A surfeit of spikes...
Renga Renga and Phormium Tenax
Am in garden design trouble, and not for the first time. Have been puzzling about the Hen House Garden. A lack of structure, a surfeit of spikes. Am even thinking of marching Non-Gardening Partner over there and asking his advice. This is serious!
Hopeless!
One of the paths is hopeless. The soil is hopeless. The plants are hopeless. The design is hopeless. What to do? Having a cup of coffee and munching some lunch, I have asked NGP for help. His reply : 'Those green things seem to be quite happy, don't they?'
Those green things he's referring to are Renga Renga, AKA Arthropodium, AKA Rock Lilies. I usually use them to line an edge of a border or a path. And he's right - the Rock lilies are definitely managing this location very well. Thanks, NGP.
So which of the other plants are hopeless? Again, easy to answer. Rugosa roses, struggling with poor soil, little water, and general neglect. And clumps of miniature Agapanthus, improperly planted, looking dreadfully sad.
Stop over-thinking...
Solution : stop over-thinking, take notice of NGP, and concentrate on the Renga Renga. Remove the Agapanthus - too many spikes, remember. Definitely remove the rugosas (should have shifted them out years ago).
Miniature Agapanthus Flowers
Leave the path. It's a good short cut through the garden, and provides good access for weeding etc. And good gardeners do a lot of weeding. So just clear the path and widen it (the removal of some Agapanthus clumps will do this anyway).
Bags of Miniature Agapanthus
In 2013 (thanks to my journal records) I'd dug miniature Agapanthus out of another person's garden, and edged parts of the Hen House Garden and paths with them. But I'd been sooooo lazy and naughty, just dumping the existing large clumps into large holes. Not good gardening practice at all.
Miniature Agapanthus Planted
Lesson learnt?
Do you know how much time it takes to dig out fifteen huge clumps of miniature Agapanthus, trim the blobby mass of bulbous roots, then slice into smaller, manageable pieces? No wonder they were lazily planted. Lesson learnt? Maybe.
Next Day...
The miniature Agapanthus pieces have been planted sensibly and properly in the Hump Garden. I also have a large bucketful of spares. The rugosas are dug in and watered, with lots of horse manure spread around.
I am now going to create swathes of Renga Renga (easy care plants, easily divided up) for the Hen House Garden. I've never done a swathe before. A new gardening experience, hee hee...