My next project.
By spritzhenry
7 comments
Yes. I suppose I am not happy unless I do have a project to plan and keep me busy in the garden.
So what have I been up to, involving very muddy knees and trug after trug of compost….
Well, there is a bank on the side of the garden adjoining the farm. Most of it is planted with trees and shrubs. The majority of them were here when we came but over time I have replaced or added to them.
I inherited the most prickly rose in the world… and i do have constant battles with brambles and bindweed coming from the farm.
A while ago I made a very bad mistake. I thought that a Vinca would look pretty ambling under the bushes.
OOOPS! It didn’t stay underneath, it grew and grew OVER them, too!
Oh wow, what a long and difficult job I had to get rid of as much of the Vinca as I could. I started by pulling out long strands and chopping them off. I found some nice plants surviving underneath.
Several Centaurea montana, both blue and while, Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and a very pretty Fuchsia.
Next came the more difficult task I could only do by crawling under the rose and shrubs clutching my smallest trowel and my secateurs. Go on, you can laugh if you want to, but if you had been there you would have heard some naughty words as I tried to escape from the rose thorns yet again!
I cleared as much of the Vinca as I could while realising that it would be back.
I moved some shade loving plants from elsewhere in the garden and ordered more on line, including two Solomon’s Seal and some ferns.
The plant far right is a very useful one for shade, it has yellow poppy-like flowers and it seeds itself, without being a thug. It’s called Stylophorum lasiocarpum.
Well my project is just about completed but I know I will be crawling under that dratted rose many more times because Vinca is indeed a THUG…..
What will my next project be I wonder…
25 Aug, 2020
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Comments
Well you cant keep a good woman down can you? A as for muttering swear words it happens to the best of us and I bet Her Majesty does too. :o)
Which vinca is it Spritz? I bet it is the one that is rampant in my atrocity corner as you gave me some on one of my visits many years ago.
The plants will appreciate the breath of air and the sight of the sun.
I like the rose even if it is prickly.
25 Aug, 2020
A project keeps a gardener sane. Rain and high winds stops outdoor play today! Plan the next project? Or undo the miscalculations?
I beg to differ about your having the most spiney Rose in the world. I've got it, a very old (species?) yellow from a runner from my neighbour. It's in a tub.
Hywell is right, put your Vinca in a hanging basket, (or an upturned rain butt lid) especially Jenny Pym, she's a right nuisance.
25 Aug, 2020
Yes, I agree...this one is Gertrude Jekyll. I hope the lady herself didn't create it...she must be turning in her grave!
25 Aug, 2020
Lol, I like the concept of Her Majesty down on her knees under the rose bush!
I like Solomons Seal too - watch out for eelworm though.
That little fern is very dainty and attractive - is it a Lady fern? Have put the Stylophorum on my wish list - thank you for showing it - looks very useful.
25 Aug, 2020
Well.....I am impressed that you are able to scrabble around on the ground....and get up again! You are obviously much fitter than I am.
I do agree one does need a project......at the moment I feel the garden could do with a good sorting out.....but I haven’t the energy or the inclination......my mojo has has departed.....I will leave the projects in your capable hands Spritz........you seem to be doing an excellent job!
25 Aug, 2020
Her Majesty wouldn't use such vulgar words even if she could get down on her knees & wriggle underneath a very prickly rose bush to try & remove a recalcitrant Vinca! :D
26 Aug, 2020
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What a job you had on your hands there ... I hope you didn't get too many scratches from the rose.
I agree about Vinca being a thug. I have 3 Vincas but they are in pots. They are all V. minor and are staying firmly in their pots ! Actually they look nice in pots. Sometimes I place one of the pots in a hanging basket and let the Vinca cascade down, and since two of them are variegated they look rather nice.
I do like Solomon's Seal, mine has disappeared. I'll have to put it on my wish list again.
And that's a very pretty Fuchsia. It must be a hardy one. I like the blue/mauve ones best I think.
You have a very pretty Geranium in the last photo too :)
25 Aug, 2020