Six on Saturday 09/01/21

It’s been so cold this last week with the frost remaining in the garden all day on several occasions. This means that there has been virtually no gardening done as there is a limit to what can be done in a small garden without venturing into the borders. More harm than good could be done due to my impatience. I decided yesterday that I wouldn’t post a Six this week as I’d spent so little time out there and the frosts have stopped things in their tracks but having read One Man and His Garden Trowel I felt enthused to go outside and have a look. Thank you and welcome to my Six.

• One job that I did get done. A clump of Hakonechloa is underplanted with snowdrops. Neither, probably, perform to their best but it’s good use of a very small space. Although the winter stems of the grass are very decorative I need to remove them before the snowdrops get too high.

• Just visible above is Coprosma ‘Lemon and Lime’ with lovely bright, glossy leaves. It struggles a bit as there is a large Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ behind it and a Garrya and a Pyracantha to it’s left. These cover the boundary fence so I can pretend I don’t live surrounded by houses.

• Further along to the left again is a very shaded fence panel, under a very large Golden Privet. This is where the Green Man in last weeks Six resides. I’m trying, with partial success, to grow a variegated x Fatshedera lizei up this panel.

• Around the garden the Hellebore flower stems are starting to rise. I’ve cut some of the leaves off but have yet to do the ones in the deeper borders. This one has more decorative leaves so I left them but the frost has caused them to splay out so I’ll probably remove them now. I’ve been gradually removing plants from this border as it’s having a makeover, mainly to try to beat back the bindweed that comes through from next door! I bet I still don’t manage to remove all of the Arum though.

H. x hybridus ‘Dorothy’s Dawn’

• To block the view up the side of the house from the road the Non-Gardener constructed a trellis/trough combo a couple of years ago. It’s a north facing, rather draughty, sunless spot (not really selling it, am I!) but by growing a small leaved variegated ivy through the trellis the whole area has been lightened. I had Fuchsias in the front of the trough but they have had severe Gall Mite infestations for two years so I’ve replaced them with Heucheras. This one is ‘Tiramisu’ and the red veining develops as the weather gets colder. No mites but the tiny snails love it!

• I guess all gardens have problem areas and sometimes it can take a while (years in this case) to find a solution. The spot in question – north-west facing with a winter honeysuckle to one side, a short Beech hedge and Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’ climbing up a trellis at right angles to that and a large Hylotelephium in front of it, all in front of a garage wall. The ground is bone dry in the summer and I have tried all sorts of things over the years. The height of the garage and shrubs makes spring flowering plants lean forwards and the Hylo….. won’t grow any further back. This whole border is very dry as I’ve grown a mixed shrub hedge alongside the drive so there are a lot of roots. The latest plan is a Sedum (there, I said it)/mixed grasses combo and I have planted a large pot in the troublesome corner. It’s planted with an Abelia and a Carex. I’m hoping that by being raised up the Abelia will be able to grow upwards and add summer interest when the Lonicera looks very ordinary. The Carex is to add interest until the pot fills out a bit. I’ve added some Crocus as well. Seems a good theory.

Carex oshimensis ‘Eversheen’

Slightly warmer weather is on the horizon so I have high hopes for lots of gardening next week. I’ve that border to dig over, plants to move, lots of cutting down. The list is endless, thank goodness!

Have a great weekend, within the limitations of what we’re able to do, but nothing can stop us catching up with other Sixers at https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/