My first task for the new year is shopping. Perusing catalogues, magazines and books to find inspiration for the direction that the garden could take this year, and deciding on a plan of action. What to plant, where to plant and when to plant. I buy all the seeds I will need for the year, and then indulge my impatience with a few larger bare root purchases that will kickstart the process while my little seedlings are growing.
2012 will be my first full year in this new garden, and it took me several months to come to grips with the daunting prospect of transforming a much larger space than I have ever owned. My first phase of planting, done in October after I moved in, was largely undone with the severe storms, wind and rains of winter. The beds sit largely empty, which at least will mean a fresh start for my spring and summer planting and has probably in a way been a blessing in disguise, as a blank canvas seems easier to work with than negotiating around inherited shrubs and straggling perennials.
2012 Garden Plan
In general, the garden is a huge expanse of lawn with large beds at the right, a small irregularly shaped raise bed on the left, a raise bed by the house and a patch beside the gate where a large pampass grass has staked a claim that it is unlikely to ever share politely with any other neighbours I try to introduce.
I'd love to do something creative with a central bed or even a fountain in the middle of the lawn, but since I am only a caretaker and not owner of this garden, and it is used in the summer for drying clothes, I will have to settle for flexing my green muscles in the other areas.
My plan is to install a large pot with a solar water feature in the raised bed at the back and surround it with leafy hostas, lilies and irises. A dierama or two will add height and movement and tie in with the Pampass Grass on the other side.
Speaking on that dramatic, stubborn plant, I hope to add a bit of colour and interest around it with Chinese lanterns and other, more compact coloured grasses.
The large bed, I am planting mostly cottage garden favourites. Plenty of perennials to add colour from March through October, with enough hardy evergreen foliage to stop the garden from looking like it has totally died off in the winter. I am investing in a cherry and hawthorn to round out the structure of the garden and add some colour after most of the flowering bedding has died off.
Lastly, the raised bed at the door will have a herb garden on one side, with a few rows of veggies on the other side. A bushy strip of lavender will separate the two halves.
A lot of work, but hopefully well worth the effort!
