If you visited the Gardens in the past month you may have seen a hive of activity going on at the top section of the herbaceous border. A couple of weeks ago the grounds team carried out a final fork over the area to remove any perennial weeds like the dreaded bindweed and then it was rotovated and raked level. The area was then ready for planting of around 1500 grasses and herbaceous plants.

 It took us three days to plant out the area, we placed out the plants in groups of fives so as to repeat the colour and textures along the breadth of the border. The most challenging thing was making certain the heights descended from the back and the colours and leaf shape did not clash or repeat too often. The plants will take about two years to establish properly; in this time they will be watered and fed in the spring and over the summer months. Next spring the plants will hopefully grow away healthily after their first winter and provide us all with a fantastic display of colour and foliage.