Garden Bloggers Foliage Day – Planting

Welcome to September Garden bloggers Foliage Day (GBFD) where I invite you to share your thoughts about foliage, whether a single plant that catches your eye this month or a plant that you grow primarily for flowers but that rewards you for the rest of the year with beautiful foliage or this is a good place to record how your foliage looks on a monthly basis.  However you decide to use the meme you are very welcome, just link to and from this post. 

I promised more about the development of the garden.  I have just re-read last month’s post (here, if you didn’t see it) and I am surprised by just how much has been done.  All the structural plants are now in the ground and it remains to fill in with more of my cuttings etc. to fill the space before the forms of the plants grow together to form the tapestry I want.

A month ago I was in the middle of removing all the lavender and Perovskia; they have now all gone except for a token couple of lavender plants that I have left partly as a source of cuttings for some new plants and partly to have something that isn’t tiny in the garden.

The three new areas are now called “The woodland walk” a bit grandiose but I hope this will become a lovely cool shady area of mostly deciduous trees so that the spring bulbs that were planted here before should continue to create the colourful ‘spring walk’ of its previous existence.

Woodland walk, I’m still working on the position of the path, I want it to wind through the space so you don’t know how long the path is.

In the centre is a “Secret Garden” surrounded by hedges of Trachelospermum jasminoides, I have put in the pipe for irrigation – I decided to link to the ‘circular rose garden’ line as this bed will change anyway in future.  This gives the opportunity to plant with flowers for summer that will need considerable water to achieve but it isn’t too large a space so I think it will add to my enjoyment of the garden in the summer months when nothing flowers without water.  I don’t intend choosing plants that need huge amounts of water just enough to keep them going.  Some of the plants will probably be perennials that I’ll use for cut flowers, leaving the cuttings beds in the vegetable area for annuals.  I do not expect to begin planting in this area just yet; the paths still need to be put in place. I have already planted a Zizyphus vulgaris (Giuggiolo), an antique fruit tree producing small fruits that look a little like a date, it is supposed to bring good luck! and a Cercis siliqustrum (Judus tree).

I still need to add the posts and wires to support the Trachelospermum

Looking into the Secret Garden from the RHS path, it will take a while to fill in bit this is the recommended distance of planting, I may decide to plant more as I’m impatient for this to be a separate area.

Eventually the hedge will look like this

Trachelospermum jasminoides planted around the gas tank.

It will be wonderful when it is covered with small starry white flowers with an amazingly intense perfume.

The areas in front of the gravel semi-circle, either side of the path leading into the “Secret Garden” are planted with evergreens and ever-silvers which will eventually knit together to form a tapestry of forms, large and small.  I think these will be called the “Sphere Borders”.

From an upstairs window this is the long path from the RHS of the terrace in the background is the existing Walnut

You can clearly see how the soil is raised around the plants to contain water, these will need to remain for 2 years for the large trees to ensure they establish well.

In the spaces I’ve planted Iris and Sedum to add interest while the shrubs grow; Teucrium plants are very small as they are year old cuttings, they will take a while to form the spheres I want but will grow better in situ rather than leaving them in their pots.

The LHS with the morning light shining into the camera lens

The huge pile of mulch from the lavender and Perovskia is sadly in the wrong place and will have to be moved, I’m trying to spread as much of it as possible before that happens.

Quercus suber (Cork Oak) planted on the new edge of the large Island

I have planted 2 Quercus ilex (Holly Oak or Holme Oak) and a Quercus suber (cork oak); these could, given enough time grow into huge trees but the Quercus ilex will be kept pruned into manageable lollipop spheres and the cork oak is so slow growing I’ll allow it to spread a little before pruning.  It was a special feeling planting an oak.

I’ll write more about my choice of plants within the next week or so.

Have a great week and I look forward to reading your foliage posts, Christina