Drought tolerant plants

I thought you might like to see the progress the newest garden beds are faring.

Fledged. Launched. No more intervention from me. Isn’t that marvellous? Big fat happy lavenders in the step garden.

And flowering thymes in the impossible corner of the potager.

I had to swat away a sea of butterflies just to get down the steps.

I was concerned about one of the thymes which was definitely the runt of the litter; but it’s putting on girth and substance this season so I no longer need to fuss.

And remember, they are not going to be watered now, ever again.

A quick recap:

November 2015.

February 2016

May 2017 (lens flare and all)

And now.

I did do a quick hand weed of the very edge of the wall before I took the shot and couldn’t resist keeping this marvellous teasel away from the secateurs. Yes, it clashes madly. but once the lavenders burst into flower any day now it won’t stick out like a sore thumb. Or a self seeded teasel in the wrong place.

Now the plants may be drought tolerant and I don’t water. But I did put the work in for the one year of planting.  One bucket of water for every plant every fortnight from spring. I stopped in autumn. So about seven to eight months of what I call careful watering.

As opposed to mooning about with a hose in one’s hand sprinkling bits everywhere.

And I planted each lavender (and thyme) into a bowl – cuvette – so the water wouldn’t just run off and give life to weeds. It doesn’t have to look like any eyesore. I just mulched heavily all around the plants and you can’t see the bowl. I really recommend this planting technique.

You can see how teensy these thymes were when they went in.  Small is best as the roots haven’t had time to get overcrowded in those pots where they go round and round and never want to venture out into the soil.

I mulched this bet with just leaves (I ran out of good mulch). And it did the trick. Protected them enough to slow down the weeds.

The corner of the potager is riddled with bindweed and some brambles. So I just pull them out when I plod down the steps.  And eventually I may win that battle. But I’ve certainly won the war with this tricky corner.