Neats Home Garden
  • Home
    • About Helena Goddard
  • Seasonal Blog
  • Contact/Events

Summer Colour in the Main Border

7/7/2014

 
Picture
Last summer I noticed that the formal borders around the garden seemed oddly lacking in colour during June and July. Why was this?

Well, most of the formal borders face east, and were shaded by overgrown shrubs and perennials which hadn't been divided in many years. The south-facing border is unfortunately super-dry and in parts quite shady, thanks to the huge eucalyptus tree that sits in the middle of it. 
Picture










So - what to do? 

There was nothing I could do about the drying effects of the eucalyptus, so I edged the front of that border with drought-tolerant plants. 

We pruned back the shrubs to let in a bit more light , and I lifted and divided as many of the perennials as I could. I planted some Hydrangea aborescens 'Annabelle' along the east-facing borders, and these are now popping out in large white balls against the green background. Interestingly, the day lilies have flowered much better this summer, and with a much stronger peach colour, after I divided and replanted them last autumn.

Then I planted a lot of bulbs - tulips for spring, and alliums for summer - as well as plenty of penstemons, mainly the 'Garnet' cultivar, which is pretty hardy. I also grew from seed and planted on some purple and blue-coloured annuals like Delphinium grandiflora 'Gentian Blue,' Agastache 'Black Adder,' and Cosmos, as well as some Verbena bonariensis and a few green-globe Artichokes.

Did it work? Well, this summer has certainly been an explosion of colour. Now, if we can only tackle that eucalyptus... 

Picture

    Favourite Sites

    Seedaholic
    Good suppliers of flower, veg and unusual plant seeds. 

    Fentongollan
    Cornish bulb supplier. My go-to for daffodils. Helpful staff. 

    Peter Nyssen
    All-round fab website for bulb hunting. Excellent quality tulips.

    Archives

    June 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Categories

    All
    Agretti
    Bees
    Broad Beans
    Bulbs
    Bumbleebee
    Fruit
    Garden Design
    Garden Design
    Gardening
    Gardens To Visit
    Hedging
    Iron-induced Chlorosis
    Lettuce
    Magnolia Grandiflora
    Plants
    Pond
    Pumpkins & Squash
    Recipe
    Rocket
    Rose
    Seasons
    Seeds
    Snowdrops
    Spiders
    Sweetpeas
    Vegetables
    Viburnum
    Weeds
    Wildlife
    Yacon

    RSS Feed

    Tweets by @neatshomegarden

 © Neats Home Garden 2013
About   Seasonal Blog   Recipes   Contact