Box parterre gets a good clipping
A Norfolk garden, with shady borders, wildlife areas and a large herbaceous bed.
We’ve an area in the garden that we refer to as ‘the mound’. It was originally a rockery rising above the pond, presumably constructed using the spoil when it was excavated.
Over the years, we’ve introduced various plants that aren’t normally associated with a rockery, like Fatsia japonica, Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’ and Fuchsia magellanica. Recently, we’ve begun underplanting these, reintroducing more traditional rockery plants.
This year, the fuchsia has grown through the prunus and flowered above it. It looks really different and has given this large shrub new life at a time of year when it’s not looking at its best.
In the same area, just outside our sitting room window, is a large pot that contains a magnificent hibiscus ‘Oiseau Bleu’. The colour is quite intense and, with flowers like saucers, it gave us a fantastic show.
The herbaceous border still looks spectacular, although the colours have changed from blues and pinks to mainly yellows and purples. One thing that has surprised us is one of our dahlias. Last year, I had two ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ in pots by the house, and I managed to get seed from them and grew them on over winter. Most of them didn’t come true to form, with the exception of one, which is the most beautiful pale purple!
The wildflower meadow, flanking the herbaceous border on two sides, has been cut down and the hay laid out to dry, which allows the seed to fall to replenish the meadow for next year. We get some good hay which is donated to the neighbour’s rabbits.
Our front garden’s main use is as a turning space for cars, so the main part of it is gravel. But to make the garden interesting, we have a box parterre that I keep well trimmed. It had a nice clip over recently and is looking smart again.
The weather’s still unpredictable, but we’ve managed to get on top of the hedge trimming at last! We have privet on our boundary that stands about 2.4m (8ft) tall, with a laurel hedge at the same height, adjoining it at right angles near the summer house. It’s hard work but rewarding.
collecting acorns and nuts. I watch them from the kitchen window as they dig a small hole in the lawn, popping in an acorn and then carefully patting the earth back down.
All the usual songbirds live in and around the garden and we hear buzzards overhead daily at this time of year. Imagine my surprise recently when I looked out of the kitchen window and saw a buzzard on a conifer stump, literally feet from the house with a rabbit it had caught. As it flew off, it dropped its meal, making the cat jump! Before returning to college our younger son spent an afternoon tidying up some of the box and lonicera bushes. He made a beautiful job of trimming cones and balls and, even better, he tidied up all the clippings! He even looked at a straggly lonicera bush and decided he could trim it into a peacock shape – we’re thrilled with it. There’s still plenty to enjoy in the garden. Aster ‘Harrington’s Pink’ has been flowering for weeks, as has penstemon ‘Bodnant’, which is one of my favourites. I’ve taken plenty of cuttings of this and also from salvia ‘Amistad’, which are all growing strongly. Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ is another favourite and Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pink Diamond’ is growing well in the orchard. Read more at www.