Radical Action. Part 1

This started out as very much "a tongue-in-cheek" title. I have been known to snip away at overgrown shrubs in a very desultory fashion. And it really only happens if another plant is being squashed out of existence or I can't get up the path.

P however is much more rigorous in his approach. On one occasion cutting back an old elder (much to my horror) with a large saw. It survived....

Some of the plants have outgrown their space and are crowding out other plants. The cornus are a case in point. We originally planted them to provide structure in each border and to give some colour in the winter months. Even although they are all cornus they have very different growing habits.

Cornus Kesselringii with the black stems has a very upright habit and has not crowded out it's neighbours (yet). Although it might be the rhus typhina on the right of the photograph that is the bully and needs a bit of pruning.

Cornus Flaviramea with the lime green stems has grown in all directions. It had been severely pruned back last year and has grown like the clappers again. So once again it is crowding out my favourite red tree peony. Something has to give. In this case one of the three Cornus will have to go.

Cornus Alba sibirica with the red stems has also spread dramatically. The planting space next to it has shrunk and needs to be cleared of some of the self seeded astrantia and the planting scheme given a new lease of life.

 As well as taking some plants out of each group, the remaining  cornus will be pruned to encourage new growth and colour for next year. In fact we might be a bit more brutal with the secateurs this year. About a third of the shrub should be pruned hard in March. But as you know I'm a bit on the tentative side when it comes to pruning...

Each group of cornus has a clematis twining through it. The idea being that the clematis gets the shade it likes for it's roots but has its flowers in the sun. Lets be honest cornus are not fabulously interesting after the winter but its an ideal backdrop for the clematis flowers.

 I should say we also have two other cornus. Cornus candensis which is a totally different kettle of fish as it is in fact ground cover and Cornus Kousa which is grown for it's beautiful white bracts.

Sometimes gardening doesn't turn out the way we plan.

By the end of the afternoon one group of cornus had completely gone. The had taken over a large area of the border. The main stems (!) were more of a trunk and as big as my wrist. The roots spread everywhere and took all the moisture and goodness out of an already dry, sandy soil. So "Radical Action" was called for. The title turned out to be very apt indeed.

You can see just how dry and sandy the soil is from the photograph. Masses of home made compost will be dug in before any planting is done. The last few barrow loads just seemed to disappear. Give me lovely Orkney soil any day...

You can see the melianthus major , the hydrangea and the angelica growing up towards the light after being squashed between the cornus and the ever increasing bamboo. Some of the bamboo will be removed and given to friends. 
Sometimes it pays to look behind plants and see what is happening. I hadn't noticed how far the bamboo had encroached or the number of annual weeds hidden along the back wall.

The melanthus and the hydragea can be rehomed. Alas, poor angelica "Ebony" cannnot be moved. It has a large tap root and is also tends to be a biennial and hopefully is setting seed.


So there we are. A bit of space. The fun bit is picking some plants to fill it!


It's raining now and my enthusiasm has been dampened somewhat. The rest of the weeding and soil improvement (not to mention the planting) will have to keep for a dry spell.

To be continued in Part 2.....