Monday 4 June 2012

Room to Move

Just about a month ago I wrote about my mobile garden of pots.  Following a fair bit of rainy weather and a few days of sun this part of our garden has truly blossomed.

early May
I don't know why but it comes as a surprise to me every year that I have to drag the pots further apart as the season progresses and the plants overfill their alloted space.
early June
in the background is a lovely hosta whose name escapes me and guacamole in the foreground

francee in the background and aureomarginata in the foreground
There's a lesson here for me in the 'planted' parts of the garden: give plants room to grow and spread.  However it's a difficult lesson to learn as I'm always tempted to cover up bare soil with leaf and flower.  Perhaps this is one reason I tend towards herbacious perennials as these can be easily removed or lifted and spilt when they outgrow the space available.

Anyway, in the pot garden no such issues as the pots simply move out and the 'border' at the back of the house covers more of the gravel path and becomes ever more lush.

Sunday 3 June 2012

Complementary Views

Complementary meaning 'completing a set/making up a whole' really expresses the way the Handyman and I use and work in the garden.

We are very occasionally seen working together, sometimes seen working side by side and most often found to be working on different projects in different spaces around our plot.  This works well for us and we come together for conversation, advice, comment, tea, coffee, sandwiches.

All of this was pulled into focus for me last weekend when we had some gloriously sunny and very warm weather, in the high 20s.  The Handyman spent most of his time out in the open cutting the grass on the grand lawn, netting the fruit cage (another post on this later) and generally topping up his vitamin D levels.  When time came for a little respite he could be found here...

steamer chair in full sun
with views of the sunny borders...

the grand lawn

sunny borders
I, on the other hand, spent most of my hours weeding in the woodland borders, creating hanging baskets in the shade and watering and feeding the mobile garden at the back of the house.  When my coffee time arrived I spent it here...

comfy rocker in the shade
and my views looked like this...

woodland border

mobile garden
These thoughts make me realise that a garden is many things to many people and where time and space permit it's good to be able to accommodate as many of these different aspects as possible.  For shade lovers like me there are hostas, ferns, bluebells, aquilegia, acers...the list goes on.  And for sunworshippers, like the Handyman: poppies, roses, peonies, pelargoniums etc, etc.

So, complemetary views indeed!