Apple Tree Border
The Apple Tree Border lies on a gentle slope, facing the Pond Paddock and the sun. Things have been forever changing in this garden since it was first dug.
Shrub dominant...
Now it's becoming shrub dominant, thank to the summer shade from the nearby deciduous trees. But some perennials are thriving - tall Aconites and Macleya fill the spaces in autumn, Mourning Widow Geraniums in spring.
Favourite shrubs are Hydrangeas, hybrid striped Phormiums, and a Miscanthus zebrinus, which grows fatter each year. Moonlight roses climb up the apple tree. And I've added new shrubs - rhododendrons and Camellias - for spring flower colour. Best not to mention the nuisance ground cover Lamium which I have to knock back every three years or so.
Apple Tree Border - Spring 2008
Yes, the one lone apple tree is still there, providing such pretty spring blossom, if not apples. One year I missed them all - I was only away for ten days, and on my return the birds had cleaned up all the fruit. Oops! Another year I pruned at the wrong time. Oops again.
apple tree border - spring 2003
In the year 1998, when the border was first established, it was quite flowery. The space was sunny, and the shrubs in the middle of the slope (Miscanthus, Pseudopanax, Choisya) were smallish. I'd planted clumps of hostas and daffodils throughout, and tried edging the corner curve with Iris Japonica (didn't like it, ripped it all out). But even back then I couldn't settle on the feel of this garden.
Back in 1998...
This archive photograph shows the plantings in the Apple Tree Border in the summer of 1998. The tall plants with fat green leaves are Nicotiana sylvestris, and the New Zealand flax is the variety Cream Delight.
apple tree border - summer 1998
I can't remember where that big clump of blue leafed hostas went. Alas, it's long gone.