Emer’s plant sale on 13th June was a great success and the proceeds enabled us to get working in earnest on the project. Thanks to one of our group, the hugely overgrown griselinia at the back of the house was cleared resulting in a beautiful view over Dublin Bay. Ingrid’s patio plan was implemented, patio furniture was bought and a wooden seat was donated by Foxrock & District Garden Club.
We planted up the front area with a mixture of shrubs, all of which are doing well and more recently we put in several clumps of daffodils. We also planted some daffodils and some smaller bulbs, mainly eranthis, along the front and side walls.
At the back of the house, we planted some structural shrubs and got wonderful colour over the last number of months from dahlias in the back boundary bed, verbena bonariensis, amni majus “Visnaga” and a mixture of other perennials and annuals in a long bed which now enjoys far more sunshine following the removal of the overgrown griselinia. A small bed facing the front gate has had a spectacular show of pink and white nicotiana for months – all raised from seed by Emer. We bought 9 really attractive pots which tone in beautifully with the paving used in the patio and planted them with panicum virgatum squaw grass from divisions of a large clump in one of our gardens
On 10th September we had a most enjoyable few hours with the young ladies who live in Kilgarvan and their families and those who look after them so well.
In this, our first season, weeding was not a problem because of the close planting and because the ground was very well prepared but we needed to water during the early dry spell. Our next job is tulip planting and hopefully the garden has still a way to go before it is put to bed for the winter
