End Of Month View ~ March 2017

BEFORE

I hadn't realised that a whole year had passed without me posting an End Of Month View, which has been most remiss as it's a great meme for keeping track of new developments in the garden and allotment. So I'm back with one day in March which just happened to be the last day of the month. I can't remember how the month started but here it did go out like a lamb. It was one of those days when it was blissful to be working outdoors.

I decided to make a start on planting up a section of the garden which was in desperate need of a makeover. An aged dogwood had made a bid for world domination sending suckers hither and thither. It just had to come out and himself proved to be the strong man for the job. There is also another shrub in the shape of a hardy fuchsia which will also probably be extracted later in the year. I'm reluctant to remove it as I think that it's the first plant that I ever grew from a cutting but it does get in the way where it is. If it comes out I will certainly make sure that I've established some cuttings first.

I have had it in mind for some time to plant more of my named special snowdrops into the ground and this seemed a perfect spot to get a few in. Growing them in pots has some advantages but has ceased to have some charm as their numbers have grown. Crates full to the gunnels of pots are getting more challenging to lug in and out of the greenhouse and tend to as the years go by, so I'm looking at making life easier. I will still keep a few specials in pots but want to try to plant the majority of them out. I know that snowdrops are happy in this spot - there is a clump of galanthus plicatus here already, some galanthus 'Lady Beatrice Stanley' and a clump of galanthus 'Blonde Inge' which is in need of division. I also wanted another dogwood or two to keep them company and have promised himself that I will keep them under control.

Work began yesterday morning with tidying up the surface of the soil. Three buckets of twiggy debris and leaves were removed. Some new compost was added. Then time for a bowl of soup before returning to an initial planting session. I've kept the back of the border clear for now to allow space to give the railings a lick of paint. The railings mark one of the garden boundaries and are about twelve feet above a small surface water stream. Come later in spring the border becomes very shady as the willow on the other side of the stream greens up. Our resident ducks were out for a morning constitutional down below which was good to see.

MR & MRS

AFTER

Plants that went in during the afternoon were cornus sanguinea' Midwinter Fire', cornus sanguinea 'Anny's Orange', pulmonaria 'Opal', thalitcrum inchangense, geranium phaeum 'Album', arum italicum 'Mamoratum', a brunnera that was lurking in the cold frame - probably 'Jack Frost' and a white flowering  Lamprocapnos spectablis. There was much dithering over which snowdrops to plant and so far only two were planted. These are the early flowering galanthus elwesii 'Peter Gatehouse' and the rather unfortunately named but beautifully marked galanthus 'Trumps'.

DRAGONFLY

Come late afternoon I called it a day. Despite himself's muscle there were still signs of the dogwood under ground which I encountered whilst planting. Several tugs of war later I was worn out. I still have more planting to do - I would like to duplicate some of the planting, get more snowdrops in, plant a shrub (still to be chosen) in front of where the two walls meet, plant a couple of hellebores (debating which colour) and to sneak some interest in for later in the year. As always there is never enough room. I'm also wondering whether to leave my wooden dragonfly in. It has just come out of its winter hibernation in the garage. Oh and then the geranium phaeums at the front will be removed, the border needs some bark on it and then edging, the gravel needs refreshing etc, etc...... Hopefully I will be back next month with an update. Thanks as always to the lovely Helen, The Patient Gardener who is the most inspirational hostess encouraging us to share views at the end of each month.