Redesigning the strawberry bed

A change of design. This thin bed at the very top of the potager has been a busy space.

It started out in life as a strawberry bed. A ‘what on earth do we do with this odd spot at the top of a vegetable garden that is at once parched and stricken from lack of water, and then streaming with the stuff when it rains?’ kind of space.

There are two underground springs right at the base of the magnificent stone wall of the barn. And they take all the goodness away from the soil with every flooding downpour.

So strawberries it was. And then, I have no idea why, I planted verbena bonariensis plants there. Just a few to see how they would do.

And they loved it. Romped away. I think they are protected in winter from the south facing wall because they ought to be felled by the cold. These plants come from Buenos Aires after all.

But these few plants have multiplied and done beautifully in this position. Forgive me for sneaking a shot of them at their glorious summer pomp.

They self seed like mad. Which is great for me as I am always looking to bulk out the bed and also to dot them further afield.

But the bed had become utterly cluttered with plants. And they flopped annoyingly onto the path.

So I determined to sort it out. Today.

First I had to find the darn things. It was a jungle in there.

I started by hacking back the dead stems of last year’s plants. Then trying to work out what to keep and what to move.

My plan was to push all the verbenas to the very back of the bed so they would have room to be staked by a new fence I had devised.

And that way I could cram them into the back near the stones, and leave a bit of space for them to self seed in front.

First I had to remove the nettles and brambles that had tried to invade the bed as well. They went into a special bucket, while the verbenas in the front were also uprooted and placed directly to the back, or into another bucket for positioning later.

Artur came down to inspect my work half way though. It was sunny and calm and perfect for snoozing. But he objected to the downpour of dead plant material that kept coming his way.

And then we had an unseemly tussle over the kneeler pad which he comandeered. I won that battle, but only just.

So he stalked away in a huff and I was able to sit down to my task for the rest of the day.

I pulled out some monstrous weeds; euphorbias that had also self seeded and snuck up on me. I’m not a diligent weeder during the growing season. There is just too much garden to get to.

But it’s fantastic now that it is done.

I have all the verbenas coralled against the wall. I have removed the strawberries and transplanted them into the strawberry bed down by the herb garden.

I have raked and tidied.  And now I have placed my future fence.

I have some leftover chestnut sticks which I thought I could use here. The trouble is the plants will insist on flopping over. And I wanted a coherant staking sytem. So a fence seems like a good idea But not if it means I can’t get at the plants to weed them. Or to block out the view of the magnificent plants.

So I have spaced the fence uprights quite far apart.  And once I have mulched the bed to keep down the weeds, I will attach them with wire or string to hold up the plants behind.

And I have left room for the original inhabitants of this bed: a fig tree, three grape vines, a clematis, and four lovely pots from Chris Banks. The pots will be on the front side of the fence. and the fig now has some space to grow, rather than be crowded by too many thrusting verbena bonariensis plants. I’m very pleased.