The stumpery and raised bed in May.

The view of these areas from my (wheelchair user’s) eye height must be quite different from my Husband’s who is over 6ft tall. He would be able to see over some of the plants and see what lies beyond, whereas I, being closer to the ground, see more of the weeds, slugs and snails. This April and May have been extremely hot and sunny, with very little rain so most of my time has been spent keeping things watered well (young, new plants especially). In 2014 we put a lot of paving in the stumpery area for me to be able to access most of it, but in doing so it looks quite bare and brown during the winter months. Come spring however it becomes lush and awash with colour.
Along the back of the garage there are 2 small apple trees with a few crocus and iris reticulata bulbs, and cyclamen. I have tried a variety of plants to brighten that area without adding too much competition n to the apple trees. This year I was looking forward to a tulip and wallflower combination from Sarah Raven. Hmmmm it didn’t quite match Sarah’s website image. Beautiful tulips and wallflowers, but, the Tulips Menton flowered way after the Tulips Sarah Raven, and were very tall – 32 inches (81.5cm)!
The old curling stone had blue ajuga all around it, but it started to look very straggly in places so I added a little white saxafrage (unknown).
The purple knapweed is doing well but the plant has a habit of keeling out to the side leaving the middle bare, and also getting mildew so doesn’t look too attractive at times. But it is flowering and the bees love it. Also the forgot-me-nots and the brunneras, and some of the honesty are covered in flowers. The stumpery is left to go a bit wild and I have left a lot of nettles all along the side wall. Other so called weeds are more or less tolerated here, and just get dead-headed before they seed everywhere.

Stumpery looking to back wall.

Stumpery looking towards bench.

Stumpery from the brunnera side.

Curling stone with blue ajuga reptans and white saxafrage.

Purple centaurea (knapweed)

Tulip Sarah Raven

Tulip Sarah Raven, and Menton with the Ruby wallflowers.

Very tall Tulip Menton.

Tulip Sarah Raven, and Menton with the Ruby wallflowers.

What it should have looked like. (Image from Sarah Raven’s website)

The raised bed is looking pretty full and overgrown, but I love it like that. It isn’t your typical raised bed for disabled people. I have filled it with woodland plants so I can get that feeling of being right inside the woodland. I can see, feel and smell the plants up close. The syringa is in full flower and smelling gorgeous. Shame the flowers are all at the top now. It will have to have a good prune so that it can produce flowers slightly lower down so that I can experience them more.

The combination of the bright green of the saxifrage against the deep purple of the acer is fabulous and these delicate flowers just flutter and quiver in the breeze.

My favourite fern had been chopped back as usual and is looking scrumptious right now and it will continue to billow out over the next month or so. There is a lovely purple aquilegia growing far too close to it and kind of spoils the look of the fern, so the aquilegia is going to be howked out once it has finished flowering.

And it isn’t just the big plants that I adore – have a look at the mosses on the wall. The furry moss is so tactile and I stroke it every time a go past. The tiny sporophytes of some moss species are just as beautiful and fascinating.

Now that the rain has come – so too have the slugs and snails. Back to the early morning and evening slug patrol to keep these blighters at bay.