March Tour of Gardens
And why I'm still not cutting back plants
All these gorgeous images of bulbs and blossom in the sun shine have got me looking at the gardens with fresh eyes.
The beds look sad.
Dried grasses and foliage dropped like dresses dropped by divas at the end of their performance.1 Flopped all over the soils. There is little left now to discern the profiles of the border last summer at their highest heights.2
I am desperate to rake over these beds, cutting back to the lush new growth. But. We are amidst a very cold spell here.
I’m not sure where we are in this list really. But I do know that Spring splutters out of the winter like a cold petrol mower starting up. There is an eyebrow raise of hope with the first burst of hot sun but then nothing. Frosts have been sharp the last few days. I know the micro climates of these spaces now. It’s too soon to cut back.
For now, I am leaving the skirts of last years growth as protection. Both for the emerging growth and also the unimaginable number of insects that are still overwintering in the borders.
The general rule of thumb is to wait until the temperatures are consistently above 10° (daytime) for several days. This usually means the night time temps are higher too. Insects are so important in the garden and their thriving has a huge impact on the biodiversity of the soil and plants.
When I do start chopping back, perhaps in the next few weeks as the temperatures do rise, I will ‘chop and drop’ the greenery, and leave on the ground for a few days, so that the insects can crawl out. Then I’ll rake it off, and perform my annual weeding of the permanent beds. There is some creeping buttercup and couch grass that I like to have a go at to keep it down. I probably don’t need to bother but it’s the gardener in me. I’ll throw some annual seeds about whilst I am at it, to fill in the gaps and see what comes up.
Meanwhile, the muntjac have been getting in all winter. They craftily got into the polytunnel in January, chomped on the pink radicchio, sown in June, and carefully cultivating for Valentines. They didn’t know what a luxury they were eating.
The ranunculus were all pinched out, which were looking so good. They have come back, but won’t be as strong as they were after that harsh cut back.
Poppies, sweet rocket and campanula all nibbled to the ground too. So I have had them under environmesh for the last few weeks to allow the plants to recover.
We’ve put in fencing to both prevent the muntjacs (almost finished) and cover up the view from the neighbours projects. This is mostly for a clean background for nice images and better climbing supports (the hazel wasn’t strong enough) but also gives them a screen and privacy for their work.
And finally, my winter project has become a spring one, creating much bigger mixed beds. I’ll tell you much more about this in another post but for now you can see how gross it looks halfway through its development. I love the process and creation of new beds. It feels really dynamic and I’m excited to work with different combinations. Mostly, I reckon plants will much prefer growing amongst each other rather than in little blocks as before in this space.
I’m starting a new short course, one Saturday a month, here in the gardens, on the ‘Art and Craft of growing cut flowers’. First one is this one coming, Saturday 22nd. If you are local and footloose this Saturday, you can book here.
Please like this post if you’ve enjoyed it and tell me, how is your garden looking this March?
I have Opera’s on the mind since I saw this last night which was superb.
That’s why I recommend taking pictures all the way through the year to spot gaps.
Always glad for the excuse to not cut back early. Yes agree it looks messy but then I noticed quite a few ladybirds so I know I have to be patient.
I’ll crack on with seeds :)
So glad you wrote about NOT cutting back. I have seen countless posts showing people cutting with abandon but I have hesitated because it seemed ridiculous to leave the old stems all winter just to fall at the last hurdle and risk it all. it's definitely not looking attractive though...