Diary entry 7) Cherry walk planting

Two weeks ago, we planted another large number of mainly herbaceous plants in the Cherry Walk garden’s borders. Once again, they were planted in blocks of three or five, for some instant impact and, because they were mainly low, ground covering plants they would eventually grow and merge into one another. We planted them all towards the edges of the borders as they are all relatively low and therefore we don't want them to be obscured by the larger shrubs we planted earlier.

The plants that were planted today include:

Ajuga reptans ‘Black Scallop’

Trillium

Pulmonaria

Myosotidium hortensia / Chatham Island Forget-Me-Nots

Bergenia / Elephant’s ears

Cherry Walk Garden

Setting out the plants whilst in their pots to see where they're best positioned before planting them.

(Ajuga on the left, Chatham Island Forget-me-nots on the right). The Ajuga in particular looked pretty uninspiring because, being herbaceous, they die back over winter and put out new growth in spring. There were some tiny black/ purple leaves coming through.

 Now is a really good time of year to buy and plant herbaceous perennials as it has a chance to establish before flowering, and they're often cheaper than in late spring as they don't look too great!

We had to protect all of the plants planted today with the chicken wire cages again so rabbits can't get to their roots or fresh spring growth.

Our work earlier in the year, clearing the surrounding beds of old vegetation and weeds has been rewarded by the masses of snowdrops and hellebores flowering. The Iris reticulata bulbs that we planted in the autumn are also now out in flower and are stunning. With any luck the spring bulbs will just get better year after year.