along with the morning dew.

Nectaroscorum sisculum ans Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation

I hope you to are enjoying your garden. If you want help to redesign and plant your garden do give me Emily a ring 01273 470753

Alpines-Small is Beautiful

Alpine rock garden

Alpines, allow you to enjoy gardening in miniature, whether you are creating a small intermit rockery in a corner of a garden, or a low dish of plants on a table or a traditional rock basin with choice plants in. There is a lot to enjoy and discover about gardening with small Alpines. Here are a few to consider.

Arabis androsace: This is a tiny and perfectly formed alpine perfect for a sink or low saucer planting, reaching 2cm in height. A rosette of tightly packet leaves, with tiny white flowers in March-April.

Dianthus freynii

Dianthus freynii: This delightful alpine pink reaches the dizzying heights of 5cm. Making a pin-cushion of grey leaves, with fat pink flowers held on grey stems in April-May. Looks good in a scree garden.

Geranium sanguineum lancastriense

Geranium sanguineum lancastriense: 7cm tall, with a spreading habit. With small mid-green palmate leaves and pink flowers May-June. Would happily scrabble over small rocks in a rock garden of the right scale.

Lithospermum diffusum ‘Heavenly Blue’

Lithospermum diffsum ‘Heavenly Blue’: Getting a little taller this plant gets to 10cm in height. This is a striking alpine with intense gentian like flowers of a stunning blue, flowering from May to July. It makes an eye-stopping addition to a alpine planting.

Phlox douglasii ‘Eva’

Phlox douglasii ‘Eva’: A good upright habit reaching 10cm tall. With a mass of small open pink flowers with a darker eye. Flowering latter in the season, from July into August. A good addition to the Alpine garden to help to extend the flowering season.

Saxifraga burserian ‘Brookside’: A good completed plant at 5cm tall. With a dense cushion of grey tiny leaves. Tall red flower stems with white star flowers are produced from late April into May.

Alpines planted on a rock wall

Top tip: All the alpines I have chosen are hardy in Southern England. They like full sun and sharp well drained soil, so adding horticultural grit and sand will help. Plant Alpines like they are specimen plants, so you can really see the individual beauty of each plant. Think about the mulch and items round the alpines, the rocks and build of a rock garden with good horizontal stator to give a natural look also think of the scale of the plants and any rocks or mulches used. These should work in harmony with the planting. Even on the small scale of a pot, stones and pebble mulches can be used.

I hope I have inspired you to think again about Alpines, particularly if you have limited gardening space, as a few different pots with groups of alpines, can turn even a small balcony into a variety rich garden.

Enjoy!

More Unusual- Bulbs

Frittillary in a meadow

When you say ‘bulbs’ to most people they think Daffodils, a handful of tulips and a sweep of crocus, but there are many more tempting bulbs to try. Bringing extra and more unusual colour and form to the spring bulb display and lengthening the bulb season into the summer months. Here are some to consider.

Camassia cusickii

Camassia cusickii: This tall bulb makes a sward of tall mid-green leaves, with a central flower spike up to 60/75cm tall. Flowers unfurl from the bottom upwards in session. Flowering in June with good clear blue star shaped flowers. Excellent for semi-shade

Camssia leichtlinii ‘Alba’: A white form, with flowers creamy to white growing to 70/90cm tall. As with all Camassia excellent for naturalising in wild meadows and grassy areas in semi-shade like orchards.

Chionodoxa forbesii

Chionodoxa forbesii: This bulb is often commonly called the ‘ glory of the snow’. It is certainly one of the earliest to appear. Delicate and low growing at 10/15cm, plant in small clumps. Bright sky blue flowers with a white splashed centre. March-April.

Chionodoxa forbesii

Chionodoxa lucilliae ‘Alba’:Pure white large flowers March-April, 10/15cm tall. These bulbs are superb at naturalising in both sun and semi-shade.

Fritillaria meleagris

Fritillaria meleagris:The snakes head fritillary. This delicate bulb is small in statue but is a show stopper, only 20-30cm tall, it’s beautiful nodding heads reach above the grass. The distinctive flowers are bourne from March-April. In shades of white, cream and soft pink. With scale like markings on the petals, hence it’s common name. Grows well in full sun and well drained soil.

Fritillaria imperialis ‘Aurora’

Fritillaria imperialis ‘Aurora’: ‘Crown imperial’ this is the Emporia or fritillaries. A striking plant reaching 60/70cm in height with mid green base leaves a tall strong flower spike with a ring of orange bell like flowers set under the tuft of small leaves above. Flowering March to April

Ipheion rolf fiedler

Ipheion Rolf Fiedler: A hardy bulb from South Africa. Clumps of low mid- green foliage and open star shaped flowers in bright electric blue. This is truly a eye catcher for the early spring. 10/15cm tall. Flowers March- April

Ipheion Alberto Castillo: pure white open clear flowers. 10/15cm tall Flowering March-April. These bulbs like a sunny spot and good drainage, they naturalise well.

A mass of Chionodoxa planted under trees.

I hope I have wetted your appetited to try planting some bulbs that are a little different. Enjoy!

Heathers: Ericas and Calluna

Mixed, heather planting

Sadly heathers have become deeply unfashionable, but are they due for a return to garden fortune?

They first had their heyday in the Victorian era. With the Victorians love of the romantic landscapes of the Cumbrian fells the Scottish highlands fed by Royal fashion. They were widely planted over the Victorian rocky, great and small. Heathers next big moment on the British garden scene was the 1970’s with the island bed, with mixed conifers and heathers to give all year round interest and a desire for low maintenance. But these tough plants, have long flowering seasons and a lot to offer. Here are some to consider.

