BEFORE / AFTER SLOPED GARDEN
Mr F in Felixstowe asked us "come and do something with my back garden"
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said garden was a challenging slope, tired looking grass that cracked badly in summer at the top, a set of seemingly random steps in the middle that were hazardous and made mowing difficult, and apart from some grasses little in the way of planting or colour - especially in the lower part
beneath the grass was dense clay, hence why all the moisture ended up at the bottom of the garden and the grass cracked
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several tonnes of quality screened topsoil later the top area was plateaued a little making it more fit for use before laying new turf, and no longer broken up by the steps, a sweeping path was laid to make the climb gradual and able to run the lawnmower over
difficult to see the effect of the planting scheme just now but a row of lavender papillon (butterfly) has been planted for fragrance and to break up the harshness of the walled planter, and the paths edged with campanula portenschlagiana and aubrieta 'red cascade' to introduce a spread of colour, and a choisya ternata (mexican orange blossom) now sits in the corner by the path with it's evergreen aromatic leaves and delicate white flowers
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the lower slopes have been planted with persicaria amplexicaulis and persicaria affinis ‘Superba’ as these prefer the damper conditions and will introduce a spread of dense dark leaves and erect spikes of pink and crimson flowers
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shooting through the persicaria will be the magnificent allium mount everest and gladiator varieties of ornamental onions with massive showy heads that also add interest once the flowers die back
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finally the evergreen climbing hydrangea seemannii has been chosen to adorn the bottom fence, its green creamy flowers adding further interest well into the autumn
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be sure to visit this page again later in the year to see how this planting matures
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