Gardeners always say that spring is the busiest time of the year. So many jobs, so little time — that is very true to a large extent. For me, autumn is just as busy if not more so! We have had all summer to identify "passengers" amongst our plants, plants which haven't performed up to expectations or plants we have got so used to as part of the garden landscape and have forgotten how little they actually contribute. This is the ideal time of the year for new plantings. The soil is still warm and hopefully we will have had some autumn rain to dampen the ground, keeping these new roots moist. In addition, any new plantings at this time of year in a moist soil will root very rapidly and become established before the colder weather arrives. This is in stark contrast to plants put in spring, where dry weather threatens the newly emerging roots and all our hard work.
I find the hardest task is deciding that a certain established plant is no longer really worth its place. In small gardens where space is at a premium, this is particularly important. The smaller the garden, the more precious the space and the more urgent it is to choose the best. Once that realization has dawned, the next more difficult step is to grit one's teeth and actually remove it! You get your spade and fork and then start having pangs of guilt. You start thinking, "am I being a little hasty here?" or "it will leave such a huge gap!" I went through this agonizing process only the other day. During the summer I had decided that a certain peony had to go. Its flowers were lovely, even scented, but flopped badly whatever the weather and needed staking, plus the flowering period was so brief. So, I set to and with some difficulty (Peonies have large roots!) removed the victim. The gap it left seemed enormous, but then I thought, "hey, this gives me a chance to grow another old rose," and my depression turned into excitement as I went through the process of deciding which rose to choose for this position. In fact this particular spot is a little difficult, as it is shaded by a large prunus tree into which is grown a monster clematis (C. montana "Tetrarose"), so the choice of rose had to be a careful one. Roses, as we know, don't normally enjoy shaded areas. Albas, however, will put up with a certain amount of shade and are as tough as any rose around, so I chose R. Alba "Mme Plantier" (Zone 7 & above). It is in fact an Alba/Noisette hybrid; this should thrive in this partially shaded area. In addition, this rose has cream-white flowers and should light up this dark spot.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Graham Leatherbarrow's English Gardening topic, please visit the Discussions page.