September in the Garden

September has been an interesting month. 

After the long hot summer the torrential rain has been very welcome in the garden, but has also slowed down the reclaiming of the space from the wilderness that it has become.  While I haven't had as much time in the garden as I would have hoped I have managed to get out and about quite a bit which has been inspiring and humbling in equal measure. Not to worry, there have been lots of other gardening adventures to distract me in September

At the start of the month I braved the M62 to visit the Four Oaks trade show in Cheshire.  I find Horticultural trade shows fascinating.  With stands demonstrating the latest plants, accessories, growing media and technology from the UK and Europe they give a real insight into upcoming trends and future best sellers.  My favourite plant of the show was this glorious cloud pruned purple leaved Loropetalum chinense although I'm not sure many people would have the budget to purchase this specimen for their gardens.

This cloud pruned Loropetalum chinense was one of my stand out plants at the show

Back home in the garden, I turned my attention to what was originally planted as a white border at the front of the house.  

When we first created it over 12 years ago we used railway sleepers to build a pair of beds at right angles to each other.  One was planted with kitchen herbs that were easily gathered from the kitchen door, the other with ornamental plants all with white flowers or pale silvery foliage.  Over the years the 'white bed' has matured beautifully.  A Magnolia stellata is underplanted with Sedum, now known as Hylotelephium and variegated Euonymus.  A miniature oxeye daisy, White Astrantia and wild strawberries fill the space in the bed before a Sarcococca propagated from a mature plant elsewhere in the garden a white Potentilla fruticosa and a blue Festuca rescued from somebody's compost heap complete the planting.  I had a very pleasant few hours heavily pruning everything to create space and see what plants had survived the dust and debris of the building works.  While this might seem a brutal way to approach the plants, they will benefit from this treatment in the long run coming back stronger and in a better shape than before.

A self seeded Ash was one of the plants that had begun to establish in the bed. 

The herb bed on the other hand is not what it once was.  Some years ago I was given a pot of mint.  Knowing how prolific Mint can be I avoided planting it in the space, instead putting it in a pot and standing on one end of the bed.  Sadly this wasn't enough to stop the mint escaping and now the bay, is really all that is left looking healthy in the bed.

Time, like the mint however has taken its toll on both beds and the sleepers have almost completely disintegrated and need replacing.  I'd like to replace them with brick borders creating a tier of three raised beds doubling up as steps down into the garden but there is so much else to do I fear that this is one project that might have to wait a couple of years.

Having started clearing the beds I can see just how far the mint has managed to run through the soil, it's going to take a lot of digging to clear the area as Mint's rhizotomas root system is very invasive and will have spread extensively through the soil.  Even a small section left behind will see new plants sprouting as fast as I can dig them out.

Once I've cleared the beds I can begin to think about how to restructure the space.  Our priority is to get a proper path laid up to the front door. I've decided I want to use some reclaimed stone pavers that have been stacked on the allotment for the last couple of years.  They still need to be properly laid by our builder but I wanted to set them out to check I had enough to complete the work before he starts.

The buttery yellow of the pavers will create a welcoming approach to the front door and I think I will soften the edges of the paving with grasses and sedums which are shallow rooted enough to plant near the walls without fear of structural damage and sturdy enough to give some structure all year round.  I'm also toying with the idea of using a stone sink I picked up through Facebook marketplace to add some height to the edge of the path.  Mr G thinks it will be a trip hazard however so I may not get my own way on that one.

Over the coming month my aim is to work through the front garden clearing the weeds away.  There's also a wall to finish and paths to restore as well as plants to prune and weeds to dispose of.  October is already looking busy on the work front but I'm determined to tick the front garden off my to do list before Christmas

My Jobs for October, I'll be

Pruning: overgrown evergreens and cutting back herbaceous borders 

Planting: I've got several plants in pots that need to go in the ground before the winter. 

Clearing: the allotment of weeds and getting the beds covered over for the winter to protect the soil

Harvesting: Apples from the allotment.

Also spotted at Four Oaks, Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate'  would bring an unusual colour variation to a border in milder areas