Re-taking control

Unfortunately, the kind of laissez-faire attitude that I described in yesterday's post didn't really work well with the border at the front of the house. By the time we moved back home after our renovations, it was completely swamped by creeping kikuyu grass which had spread from the lawn below. I had a few goes at pulling it out and some of our visitors kindly weeded and dug the top section of the border. But more drastic measures were required.

A nice man came and strimmed the offending weeds then sprayed extensively (and billed us for it). Once it had all died off, I pulled out the dead vegetation whenever Lark was asleep in the car on our return home. Any re-growth was re-sprayed and the border is now largely clear of weeds although there is a persistent bramble which might benefit from some herbicide gel.

Sadly the rosemary bushes suffered under the matting of grass. Some of the bushes are now reviving (see the green growth in the top left picture) but others had died completely and I had to pull them out (bare earth in the top right picture). The day lilies continue to thrive (centre image) and there's a red shrub which is doing well too (a barberry?).

I wanted to put some ground cover into the border before summer to repel any further kikuyu invasions so didn't have too much time to plan anything. It's already a mix of natives and exotics so I've not worried too much about sticking to one or the other.

I planted my long-suffering ginkgo tree with some spare sedums beneath it at one end (top left picture). I picked up some native grasses (bottom right) at a local market and then some low-growing native shrubs at a garden show. I've planted them about one metre apart from each other and crossed my fingers in the hope that they'll grow quickly and cover the bare earth in between. Finally, I've potted on some of the yellow flowering plants from my containers amongst the day lilies, to keep the colours consistent.

Hopefully, the new plants will grow more vigorously than the kikuyu grass which will be discouraged with regular spraying along the front edge of the bed. In time, I can revisit my planting scheme and come up with a more coherent design which will keep the weeds at bay but also produce an attractive border at the front of the house. That's the plan anyway.