We have a border at the end of our garden which has been a bit neglected since we acquired the plot from one of our neighbours. It was used as a dumping ground for many shrubs which had seen better days, but we didn’t want to get rid of. It also tends to get the brunt of the numerous footballs that our boys spend kicking around.
This weekend we took the first steps of our “grand plan” (well it’s grand for us!!) to turn this border into a haven of colour from the spring right through to the end of summer. It is positioned so that it gets the sun from early morning to late afternoon. The soil is quite heavy as it has a large clay content. After digging the border over and removing all unwanted weeds etc, we will look to add some horticultural grit and well composted garden waste from our compost heap (two years old) and mix this in well. Our next step will be to put in a few more perennial plants but ultimately we will fill the border with predominantly daffodils, crocus and alliums which have been grown in pots over winter. These pots will then be plunged in their entirity – pot and all! into selected positions and allowed to flower as normal. After flowering and when the leaves start to die down, they will be removed and replaced with either later flowering varieties or as soon as possible, summer flowering bulbs which have been started off in the greenhouse – such as Dahlia Stars Favourite and Double Begonia Pink.
The benefits of this, are we feel, that the border stays tidier, we can keep it refreshed with new plants and especially with summer bulbs such as dahlias and begonias which are often stripped of new growth overnight by slugs, minimise plant damage. This is the first time we have done this to such an extent and we will keep you updated and would be very interested to hear of other’s experiences.
Crocus Watch!! Our crocus continue to appear and the latest arrival is “Firefly” closely followed by “Cream Beauty”. Some of the miniature daffodils are on the brink of opening so we should have pictures soon. Below are the Firefly, a lovely lilac colour.
Direct Bulbs Gardening Blog 