Calluna vulgaris ‘Beoley Gold’

Calluna ‘Beoley Gold’: Low growing with good golden evergreen foliage and delicate bell shaped white flowers in August to September.

Erica carnea ‘Golden Scarlet’

Erica carnea ‘Golden Scarlet’: Bushy growth with bright yellow evergreen foliage. Masses of small white flowers. Flowering from December- March.

Calluna ‘Dark Beauty’

Calluna ‘Dark Beauty’: Low growing compact heather with mid-green evergreen foliage. Deep red semi- double flowers, flowering late summer.

Erica carnea ‘C.D Easor’

Erica cinerea ‘C.D. Eason’: Dark green evergreen foliage, with bright red flowers flowering from June to September.

Calluna ‘Firefly’

Calluna ‘Firefly’:A wonderful variety it’s green evergreen foliage turns a rust orange in the winter. Crimson flowers produced July-August.

Erica x darleyensis ‘Furzey’

Erica x darleyensis ‘Furzey’: Strong growing heather with dark foliage. Purple flowers produced from December to April.

Top Tip: Heathers, that is Cullnas and most Ericas, like a neutral to slightly acidic humus rich soil. But there are a few Ericas that will survive and even grow well in a chalky alkaline soil. This low maintenance shrub, needs little looking after. Just a light trim after flowering to keep good compact shape.

Heathers mixed winter planting

Heathers have a lot to add to the mixed planted boarder, from sweeps of low colour in a winter planting. Or used in a rockery setting, or as a low maintenance plant with good ground cover properties. Heather is a superb plant for steep bank planting. There is an endless choice of varieties that take the flowering season from the bleak winter months, through spring and then become the highlight of late summer and autumn low planting. With many soft pastel shades of white, pink and purple to some eye popping reds and varieties with golden and even strong yellow foliage. These plants can shine through the year. If you have the right growing conditions, perhaps it is time to look a new at Ericas and Cullunas.

Redefining the Edge

Neatly edged flower borders

Mid-winter is a good time to take a good hard look at your garden. You can clearly see, the structure of the garden and it’s layout. Perhaps the crisp lines of the rectangular beds you set out and the geometric circles and square of planting on the lawn, have lots their crispness. Or has the straight boarder along the house begun to wavier. Have your planting beds become a little woolie about the edges?

Planting flopping over the path edges.

Now is a good time to redefine the edge of planting boarders, taking sprawling planting back in hand. Mature planting boarders can often become much larger than originally designed, the plants mature and flop and move forward, the edging geraniums and other exuberant herbaceous plants freely flow out of the flower bed onto the lawn, you start to cut round them and so year on year, the bed gets bigger and wider and the shape and form of it is lost. Paths can also fall prey to this, a little softness of plants edging the path is one thing. Overflowing planting can easily turn a wide path into a narrow slalom course, which can get almost unpassable, particularly in wet summer weather when the weight of wet planting flops and sags forward even more. It can also be quite a trip hazard.

Over grown path

But there are a number of things you can do to get your planting beds back into shape and this is the time of year to do it. Firstly take a good hard look at the shape and size of your planting, has it grown in size over the years? Have plants spilled to the front to get light leaving bare areas under other shrubs in the middle or the back of the boarder? So this may be the opportunity to not only redefine the existing edge of the boarder, but perhaps to completely reshape the boarder or even to reduce it’s size. So the next stage is to mark out using canes, the shape and size of the boarder, and then use string and pegs to mark the edges.

marking out the edge of a flower bed

Now you need to prune back any planting in the way of the new edge and possible even dig some plants out, perhaps they can transplanted back into new positions with in the same boarder or found a new home somewhere else in the garden or given to gardening friends. Be bold, it is no good putting an edging in that will instantly in the first growing season be swamped by the planting.

Digging up plants along the edge

Next you need to decide what job your edging is doing, to help you decide what type will be suitable. Is the edging to be laid flat and level with the lawn to make lawn care easier, so you can mow over it so it is a mowing strip. Brick or paving slabs work well.

brick mowing strip

Is the edging to help to retain a slightly higher soil level of the flower bed from the lawn level. Then both a metal edging of the right height like ever-edge or a brick edging would work.

Ever-edge edging round lawn

Is the edging to keep taller plants flopping on the edge of paths, perhaps you would like it to be decorative. Traditional rope edging tiles are beautiful, but if you do not have the budget or the time to hunt demolition yards then, there are dyed concrete edging kerbs that may be to your liking. As well as some fancy metal edging.

metal hoop edging

Think about the area of the garden and the style of your garden to choose the right edging, so if it is a cottage garden for an old thatched cottage, then tile edging or bricks on edge will be more suitable.

brick edging

Tiles used as an edging

A woodland garden would be best with old logs or even sleeper edges, which even if they are new would soon weather down, to fit the mood of the woodland planting.

log edging in Woodland planting

If your garden is a dry seaside garden, then, pebbles, and larger stones and even boulders, may be the edging of choice.

Once you have decided on you edging material and there is a huge choice on the market. Give yourself good working room in the planting bed to install your new edging. If you have reduced the size of the boarder then you may need to repair the lawn, with some top soil raked to levels, ready for seeding in the spring. Or you may have been lucky enough to have regained a path, from excess planting.

Well edged flower beds, give the winter garden formal elegance

If you need help to restore an old boarder or a planting area in your garden. Then I would be happy to help and this is the very time of year to carry out the work. Give me Emily a ring 01273 470753. I would be delighted to discuss your garden project with you.

Arcadia Garden Design

Creating beautiful gardens in Brighton and Sussex since 1995