Tales from the south bank

long view of weeded areaI haven’t strayed far from the swimming pool today. Not in it alas, but working on the steep banks that lie in front of it.

These banks are definitely a work in progress.   Wildflowers seem to be the way to go.   But right now the one above the lawn is just a mess of grass and dead weeds.   The vetch did a great job of looking blue and attractive in spring but now is a tangled mess of brown.   I parked the wheelbarrow and started yanking it out.

And I yanked and pulled and out came the entire fabric of the bank.   There is nothing underneath all this dead weed.

So if I had left it in place it would have been a stable thicket. Hardly photogenic and in fact very ugly.   But now I have a dilemma. I have a steep bank of rocks, bare earth and the few weeds (or wildflowers if you want to be generous) that I have left alone for fear of bringing the entire area down onto the lawn.

Solution? Well come inside and have a cup of tea of course.   And talk to the cat.

new wall distanceI think I’m going to have to make a mini terrace and plant those eragrostis I was going to put elsewhere. Fast.   Or sow grass seeds. That might also work. It sounds mad, but at least it will hold the soil together.   And then once things knit I can plant some other solution. pennisetums

The pennisetum grasses I planted a few years ago are actually fine. But swamped by catmint, thistles, brambles and creeping bits of mystery.   If I had a hundred more of those it might be fun.   But that would involve a long drive to the plant nursery at the foot of the Vercors in a neighbouring county. Hmm.   I think I’ll just keep weeding while it’s cool and come up with an answer soon.

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eragrostis side viewAnd the answer? I built a wall. It was far from my intentions but I was clearing the stones as I weeded and they just started ending up in a heap.   So hours and hours later I have a wonky rock wall about three feet high all along the bank. Plus I planted 15 eragrostis plants.

It all looks bare and stark. So not very photogenic.   But in the autumn I will move down all the grasses in the calabert garden and hope to bulk it out.eragrostis detail

In my musings as I was excavating lovely top soil and rocks I actually thought that if I propagated enough lavenders I could have a very swanky garden here.   But it will take around 100 plants. We shall see. I don’t want to get ahead of myself.   There are so many other parts of the garden that could do with a bit of creative landscaping first.