Weeding the step garden

I worked out that I haven’t weeded this part of the garden for two years. Somehow or other I just missed out on this garden bed last year.

I must have done some minor weeding when I planted the lily bulbs into the soil; and I planted three teasels in the hope they would self seed. I thought that would add a bit of glam.

It doesn’t seem to have suffered too much. Possibly because it is an extraordinary dry garden area, right next to a wall, south facing and not just dry, but dry as dust. And even some weeds need moisture.  And I did mulch. So that smothers the majority of invaders.

Naturally I had to choose carefully when I planted this up. It only has three plants: the usual suspects. You must be as bored of this triumvirate as can be. But it works.

Eragrostsis curvula grasses, gaura the tall airy perennial flowering plants, and verbena bonariensis, the similarly tall but purple flowering plant.

I probably wouldn’t have managed to have weeded it this year either; except I had two spare sacks of compost to move. And it was easier to bring them round the front of the house with the wheelbarrow, rather than plod all the way to the vegetable garden.

And the tricky bit is the little narrow bed is in front of a slope where I plant up lots of narcissus thalia bulbs. I leave the area alone until the bulbs have gone over. And by then I have a forest of weeds around the daffs, and a thousand other more pressing jobs.

But this year I have been good.  So that means standing in the bed and yanking out unwanted grasses.  Trying not to step on the lilies that are just poking through, and transplanting a few more verbena bonariensis plants which have self sown in the potager.

The grasses are fine. So are the gaura. So fingers crossed it will look a bit neater this year.

After all, it is the first garden you really come to and up to now I just rely on people being wowed by the sight of the imposing stone farmhouse, or just relieved to have finally made it up the winding hills to find us.  No one really notices the step garden is a bit scruffy.