Time for a trim and a tweak and a tidy-up

Summeris moving along now but as sometimes happens, those things that first flowered in spring are putting in an appearance again, including one of my magnolias which has opened two or three flowers among its topmost branches.

The tree grows next to our massive laurel hedge which has remained untrimmed this year and is rapidly getting out of hand so this week I’ll be getting out the step ladders and tidying up some of the most vigorous sections before the job gets just too big to handle.

Warm weather and heavy rain have produced rapid growth in most of the shrubs but cutting back azaleas and other spring-flowering shrubs now could remove next year’s buds, so I’m going to resist pruning these until right after they have flowered in spring. However the rhododendrons that were shaped into giant spheres by the previous owner are now in line for a trim.

These are all rhododendron ponticum, the vigorous plant that grows like a weed across large swathes of woodland. It’s best removed to stop it from spreading further but an alternative is to treat it like a hedge or giant topiary pieces as regular clipping prevents the formation of flowers that would otherwise scatter seed.

I’m also going to tackle the small fir that grows outside the kitchen. At the moment it’s a thing of Christmas tree perfection, but left to its own devices it will shoot up, blocking out light from the window and undermining the retaining wall of the terrace that stops the back garden from slithering downhill.

My plan is to remove the leader and anything else that looks full of vim and I’ve

already selected a slim shoot that will take over the job of being the top-most point of the tree. Then I’m going to uncover the roots and trim them back too in the hope that a bit of bonsai-like intervention will help to keep the whole tree in check.

The only other alternative is to remove the whole tree now, while it is still small enough to handle, and as I’ve grown quite attached to it I’d prefer to restrict it rather than get rid of it.

I’ve also started work on removing the large clumps of iris that grow in the front garden. These are lovely in flower, but I’ve earmarked this space for other things so I’m in the process of removing and potting up the irises until I’ve made a new space for them.

I first tried to do this earlier in the year but the ground was so hard and dry that I would have needed a pick axe to get the job done. Now that the soil is wet it is slightly easier, but it’s still a bit of a slog and progress is slow.

Meanwhile I’ve layered the purple hydrangea that also grows in this border and once these shoots have grown to a decent size I’ll plant them in the space where the irises now grow.