The north-facing side of the house is a small, paved terrace garden planted with small shrubs and perennials. It is pretty all year round and the planting has worked well. However, the terrace borders on to a field and although I have mainly controlled the ground elder the pesky plant has invaded one of the beds. The Japanese anenomes are also starting to take over – action needed!
The terrace garden is lush in summer.
But by the end of summer it is more like a small jungle!
And here is the problem area. I have dug out the Bergenia ‘Abendglut’ and potted up, but you can see the ground elder, and the failing Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’. Two years ago it flowered prolifically, but the stems fall over and so I am going to replant this area with three ‘Annabelles’, staked, and hope they support one another. I may also take out the Tellima grandiflora which I find untidy and not particularly pretty and replace with Geranium Macrorrhizum ‘Spessart’ because I have quite a few plants from divisions elsewhere.
As I look at these photographs above it is rather ‘sweet and sugary’….
Other than this patch I am happy with the planting. I just need to prune the dogwoods and thin the anenomes and Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’. What will happen to the leftover plants? Well, I have another garden makeover starting, in London!
What do you think?
Love the Bergenia…do you cut your Annabelle down to the lowest bud in the spring…it’s a shame it flops so much …I wonder if you could grow it near something that’s growing a bit sturdier maybe it could flop over that….can’t think what though. …I really like the layout of your garden it looks very organised and easy to walk around and lovely views too….:-)
I bought one very large pot of the bergenia and divided ruthlessly – I even planted pieces of stem with no roots. And the colder the winter the deeper the colour of the leaves. Annabelle is known for flopping; I cut it down one year, not the next. This year I am cutting! I have also rooted two cuttings and will plant all three in a group. The cuttings will be stuck in a pot and I hope some will take.
I am sure they will hydrangeas are brilliant rooters…good luck… 🙂