Simply Grow.....

The floor of my garden consisits of four materials - grass, gravel, paving and plants.

I think it best not to have too many different materials - three to four is ideal.

The grass needs mowing - as you know I favour differential mowing - having dfferent areas at different hieghts with paths mown through.  I have written about it often (will try to link to those posts).

Gravel needs weeding, but is very forgiving and really useful for awkward shapes.

The paving here consists of a very straight path to the door of boring concrete slabs which ideally are power hosed once a year and need edging about once a year too. Functional. I don't try to make a 'feature' out of everything.

Plants are the most interesting of the 'floors'. Ideally shrubs, bulbs and perennials which only require cutting back in autumn.  Several areas are both low maintenance and beautiful to look at. The bed under the cornus which I mentioned here is quite stunning when the geraniumss are in flower. Low Maintenance doesn't need to be boring!

I have fewer different plants than I used to have, but have increased the numbers of those which do best with least work.  Here are some combinations that work here..

Geranium Roxanne and agapanthus give a long season of blue flowers. There is also a blue campanula lactiflora in this bed.

Centaura montana cover the dying foliage of the daffodils, the hosta will expand quite a bit, and the rubus aureus needs watching but is easily pulled out after rain.

Again foliage almost covers dying daffodil leaves. This geranium does not flower for long but I like the contrasts with the acer and the clipped box foliage and with the large shiny  leaves of the bergenia yet to come.  LIttle needs doing here.

Pulmonarias have made a lovely carpet under the cornus. They are prone to mildew but I find if I cut back the flower stems after flowering (I leave it as long as possible as they are much visited by bees) I get fresh spotted foliage for the rest of the summer.

You can make a garden with hostas, alchemilla and hardy geraniums! Some of the clumps of alchemilla are too big for me to divide and will have to wait till someone stronger comes along! Best to pull out seedlings when they are small (again easier after rain). I wouldn't be without it's billowing lime green flowers.

This bed had white lupins grown from seed  but they only last about three years or so. I have just planted it up with ox eye daisies which were the only things I had enough of.  I think they will soon cover the bare ground and look well beside the white stems of the birch trees. As I am leaving more grass to grow long this year I think they will also tie in well with the wilder look.

I like this green phase in the garden but soon all the bare earth will be covered and all the colours will start to come. Magenta, blue, purple and lime green mainly.

What I am after is low maintenance with the wow factor! Getting there.

Watch this space..