BORDER FOR ALL SEASONS

Border: 45 sq. m.

 

This border is 30m long by 1.5m wide, by a picket  fence around a swimming pool.  From the garden side the colours and forms relate to the pool hut further back.  Interest starts in late winter with hellebores, in dark to dusky pinks, speckled white and cream.  Bulbs gradually build dots of colour. Deeper colours bring glamour to the mix and the planting thickens over the season, culminating in late summer with blowsy Japanese anemones drifting over deep burgundy sedums, arching crocosmia, and roses from over the fence hovering gently.

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Looking out from the pool side of the fence, the view is of mature trees, and a bank of long grass.  This suits a more lush, tumbling, romantic look.   The long repeat flowering rambler Malvern Hills is planted all the way along this side of the fence with small pockets of Clematis cirrhosa for dangling winter flowers. 

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The flower forms and border maintenance are planned with wildlife in mind. Roses are not sprayed, just deeply mulched.  Plants are not watered unless a particularly dry spell elicits sympathy and the hosepipe.  In winter yellow brown foliage and hollow stems offer shelter, autumn leaves drift in from surrounding trees to form a blanket. Only in spring, when fresh green shoots appear, is everything freshened up to start again.