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Frozen Garden

A busy week in the office, with numerous tasks including going out to tender on a garden in West Wickham, measuring up a garden that requires approval from the council in Sevenoaks and designing a large garden with a difficult terrain in Grassy Lane, Sevenoaks.


and so I thought I would get out and enjoy the sunshine yesterday with gorgeous blue skies but bitterly easterly wind I wrapped up warm and took my camera into the garden.

The frozen daisies look great, I always believe in leaving some of the perennials to overwinter to create wonderful skeletal structures in the border, this Aster is a great example




The frozen ivy that's growing on the side of garage where the wren nests every year caught my eye. The icicles were catching the low, soft, winter light.

The Calamagrostis x acutiflora ' Karl Foerster' is still adding winter structure in the large border adjacent to the topiary box cubes Buxus sempervirens. I purchased the Calamagrostis from Beth Chatto's nursery about 6 years ago and started with 5 plants, I have since split and divided the clumps several times over the last few years and now have in excess of 25 plants. 
They are a good choice for creating great vertical structure and movement, they grow much faster than Miscanthus in the spring, with a gorgeous fresh spring green colour followed by the oat coloured panicles. I need to get out this month and cut them to the ground ready for SPRING! along with the Miscanthus and Pennisetum grasses.

This task always makes me happy an event that marks the end of winter and the start of spring, lets hope the garden thaws out next week.


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