Around this time of the year, I like to take a look at the past season’s growth.
Appreciate the success, evaluate the failures, and set a plan of action for the season ahead.
Not everything last year went according to plan. Some ideas I thought would work failed and other things I didn’t expect surprised me. That’s the beauty of gardening, its full of lessons and surprises.
So, what are my problem areas that need addressing for the year ahead.
Number one on my list is the overgrowth of red campion in some of the berms. In 2020 I over planted with campion in one of the berms, this meant that 2021 saw some rot to surrounding plants as they were smothered by the campion. That’s the thing when gardening with invasive species. They are perfectly fine when you keep on top of them, but if I don’t thin it out soon, the campion will soon cause more damage and take over the entire garden bed.
Another thing I want to look at in the garden is changing up the planting in the lakehouse garden. When I planted this garden in 2019, I used a lot of perennials that enjoy full sun. At that time the garden was in fact in full sun, so it was a suitable and effective planting scheme.
Since then, I have grown a willow hedge along the back of the garden, and this has caused the garden to be in shade for the best part of the day.
I love the hedge at the back, so I am not going to be removing that for light but instead swapping out the plants for shade loving alternatives.
So, I will be taking the perennials from the back of the lakehouse and using them to fill in the gaps where I remove the campion from the berms. I will then be rounding up a variety of shade loving plants to redesign the lakehouse garden all over again.
Now that plant growth is dormant it is the ideal time for me to move anything that needs relocating. If you have any plants that are struggling in a particular space within your garden now is the time to do it. Just dig them up and relocate it.
One thing I have learned is that you’ve nothing to lose in relocating a plant that is struggling. If its current location isn’t doing it justice the best thing you can do is try a different spot in the garden. You’ll be surprised how much a plant will thank you for it.
Get in touch and let me know what your plans are for the garden this year.
Do you have a plant you will be relocating?
Will you be redesigning an area of the garden?
Are you new to gardening?
Let me know in the comments below.
