HEDGES AND EDGES

The wet weather we've had the last few months meant that I've spent less time in the garden this year.  It's been an interesting, if unsuccessful, experiment in low maintenance.  As a result the garden is rather full of weeds, the hedges are overgrown and some of the roses have been defoliated by blackspot.

 

So for the last two weeks I have been gardening non stop in an attempt to regain control.  The box hedges and topiary pieces (a sort of pointed pudding shape) have been trimmed.  The lawn edges have been weeded and cut too.  It feels a lot less shabby now.

Some of the yew hedges have been cut too.  Since I planted it myself as little spouts I am very very proud that it now actually looks like a proper established hedge.  It seems like one of those gardening miracles like seeds germinating or cuttings taking.

The Phlox are looking well at the moment and have benefited from all the rain, although I find Phlox never seem to bulk up or spread at all.  In the last two years they have struggled to survive let alone flower.

One plant that does spread, and perhaps is a little too enthusiastic, is Achillea 'Lilac Shades'.  It's going over a bit now but has looked lovely for weeks.  It's going to need some curtailing over winter though, and I have some other bare patches in the garden where some of it can be relocated.

The Long Border remains at its colourful best.  This week an orange flowered Canna has joined in flowering.  Cannas don't tend to flower much for me, so it's a welcome sight.

To finish with I've chosen some 'Cobra' green beans.  Despite the evidence of this photo they are the normal green colour and not this washed out shade.  Attempts to enhance the colour in this photo only resulted in me having to rewrite this whole post from scratch.

Despite deleting my hard work, Blogger then decided to add a few extra photos that I hadn't chosen.  I've left this one of the view from our bedroom window as I thought you might enjoy it.  The cattle have a whole 10 acre field to enjoy but sometimes they like to congregate in this little corner and give us an impromptu weather forecast.

That's all for this week.  Thank you for stopping by. and don't forget all the Six on Saturday posts can be found on Garden Ruminations where Jim collates all our garden ramblings.