My gardening diary
Left, veronicastrum ‘Fascination’ can get a bit wobbly, so needs staking. Right, clematis ‘Prince Charles
MONDAY The windy weather a couple of weeks ago broke a few branches and made a few paths difficult to get along. Although summer isn’t the ideal time to prune trees and shrubs, there’s no real option other than to get out the loppers and pruning saw and promptly remove broken branches before they inflict further damage.
TUESDAY Once upon a time, I thought yellow was a difficult colour to use in paintings and in the garden until someone suggested it was the colour of spirituality! It’s the colour of pollen, too. Wear a yellow t-shirt and pollinating insects will flock to you. The favourite combination at Glebe Co age is yellow and blue (and I don’t mean for outfits). The two work beautifully together, especially with all that green. WEDNESDAY Staking tall plants that tend to flop is a stitch in time job. You neglect it at your peril. One of the tallest plants we grow, and one of the most prone to falling over, is veronicastrum ‘Fascination’, whose stems can reach well over 2m (6½ft). The most efficient way to stake it is with a circle of tall bamboo canes and twine. THURSDAY The RHS Hampton Court Flower Show is a splendid affair with gardens galore, including three charity gardens designed by David Domoney. One of them is in aid of Mesothelioma UK. My brother Bill suffers from mesothelioma and it’s the charity I’ve nominated.
FRIDAY Clematis ‘Prince Charles’, (not named after our own royal personage) is one of the most handsome varieties of Clematis viticella, with elegant pale blue sepals. We’ve two on the front of the co age. Though they’re flowering, both of them are wayward and tend to clutch at the stems of plants growing in the bed below. We need to help them up to their wires regularly. SATURDAY Sometimes the most useful tool in the garden here would be a machete. With the exceptionally vigorous growth this year, paths are disappearing at a rate of knots and it’s a daily job to find more canes and string to keep paths passable. No point having such a lovely year if we can’t enjoy the flowers. SUNDAY We’re sowing as many extra veg as possible. We’re trying to make the most of the warm weather that’s providing excellent conditions for germination. There’s space between the sweetcorn for salad crops, rocket, le uce and mizuna and more beetroot can be sown. We’re avoiding spinach though as it often runs to seed in hot weather.