Rockery finished I hope

What a good job done and it's only early January, you must be so chuffed the couch grass has gone, very satisfying :-)

Fingers crossed it 's all gone but I wont hold my breath.

The long border in front of the house is about 50% couch but it is still far too wet to dig.
I made a start before Christmas and lifted large clods of soil to start to dry out. Today I had a look at them but the soil is still clinging to the roots so still too wet.
its not helped by the Lysimachia punctate I planted then 'forgot' to keep in check!

Shucks, I thought you'd managed to clear the front border last Autumn! Couch is such sneaky stuff, it only needs an inch leaving behind and before you know where you are its black to square one. y oout made me smile - I tried to remember what it is...

Our ground has been slowly drying out but rain forecast on and off all week so back to square one, better than snow though.

You did a fine job, SBG! It should be much improved by spring & any "grass" left should be easy to dispose of.

We too have trouble with couch grass in some of our beds and I so admire your determined efforts to eliminate it. We too must make a bigger effort with it here as it is so destructive.
You have done really well here.

thanks for all the positive comments. it is greatly appreciated.
Rain forecast for us but I might remove a Berberis that has outgrown its space/worth. it might get planted else where or potted up for sale.

I need to tie in the climbing roses onto the arch. But it needs straightening up as the weight of the plants has made it lean a little too far forward. there is a vigorous clematis to prune too.

My nails are a mess and finger tips quite sore with scrabbling around in the soil but hey it has to be done and a pamper manicure

Looking good Eileen. Sounds like a lot of work, but the kind of work I enjoy. Saves me a trip to the gym. As far as rockery plants, you may want to connect with Karen (Cottagekaren). She's got quite an impressive collection of succulents I think would do well in your Rockery. She's currently under the weather however. Kate might also be able to help you source some plants. Nice to see the progress.

Thanks Paul, I have several sedum and saxifrages but I am after more later flowering herbaceous plants and ones that don't need cosseting in our coldish wet winters we get here. I've seen lots of lovely plants over the years but many of them don't like chalk and / or they need protection from winter wet. I have often coveted BJS alpine collection and if I had the space I would have an alpine house..
I will certainly look at Karen's plant profile.

A friend recommended Kevock garden plants so I have spent a happy 3hrs browsing and clicking add to basket. £90 later and I have bought 15 plants though not all for the rockery.

I did start weeding an area in the back garden and I was working through the muscular back spasms, just, when it started to rain.

Sounds like it's all coming together. I'm envious that you can work out in the garden this time of year. Karen has one succulent that caught my attention called "Black Prince Desert Rose'. See what you think of that one!

Its one of the Aeoniums and they are stunning but it would have to be moved indoors during the winter as its not hardy enough here. it would also be too tall for the shape of the rockery. My daughter loves them and she had one but lost it when the temp dropped to 0c for more that an week.

Oh Eileen, one of my childhood memories is going into Derbyshire - solid limestone - to see the spring flowers. Even when i was very small I used to beg to be taken to see the cowslips and primroses. I once found some Jacobs Ladder. Do you find blue flowers do well for you or is it my imagination?

Yes blue flowers do well here. I have several Jacob ladder plants in the main borders. I love spring flowers.