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| Towpath 'herbaceous border' |
A friend has asked me for help and advice regarding turning the boundaries of her large, rural garden into something more attractive - and more effective as a wind-break - than the post-and-wire farm fencing entangled with nettles currently running along them. We're hindered by the exposed nature of the site, the sheer length of the boundaries, limits on the budget and possibly the worst excuse for 'soil' I have ever encountered, including the sand-and-shingle Hampshire Basin geology on which I grew up.
Ideally, the planting should be robust enough to cope with the occasional browsing by cows (without poisoning them) but without too much attention from humans, and on the north side to have the potential to form a backdrop for a more traditional herbaceous border in due course. So far, thanks to the squirrels who have raided my nut tree for the past few years only to forget where they buried their loot, we have planted a number of surplus hazel saplings along the south side of the site. With appropriate pruning and coppicing, they could be layered into a proper hedge in due course. There is an ample supply of periwinkle on site already which could be transplanted to scramble through it at ground level and honeysuckle would be a good addition to the mix for colour and scent, allowing other wild flowers and trees to naturalise with it. Briar roses might help with the animal-proofing; I have taken dozens of cuttings this week of this lovely example from my garden, so hopefully some will take and can be added to the 'hedgerow' in a year or two.
Luckily, I should also be able to strike plenty of honeysuckle cuttings from the luxuriant growth in my garden, though I am reluctant to share Ash saplings due to the risk of spreading die-back if it is in our area.
I was pondering the options for the 'herbaceous border' boundary during a week on the boat, when I noticed how Mother Nature manages to achieve much the look we would like working with wild plants. Unmown canal towpath sides often support a glorious array of species, especially from mid-summer onwards, so I made a point of snapping a few good examples.
Even the most unlikely 'weeds' such as dock and cow-parsley looked surprisingly attractive amid a mixture of grasses, meadow-sweet, water mint and balsam, suggesting that we could decide to tolerate some of these colourful or architectural plants along with whatever we use for our hedge (more hazel probably, as the squirrel has been busy planting). Even ragwort looks glorious in late summer sun, but isn't a good choice where livestock are about.
Rose bay willow-herb always looks stunning but has invasive roots, and parachutes its seed
everywhere! However, on the north side of the site, most of the fluff should be blown into the fields rather than the flower beds and any rogues can be dug out if the appear where they aren't wanted.
In front of the really wild plants, we could aim to establish a plantable area by building up farmyard manure and grass-cuttings to create something more akin to soil, and plant that with clusters of hydrangeas (again, cuttings have been taken), buddleia (which grows happily on site), dogwoods (it's the right time for me to raid the roundabout at the end of the road for cuttings!), and crocosmia (which grows abundantly on site), establishing a semi-cultivated middle zone of the border capable of fighting off the really wild plants and blending with the less sturdy cultivars that could form the true 'herbaceous border' in front, with space for large drifts of flowers.
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| Prairie planting at Trentham Gardens |
Whereas the south hedge is primarily a spring and early summer feature, this would be at its best through late summer, autumn and into winter, so the front section would need some earlier flowers to add interest. Unfussy aquilegia and alchemilla mollis are always available from the garden here, but establishing a depth of soil for spring bulb-planting may take some time!
