Routine clearing?
Oh dear. Decided to do a couple of hours work yesterday in the Island Bed - thought it would just be routine clearing. Oh yes? As often happens in the garden, one can easily ignore the larger issues - until actually sitting (or kneeling) in the middle of everything.
Pretty Hellebore
The Hellebores deserve better - they are so pretty. Lamium is spoiling things, creeping up and over the shrubs. Ferns have multiplied. I dug out some over-sized Anemanthele grasses and had a huge think. Aargh! Made a decision.
Out, out, damned Lamium...
The Lamium has to come out. All of it. It's the aggressive variety, the ground cover to be avoided at all costs. Its roots are very superficial, easily removed with a hand digger.
The Island Bed
All that's needed is time and a tough, committed gardener - one who will NOT go wandering off halfway through the job to do something else. Blast.
Three hours later...
Came home from my adult ballet class all fired up. It was cold and rainy. Went outside to collect firewood, and applied the woodshed roof test - if the rain on the roof was too noisy, then it would be too wet for pleasant gardening. Affirmative. Far too noisy!
Sort that Lamium out...
I am still determined to sort out this Lamium. My last serious attempts to remove it were in 2016, so it's had eight years to re-establish itself. Ouch.
Pretty Brown Azalea!
And a comment regarding the pretty pink Azalea in the middle of this garden. A succession of overnight frosts have turned all the flowers brown (see photograph). Early August is its normal time to start flowering. Blast!
Friday August 9th
So today, finally, I made a start on removing the Lamium. It was cold and damp in there, and I lasted just over two hours. Found all sorts of things - Choisya shrubs that had died off, new seedling green Phormiums, an ornamental gooseberry almost smothered by another Phormium. Did my best until my hands got too cold.