Out in the garden at last!

Today we finally did some proper gardening! It was the first time we've been out properly since before we went away in July. I tidied up the beds, cut back lots of the perennials that had finished, cut the edges of the grass and pulled out all the grass that had grown in the beds. Mr L planted the last few plants that we hadn't done before - a penstemon, the astrantia (shaggy) plants and the ground cover we bought at Hampton.

The soil at the end of the garden is really dry despite the amount of rain we've had. I guess it has a tree canopy to cover it. Yet in the winter it gets all the water come down off the park but that just doesn't seem to happen in the summer. The ferns don't look that happy. I need to think of some other plants that like shade and not much liquid.

I've finally got some sweet peas growing up the pergola. Considering the amount of seeds I planted its not many but at least its some. And actually they are from the two little plants I bought. The passion flower is doing pretty well up the other plant support though. Actually that bed, considering it was a lot of things thrown together, looks pretty good and well thought out. This winter I need to move the horse tail as it gets lost where it is. I'll put it by the fence near the shrub. And then decide whether the cadix and other grass I got can be split to start filling that bed out a bit more. The hostas got completely decimated by slugs whilst we were away. Two of them have been eaten all up. If I'm still planning to have a hosta bed it might be better to take them out and put them in pots! Or to have a re-think about what to put round the edge of that bed. We both really like lambs ear so maybe lots of that - just need to check it's OK in shade.

The rudbeckia in the hot bed looks amazing. The dahlias still haven't come out. I now think that bed doesn't get nearly as much sun as I thought. I cut back the lupins and poppies from the front that had finished and it looks a bit bear along the front. That is the one bed I will add some more things in next year - I want to add some red achillea. There is much more yellow in that bed and not much red. Especially as the red lupins actually came up pink. Maybe I'll move them to the cottage bed.

Mr L also got busy with the compost bins. The one at the far back hadn't been turned at all as I couldn't reach into it. So I'd started using the nearer one again. So he emptied everything out of both of them mixed it and created a new system which means it should be easier to get compost out of both. The further one is now full of almost ready and turned compost and the nearer one is ready to add lots more lovely stuff to. I cleared so much up today we added about another 4 trug loads.

So left to do is the mowing which will hopefully be done this week and finish the garden off nicely. Next weekend I need to feed the plants and lawn and think about taking some cuttings. Plus I need to sow some more salad leaves. I lost all the lettuces whilst I was away and the salad leaves all went to seed. The tomatoes are booming though. We've already had lots off and there are still plenty more!