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I was wandering around in a semi catatonic state not knowing which garden task to tackle next. I cut the Aralia cordata down to small stumps - it really looked revolting and the birds had taken most of the seeds. And, I got completely fed-up with Clematis that was dead and rotated over itself to the 1 meter mark and so have cut it back to about 20 cm. As I clippered through the last strong stock I had the passing thought that I might be killing it - thought passed, desire to cut things down appeared to be stronger. Fortunately the rest of the garden was spared as it started to pour. Dragged up some photos from a couple of days ago and saw the Veronicastrum. Amazing the number of seeds! And yet, in the 10 years I've had these two plants, not one volunteer - their white flowers are loved by bees and butterflies. Very odd that I've yet to find one little plant baby somewhere in the garden.
3 comments:
Asking a Japanese gardener what his secret is to a beautiful garden he held out his secateurs.
I am a rather timid gardener when it comes to pruning. The shrubs have to cry out for a really good haircut. But it is an advantage to prune well because it is really a rejuvenation of the trees or shrubs. I used to have small Veronica plants in white and purple. In time they have succumbed to hot and humid weather or torrential rains!
Titania:
I travelled with a Japanese gardener who would immediately run up to each Japanese Maple & inspect it. He kept saying things like, "Oh too late for this one." i.e. pruning not done at an appropriate time. He said that they are like children, we shouldn't wait until they're 16 to discipline them. I could learn a lot for him - I'd probably have better plants with a pre-emptive pruning strike!
I admire gardeners who are not overwhelmed with their garden and manage to have an eye on each plant. As I am not a professional gardener and want to have a big garden anyway in spite of having little time to take care of it I tend to let things go. I like to call my garden a self-sufficient one and say that if I happened to die the garden would still be there. It is an experience to try (not to die I mean). It can be quite funny to let plants self seed wherever they please. It sometimes quite looks like a jungle but the result is natural and sometimes surprising and charming.
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