My only job for this month was to cut back the lavender border, deadhead the roses and trim the lawn edges.
The lavenders were buzzing with bees and one of the drawbacks of cutting lavenders back in August is that an important source of pollen/nectar is removed from the garden. I have to carefully weigh up the pros and cons. In this garden the benefit of an August trim (neat looking over winter, grass gets a chance to recover from overhanging stems) outweigh the drawbacks of the lack of a foodsource. These I am mitigating by having other plants in flower nearby which are also attractive to bees such as these verbena bonariensis which are just across the path.
The roses in this garden whilst not plentiful are beautiful and as they are all repeat flowering they are always a cheerful sight at this time of year.
My client is particularly impressed by the rather large 'Winchester Cathedral', a fragrant white cultivar, which gives a plentiful supply of stems to cut for the house.
She is also delighted with the show of 'Alnwick'. This rose was planted in a pot when I arrived all those years ago and one of the points of the brief was to give it a better home in the garden. It now takes pride of place in the large sunny raised bed.
My personal favourite today was the shady raised bed where the grasses mingle most happily with woody hydrangea 'Annabelle'.
The bed also features some loosestrife (Lysimachia cilata 'Firecracker') and of course dusky cranesbill (geraneum phaeum).
On a warm and humid day full of clouds, this bed glows!
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