Being such marginal areas, these had been considerably neglected and had become overgrown, which meant that there remained only a small range of overlarge tough shrubs which had crowded everything else out. The only solution was drastic action. Being at the furthest reaches of the garden, the amount of pruning required would cause damage if we attempted to transport so much woody waste material across the garden for disposal. The solution to this was to buy a compact but powerful shredder and to shred all prunings in situ, to be spread and used as a mulch where it was produced. This involved one trip a day with the machine instead of hundreds with barrows. Plenty of people argue that fresh, uncomposted mulches are a bad thing, in that they strip nitrogen from the soil as they decompose. I argue otherwise. Every plant we put in was accompanied by copious amounts of compost and leaf mould as well, and we saw no setback resulting from the mulch. Photograph below of work in progress -
This was no small job, as you can imagine from the piles of shreddings, andthis shows only a small part of the job, but the big bonus we had from it was huge potential planting spaces, with opportunities to extend the plant range, and additionally to pander to my whole-garden approach of having the entire area maintained and maintainable in perpetuity. From a dull region full of dark old Viburnums and Yews and weeds, we made something abounding with plant interest, without screaming colourful excess into the surrounding landscape. The new plantings included all kinds of delights such as Japanese Hornbeam, Heptacodium, Cladastris, Koelreuteria, Gymnocladus, Alangium, Parasyringa, Chordospartium, Albizzia, Elsholtzia, Desmodium and Emmenopterys. There were herbaceous drifts of Phlomis, Salvias and Dicentras, amongst many other beauties. The garden had at last been covered from top to toe by the restoration.
Unfortunately, I don't have any further photographs to show you how this progressed. It is a sad admission that just as these outlying areas tend to be the first to be forgotten when the staff are under pressure, I was just as guilty of neglecting them in my photographic record. I just never seemed to find the time to get down there with the camera. I have hundreds of photos of the bright bedding schemes, but next to nothing of the quieter areas, which in fact were the ones which contained the most interesting or unusual plants. Of course, some of these would only produce their effect in the longer term, and I didn't stay long enough to see them grow to maturity anyway. And some of them may not have survived the exposure and poor soil. I don't know. I was being experimental with my purchases.
Incidentally, fairly near to the border in the photograph above, there was a view out into the park which was one of the original concepts set out by the Old Man, which I think was particularly effective. As you know, the idea was that the horticultural thrust of the garden should not intrude on the quiet appropriateness of the landscape. Nevertheless, he always had a tendency to enjoy a bit of playful colour. It is interesting how he allowed certain seasonal exuberances to intrude, as long as they weren't too long-lasting. One of these was the creation of a focal point from one of the vistas through the garden by planting a clump of Acer platanoides 'Schwedleri' in the field beyond. In spring as the leaves came in, this would be rich purple and would stand out accordingly. For the remainder of the summer it would fade off to a muted green in compliance with his wishes that nothing should obtrude, before firing up again briefly with autumn colour. The choice of species was a masterful one, fitting perfectly his stipulations for a harmonious parkland.
That's them in the distance, a haze of purple, before fading.
The same trees, providing another mood in the autumn -
A good winter shot shows that they work even without leaves as well. Half a dozen trees in the park, doing four jobs for the price of one, but remaining unobtrusive through most of the summer. That's clever planning -
All my explanation for how this works in the landscape is negated, however, if you place too much weight on one of the Old Man's earlier ideas, where he completely ringed a plantation of trees right in front of the main south view from the house with Laburnums. I can show you no evidence for this, as it was long gone by the time of my arrival, at the request of the farmer, who was worried about the potential for poisoning the browsing cattle. I can show you the view so you can make up your own mind. The trees at the crown of the modest hill to the centre left of the picture would have been completely surrounded by a sea of yellow in early summer. I think I like the idea, but Capability Brown fanciers would probably baulk at it. More on that soon -
Apparently cattle used to be tougher in the old days, as none had come to harm during the original historic Laburnum party which is no more. But it might well have been spectacular. Perhaps someone out there who is good with photoshop and knows what the plants should look like could send me a picture. I've had it in my mind's eye for years and think I might love it.
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