Having been muddling through, and wondering where I’d put everything if I managed grow plants from all the seeds I’ve collected – in a fairly small garden…at last a Masterplan comes to me!
I didn’t think of it, it was given to me by my dear husband (and he I think got it from Professor of Planting Design, Nigel Dunnett, whose work I love!) And suddenly the garden all starts to make sense…
I was definitely going for a Scented Garden this year – very much so, scents being what I missed in my garden last year (no heady auras by day or lingering perfumes by night). And what I wasn’t providing for insects either…(and possibly why the garden wasn’t attracting many butterflies?)
But although the scented idea has informed my seed choices (Basil, Bergamot, Verbena and Snapdragons among other things) this didn’t help with the missing overall sense of structure for me to work to. Last year I was just striking out and digging up grass as I went to make room for some new things. And in other areas letting some grass grow longer. This meant I had some ‘meadow’ but it wasn’t very impressive I have to say, and not very obviously populated by insects. Disappointing all round! (Hold that thought).
I’d already decided to go for a bit more of a Prairie bed – which I have been populating with verbenas and grasses and hopefully daisies since November (to provide more flowers for butterflies) – but this still wasn’t very satisfactory comprising a rectangular bed dug into the lawn.
So now the new plan can be revealed….at last! Thanks to the snow that fell today…
You can see one of the teasels that only got transplanted here to this prairie bed in the foreground the other day! Bu also that faint circle of footsteps in the snow…
Seen from the other angle it looks like this:
And so the Masterplan or masterstroke is – to leave just a circle of lawn (which I’ll only mow once a month) and let grass grow long around the edges, along with Corncockles, Achilleas, Daisies, Teasels, Verbena Bonensiaris etc which I can now plant in all the space that won’t be in the circle! Wuhu!
SO – – more planting area, more structure, more flowers – and with some of those small beach sunchairs more privacy too, for sunbathing….Can’t wait! Nor can these seedlings, currently standing by in the new greenhouse…
annie's wildlife gardening 