This spring saw a substantial bout of joy in my own garden. Gone is the rather depressing patch of grass that occupied a large area of the front garden. I now have golden gravel punctuated by slabs of stone, acting as stepping-stones at strategic points. I also installed brick paving in the back garden some time ago now, so this year for the first time I can join that small band of non-mowers and not worry about grass getting out of hand. The warm colour and texture of the gravel and stone set off the borders wonderfully and provide a sturdy walkway, whilst delighting the eye on waking each morning. Sophie, my cat, was very quick to discover how warm the slabs of stone become in the sun.
Autumn of course might prove a testing time for this new venture. How one goes about removing leaves from gravel and other windblown debris remains to be seen, but at the moment I?m happy with my new feature. It has quite transformed my garden and removed a chore, which was becoming a burden I could do without. In spring and early summer the last activity I need to be involved in is mowing grass when much more important work is all around me.
There are two types of plants in my garden that are proud members of the awkward squad. Daphnes and clematis are apt to die almost overnight or provide me with headaches for months on end. One of my oldest daphnes has now finally bitten the dust. Being around twenty years old, it has been a firm friend for years and certainly assumed part of the accustomed landscape. One of a large pair, this D. mezereum leaves a substantial gap to fill and another problem to solve. Daphnes are subject to many fungal diseases and whole plants can die quite suddenly or even a limb will appear quite dead, whilst the rest of the plant seems fine.
