February progress

The tidy-up is well under way here and I’m trying to remember to take the “before” and “after” photos. There is little to excite the onlooker at this time of year but I take pleasure in walking down the garden admiring the borders that are done and not concentrating on the ones I havent tackled yet. One of the first borders I tackled last month was the Long Border.

The “Before” picture – pretty nasty

This border has Hemerocallis, Japanese Anemones, hardy geraniums, various bulbs and other random mosly self-seeded. It looks appalling in winter as I leave it untouched at the end of autumn. This year because I was shredding a large amount of trimmings from the trees in the frond woodland areas I took a different approach. Only time will tell if this was a good decision. I cut everything back and mulched liberally with the shreddings.

Cut back, debris removed and mulch added

At lease it looks a bit better! I also tackled the Sedum Garden. This is such a joy in the summer and its maintenance is pretty minimal. The pretty pink autumn colour of the leaves extandes the interest but come January action is needed! This time I don’t have a “before” photo but I take great satisfaction with how it looks once the tidy-up is done. Strimmed and weeded it is ready to kick off for the next season.

The centrepiece of the flower shape is Viburnum Plicatum Mariesii

The willow edge is weeded and tidied

The sedums have been strimmed – they don’t seem to mind

Another area that has got the tidy-up treatment is the Stream Border where a large clump of Persicaria Amplexicaulis is magnificent all summer long but it doesn’t die gracefully. Having removed most of the debris I strimmed this border so it also is ready for the new season.

Definitely the “Before” picture

Looking a lot tidier

But its not all about hacking down debris and filling the compost heap, not to mention the Leafmould pile. There are lots of helebores still at their prime, spreading clumps of Eranthis and the spring bulbs starting to peep up too.

Eranthis are colonising several places round the woodlands

My snowdrops are bulking up nicely but some of the clumps will benefit from being divided. I look forward to the day when I will have the beautiful blankets of snowdrops not only in the woodland areas but also where they are self-seeding elsewhere in the garden.

This border edge is beginning to look like a respectable Snowdrop display

This record of progress in the garden is encouraging for me. It can look like an insurmountable task at times, particularly when the weather is wet and dreary, but I hurry out whenever the sun shines, and its amazing what can be achieved in a couple of hours! It is only the beginning of February, and already my morning walk round the garden is more encouraging. Of course I am also encouraged by the increase in daylight.