THE MODERN MINT BLOG
For those of you ahead of the bell curve, working on the edges of contemporary garden design, then you will of course be building a rain garden – to slow down, filter, store and re-use rainwater in the garden.
To help you, here are 10 plants for rain gardens….
- Rudbeckia
- Persicaria
- Eupatorium
- Monarda
- Aster
- Hosta
- Iris
- Miscanthus
- Carex
- Cornus
What do you notice about these plants? They are all good, tough garden plants whether you have a rain garden or not. Use them!
As a bonus – Crocosmia, Bergenia, Hellebore and Sanguisorba will not have a problem being flooded occasionally either.
As a double bonus – check out the flowers in the daisy family (Asteraceae) – we have already suggested a few in the list above (Rudbeckia, Aster and Eupatorium, if you’re interested) but Helenium and Inula could also be used.
Want a bulb to add? Camassia, that amazing blue flower, is our choice.
Try these to get you started planting up your rain garden – they will make the garden look amazing!
For mor help with your rain garden, try these books:
Make Your Own Microbes
We are fans of effective microbes, and use the in our topiary work. They help keep plants healthy, meaning the plants have more tools in their toolbox and energy in their lives to stave off any diseases. Here is a lovely article that tells you how to make your own microbes. Right at the end. Make Your Own Microbes
Boxwood – Dealing With Blight & The Caterpillar
Boxwood is one of our absolute favourite plants. The evergreen leaf that shines in winter, the smell as you clip it, the brilliant shapes you can make from it… but it is suffering somewhat from two major problems: Box Blight Boxwood Caterpillar and Moth None of this is the be all and end all for boxwood, but it helps to be aware of it and know a little about what you can do should either of these problems arise. Boxwood Caterpillar & Moth I hadn’t seen this in a garden I worked on until this spring, when a client I …
Orchard Design At Brogdale, National Fruit Collection In Kent
Last weekend I visited the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale, to take part in an orchard design course they were running. Beautiful place and a warm day, I recommend a visit. I came home with 3 bottles of cider. Drank them all. Then realised they were weighing in at 8%. I don’t recover that quickly (no longer being 20 years old) and so had something of a musty head the next morning. The power of apples I say! Below are some notes I made from the day. They may be of use to you, although really they are there for …