Boxing clever

I am starting to understand the benefits of box. It may grow slowly but it doesn’t do much. But it certainly doesn’t need major work.

My calabert garden in the main planting area of this entire country garden. It is chock full of plants. But there are so many things that need work.

These santolinas were grown from cuttings and have been fantastic.   But such a short life! I think I am only going to ever get about two years out of each plant.   They took off and looked fantastic for two seasons, but this huge burst of rain in the beginning of the year meant they grew so long and floppy.

So today I had on my list the task of cutting back all the santolinas. I suspect I have some dying plants under here.   But I have to be brutal and cut it all back and hope for the best.

And with a few surprises of hidden brambles underneath they have been shorn. Bleak.

And there are so many gaps from the cistus which didn’t survive the winter.

I’m going to have to have a major planting project here this autumn.   (My autumn to do list is proving to be almost as long as my summer one) I am thinking dull old lavender and box. It’s the only combination of plants that are safe. And require so little work.

Ooh, speaking of which. I need to stop watching the Olympics and go out and cut back the lavender flowers on the Hidcote plants in the lilac bed. They have the strongest scent and darkest blue colour. And I could see they are going over.

I’ll just rustle up Artur (asleep in the shade garden waiting to ambush me if I walk to the potting shed) and get to work.