Strong winds prompt a centrepiece rethink!
Despite the very welcome wet weather we’ve been having here in South Norfolk, we’ve taken every opportunity to get out into the garden and crack on with all the jobs associated with this time of year. We’ve begun revamping the border at the end of the garden. The Cotoneaster lacteus screen at the back of the border is now tall enough for me to add the top level of support and tie in all the new growth. It’s laden with berries, so the blackbirds and thrushes should have a feast this winter. As the border is now about a metre more in depth than it originally was, this has given us the chance to spread the planting out to fill the extra space. We’ve moved lavenders to form an edging with Viburnum davidii behind. We still
have to move two rose ‘Westerland’ but this will have to wait until the dormant season. This border recently suffered a casualty when gale force winds blew a large Buddleja davidii ‘Black Knight’ literally out of the ground! No amount of staking was ever going to save it and, as it had been planted as the centrepiece of the border, we had to give serious thought about what to replace it with. We eventually chose Amelanchier lamarckii as its black berries will contrast with the red berries of the cotoneaster. The demise of the buddleja acted as a reminder to Pete to reduce the height of all the others growing in that part of the garden as a precaution to protect them from autumn winds.
We’re still waiting for the new fence to be erected between us and the building plot next door, so we haven’t been able to get on with tidying that side of the garden. However, the delay has given us time to mull over a few ideas. Our current thinking is that, as the fence will be at least six feet in height, the planting will need some added height, too. So we’ve ordered a Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ and a Fatsia japonica ‘Spider’s Web’, which will not only screen the fence but also complement the existing planting. As a goodwill gesture, the developer is supplying us with a rowan to be planted between the stumps of the two conifers which were taken down. More berries for the birds!
Over the past few days the garden has begun to change colour and suddenly all the beautiful autumn
I must confess I’ve been turned off by TV gardening programmes of late; they seem to be either makeovers or ones with plenty of opportunities to see pets, but my faith has been restored. By chance I came across The Beechgrove Garden, (made in Scotland, and around since 1978!) which is informative and enjoyable. The only negative is that it’s now finished for the year.
On the patio, a quick reshuffle has brought the camellia and standard hedgehog holly on display, with just the buds on the hues have come into play. The view from our bedroom window – looking down onto the Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’ and cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’ is an amazing sight and we know this will be followed by the wonderful colour of the dogwood stems, which will provide interest all through winter.
So all in all the garden is still keeping us physically busy and a quiet stroll around, taking everything in, gives us a mental boost, which is what we need at the moment! chrysanthemums opening and the witch hazel waiting in the wings. In the greenhouse, I still can’t bring myself to move out the strawberries as the odd fruit is still being produced, but tomatoes and cucumbers are all but done.