watering

two days of torrential rain, hooray!!...................gosh but the garden needed it. still some showers about but still warm and sunny, perfect. we despatched a whole load of snails over the wall at Newhaven.................Carrie thinks i've been being too kind to them, and i have to say they haven't kept to their side of the bargain, which was, i won't kill you if you don't eat the plants. so it's zero tolerance from now on..................
..............the herbaceous border still looks a bit of a mess, but i've learned that i have to be more disciplined about cutting things down when they finish flowering. the Dicentra is pretty, but it's also a haven for weeds and snails, and smothers everything underneath it. i think i have to get a bit more anal about tying things up so they don't flop about so much as well, so we can see what's underneath. acquired a couple of salvias from Hopetoun search-and-rescue, and a gaura............also one of Carrie's Cerinthus which we hope will self-seed.............not sure if Mum's kaffir lilies will make it, but i can always dig up some more...............once all the mints establish they will hopefully spread, and fill in the gaps at the front. the rue is good because it doesn't collapse, but the vinca needs to be cut pretty viciously and often not to take over..........the pernettya has died i think...............and the astilbe also looks extremely unhappy, being swamped by the ceanothus................might move it to Carrie's garden to rescue it...........
.............i still feel dissatisfied with the front garden too..........my little alpine arenas have done really well, exactly what i wanted in fact...............but the area under the tree is a mess. i realise that the way to make it look neater would be to rip out all the thyme growing through the paving..................it looks nice and smells great, but it also traps weed seeds which then establish. there are quite a few new volunteers............all those Canterbury bells that came up, a nice geranium, and a very pretty frilly aquilegia..........gifts from the neighbours...........but unfortunately they all come up in funny places and look untidy. it looks wonderful in the spring when all the bulbs come up, but apart from the bit next to the path, it looks a mess the rest of the time. being dry shade of course it is going to be difficult................however the two vincas seem to have established which is a start.................