TWO SIDES OF THE FENCE
Border: 30 sq. m.
Wildlife gardens thrive on variety of shape and form, especially flowers with petals structured so that bees, hoverflies, butterflies, moths etc. can access the nectar. Two years after planting this border evidence emerged that lupins can be toxic to bumblebees and they have been removed from the border.
Wildlife gardens thrive on variety of shape and form, especially flowers with petals structured so that bees, hoverflies, butterflies, moths etc. can access the nectar. Two years after planting this border evidence emerged that lupins can be toxic to bumblebees and they have been removed from the border.
This border is 20m by 1.5m wide, by a picket fence. From one side it is roughly symmetrical, in proportion to a garden building further back. Interest starts in late winter with hellebores, in dark to dusky pinks, speckled white and cream. Bulbs gradually build dots of colour. Deeper colours bring glamour to the mix and the planting thickens over the season, culminating in late summer with blowsy Japanese anemones drifting over deep burgundy sedums and arching crocosmia, and roses from over the fence hovering gently.
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From the opposite side of the fence, the view is of mature trees, and a bank of long grass. This suits a more lush, tumbling, romantic look. The repeat flowering rambler Malvern Hills is planted all the way along here with small pockets of Clematis cirrhosa for dangling winter flowers. The roses are now fabulous. Deadheaded, they repeat tirelessly and smell delicious.
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The flower forms and border maintenance are planned with wildlife in mind. Roses are not sprayed, just deeply mulched. Plants are not watered unless a particularly dry spell elicits sympathy and the hosepipe. In winter yellow brown foliage and hollow stems offer shelter, autumn leaves drift in from surrounding trees to form a blanket, and it is only in spring, when fresh green shoots appear, that everything is freshened up to start again.
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