Following on from my Spring and Early-Summer Garden Diary, here’s the third instalment — July to September — documenting the garden through the summer months.
July
Despite a wet start to the month, I managed a lot of garden maintenance as well as undertaking some important DIY projects. All the while, the garden hummed with life and beauty.
Blue Damselfly With summer, the wildlife returns. Blue and red damselflies buzz around my little formal pond. That floating weed is Ivy-leaved Duckweed — Lemna trisulca — which grows rampantly…Pond dipping…consequently, the pond needs regular dipping to remove the duck weed. I also use a pond-dye to darken the water. The result is worth the effort. [The lily is a small-medium variety Nymphaea ‘Gonnere’]Delicate brute?This pretty little cranesbill is an easy and reliable perennial, even growing in shade. But… it’s a little too eager to self seed. I worry I’ll regret letting it loose in my garden.The peaches ripen and start falling in July Fallen ones are often rather watery. Ideally, they need picking a week before before they drop, then ripening indoors, but that needs daily vigilance.Tying-in As climbers and shrubs shoot up, more time is spent tying in and creating temporary supports for floppy plants (like this hydrangea ‘Annabell’ weighed down by a recent shower.Wonderful clematis Another plant to tie in: the Clematis x durandii I planted last year. It is doing very well, and flowers for months through summer and into autumn — what a magnificent performer!Fence repairs The neighbours took up their old deck, allowing me to get to the back of my fence. On my side, it is covered by a hedge, so this is my only chance to fix it once and for all!Rotten post I had to replace a couple of posts that had insufficient protection at the top. This demonstrates how vulnerablel end grain is, and why I now always thoroughly cap my posts.Making a long-life fence Part-way through the rebuild. (Doesn’t the back of the hedge look weird?) I am using durable materials, and coating all sides with preservative stain. Projected life: 25+ years. Completed at the beginning of August (see gallery below.)Red Soldier Beetle Summer draws in the pollinators and other insects, including one of my favourites: the red soldier beetle — here seen feeding on garlic chives (Allium tuberosum).Hanging Baskets This year I tried hanging baskets on our front porch. I planted these with red begonias and golden Creeping Jenny. They proved hard to keep sufficiently watered, so I think an irrigation system would help.Building another fence Another project undertaken while the neighbours were renovating was a low fence to enclose our shared sewage-treatment plant. BTW, That’s a climbing iceberg rose on the end of my woodshed.
August
I spent less time gardening, and didn’t start any new projects this month.
Myrtle spurge Let’s kick off August with this wonderful self-sown Euphorbia myrsinites; such a beautiful colour and shape. The appearance of spontaneous seedlings like this certainly adds to the garden’s sense of maturity.Hanging Basket The hanging baskets are doing well. The lysimachia (Creeping Jenny) is galloping away, producing long hanging tresses, just as I hoped. Already, though, you can see some brown foliage where it dried out a bit too much.Completed Fence Here is my renovated boundary fence, viewed from my neighbour’s side. It looks very smart doesn’t it? Quite a lot of work for a fence I shall never see!Summer hyacinth This elegant flower spike is Galtoniacandicans – an easy bulb that is reliably hardy in the sunny border of my white garden. I planted several more this spring. This is one of them. (Background: Echinacea ‘White Swan’)Training upright yews This 15 year old Irish yew (Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’ ) forms a key feature at the corner of my workshop. To keep it neat, I regularly tie-in any small branches that begin to flop outwards.Coreopsis verticillate ‘Buttermilk’ I planted some tiny plug plants of this lovely tick seed, last autumn, and they are now flowering. I love this soft creamy yellow — far more accommodating than the normal buttercup-yellow.New Plants I purchased three plumbago plants (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) from Crocus to add to my new green roof planting. They are low growing and late-flowering, so might be a perfect addition…Green Roof …Here they are added to the new planting. (The planks and slabs are just temporary to hold the weed mat down while the planting establishes)Not what I wanted? These roselilies are beautiful and highly scented. Perfect — except they are not what I ordered. They should be Lilium ‘Casablanca’ which is a single white lily. Incorrectly labelling plagues the UK nursery trade.
September
September is a wonderful month in the garden. There are plenty of warm days to be had, and the garden is buzzing with pollinators. My Mediterranean Pond Garden comes into its own with its late-summer, pollen-rich plants, such as Asters, Sedums, Vitex and repeat-flowering roses. I spent most of the month simply enjoying and observing the garden, taking some beautiful close-up photos of the late-flowers and invertebrates. Come for a walk around the garden with me…
Pastel Planting Scheme In the Pond Garden, the Mediterranean planting produces a naturalistic ‘controlled chaos’ in subtle shades of silver-blue-pink. All of these late-flowering plants attract pollinators. The Silvery threads are white wormwood (Artemisia alba ‘Canescens’.)Late visitors September proved to be a pensive month, watching the changes in the garden; the comings and goings of busy insects. This comma butterfly spent hours flitting from flower to flower. The Aster ‘Mönch’ has been in flower since July.Clipped Hedges When the hedges are freshly clipped the views from the house are delightful. This vista terminates in front of the Cabin, in front of which an arrangement of pots present pink flowers…Sedums and Roses This group of containers formed a pretty display all summer. As the agapanthus fade, the patio rose ‘Carefree days’ and sedum spectabile take centre stage.Pollination Station The late sedums (S. spectabile) are magnets for pollinators.More sedums with roses Later in the month, the sedums slowly turn darker red. Here they underplant a shrub rose, and tone in beautifully with the other late-summer flowers.Dahlia Season This is Dahlia ‘Melody Harmony’ — a beautiful short(ish) dahlia that I grow in the ground and returns year after year. It probably helps that I planted it in a raised bed, reducing the chance of winter rot. (You can see it back-left of the sedum in the previous photo)Sprucing Up The Cabin Interior Over two decades old, but I only just got round to finishing the kitchenette in the garden building we call ‘The Cabin’Curtains and Seat Covers To get the cabin ready for a long-term guest, we also finished the curtains, seat covers and added a comfortable arm-chair.Amelanchier Autumn Colours In the White Garden, the Amelanchier is already starting to change colour and lose leaves. I am surprised every year with how early it heads for dormancy.White Dahlias As the evenings draw in, the dahlias in the White Garden glow in the twilight. This is one of my favourite Dahlias: Playa Blanca — a short (60cm) variety with large cactus blooms that look amazing at all stages of opening.Views beyond the garden I’ll finish this month (and this article) with a view of the landscape over my hedge. (BTW, This is the view from the back windows of the Cabin.)
