Pennisetums planted

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a planted bank. The Pennisetums are in and are so unphotogenic that I didn’t even bother trying. And I must admit to have shouted hoo-effing-ray when the last plant was done.

But the little bit of the flat part of this garden is worth a few in progress shots. Here is the wildflower ‘meadow’ that flows on from the grasses. And yes, the designer in you is probably thinking, hah, you ran out of grasses to complete the whole effect. And you are right. I am about fifty plants short. But that will have to wait for next year when the plants bulk out and can be divided. I just don’t have the bank account to launch into yet more mass plantings right now.

But the wildflower seeds (from Pictorial Meadows again) are going to be put to good use.  The weeds were already well established, so they had to be dug up and composted (ie chucked over the fence). Then there was a deeper weeding of the brambles that lurked.

Finally once I had raked and hidden the worst of the chestnut burrs well under the level of the soil, I needed to cover the entire bed in sand. I had stockpiled a lot of sand from the old building work of the wall. And luckily it looked as though it had been placed at the end of the pool garden on purpose. Why, just a mere fifty feet away from the wildflower bed.  It was sheer blind luck, but I was grateful. So while Bernard and JB spent an hour hauling sand from the top supply near the road and carried it by wheelbarrow all the way to the bottom of the property near the pool shed, I was doing the same. But without a wheelbarrow. I did it by the bucketful and gave up counting when I neared thirty trips. Tedious beyond belief, but at least it didn’t strain the back. Just the brain.

And until the seeds germinate it is going to stay looking like a giant sandpit.

As I was trudging I had an idea about another bit of landscaping that needs to be done. I called it the missing link. It is the part of the garden that separates the new lawn of the ‘piano’ and the wild track that skirts the lower swimming pool lawn.

Sorry it’s so hard to picture, but once I collect all the little stones that have settled here, I can sow it with grass seed and make a complete circuit of the lawnmower later in the spring.

Such a relief to finish with this pool garden chore. Now I can concentrate on the rest of the flower gardens up above the pool. And just water and weed like mad on this part of the bank.  I walked up past the pool and then towards the vegetable bed. Pausing only to admire the first little rock garden area that was the very first planted up. Looking quite fetching, the verbenas are up and the stipas are perky, and it’s just crying out for a few poppies and Echinacea plants later in June.