The hardest task last

For the past few days I have been keeping my head down and avoiding the third of these calabert beds.   This was going to be the trickiest.   Planting on a slope and still trying to be loyal to the method has meant that I have been building all sorts of strange sculptures in the soil.

Each plant needs a sixty centimetre hole around it, and preferably of a deep enough hole that water won’t just flow out and down the hill.   So I have sculpted each plant into a bit of a pocket.   Filled with firm soil, and then mulched with gravel.   I did a mini mulch just to fill in the holes.

But then added even more later to try and keep the soil shape.   It doesn’t look as pretty as the lower terraces. But I don’t want heavy rainfull to ruin this entire planting scheme.

Up here I have planted a grouping of viburnum tinus, cistus, lavenders, teucrum fruticans, perovskia, santolinas (to join the three already planted), carypoteris Kew Blue, agapanthus and one phlomis purpurea. I’m a bit nervous about the phlomis purpurea as it’s in the most precarious position right down the front on the steepest part of the slope.   I’ll try and keep and eye on it as it will be the one least likely to put down strong roots.  

I also have a few more viburnum tinus, a lavender and a santolina to plant right at the edge of the bed near the stone barn.   But Nicolas needs to build the little retaining wall first.   I do wish he had built it before I started planting. But I can’t wait.   These 66 shrubs needed to get into the ground during this mild window.

And I’m rather pleased they are in.   Each plant had their full bucket of water and they can now settle in and throw out their roots.