Clearing out the front garden borders.
By angelat
3 comments
Our front garden, though small, is a difficult one to organise. There have been a number of manifestations over the years to try and make it presentable and to discover what would thrive there in a south-facing hot-spot.
This is what it looked like earlier this summer, a muddle of self-seeders and small shrubs. We have tried lavenders and discarded those in earlier times and the local moggies did for the catmints which thrived there!
It was a mix of alliums, mexican mock orange (Philadelphus mexicanus), DA rose, shrubby potentilla, penstemons and most of all white valerian and cerinthe which threw themselves all over.
Today we bit the bullet and pulled out all the self seeders, and removed the mock-orange (which broke my heart as it is not easy to find and was expensive, but much too big for the space.) We resited the yellow potentilla also so there is now plenty of space for the window cleaner to get around without treading all over treasures!! The sedums have gone as they flopped – I’m done with floppers – and so have the globe thistles which draped themselves about and never stood upright.
Because of its odd shape I can’t get a good picture, but you will get the idea of the work done. OH has been a star and I have acted as pruning, clearing and watering (etc) sidekick.
After a breather we carried on with the border running up to the front door. The "Lady Bacon’ fuchsia we had planted under the side window had grown much more enormous than shown here and was blocking the view from it:
OH dug out the fuchsia and we split up the heucheras struggling beneath it, into the spot, so no chance of the light being blocked or postmen attacked on his way to the letterbox..
The jury is still out about what to do with the ‘Tottering by Gently’ rose. It’s now about 7ft tall and still growing but we love it! I really should make better note of how large things grow..
Last week we bought some cyclamen to brighten up the porch. Here they are:
And finally, I lost these rudbeckia from the front this year and would love to know what they are so I can grow some more. They were produced from unnamed seed.
5 Oct, 2024
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Previous post: Decluttering the garden.
Comments
Phew! Great result getting all that work done. Your Cyclamen are gorgeous … inspiring me to go shopping soon!
5 Oct, 2024
You are doing great job Ange.
Is it Rudbeckia laciniata you are looking for??
They are several varieties and they grow quite tall sometimes with dissected leaves.
5 Oct, 2024
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You’ve really had a good sort out in the front, Ange. I’m sorry you’ve had to remove mock orange, needs must sometimes. You’ve still a lot of lovely and interesting plants out there..bet you feel quite exhausted trying to think about what to keep and what needed to be removed.
I do love your potted cyclamen, very fresh and compact too. I do hope you manage to find out the name of the rudbeckia..
I’m persisting with my big trough out front..it has geraniums, begonias and dahlias…they are still blooming. Not sure why to do once they are finished. I’m resisiting putting up my autumn wreath - colour clashes!!!! The wreath would be above the trough with all the reds and pinks! Crazy woman, I know!
5 Oct, 2024