In front of my inherited allotment plum tree there is a flower bed that is probably one of the first beds I made when I had the plot back in 2009. I wanted an area just for flowers to attract the pollinating insects, and had visions of a cottage garden type area – hollyhocks, bulbs, poppies. What actually happened is that I had no concept of how much Plot 31 floods, and so the bed was edged with timber but wasn’t actually raised above the water table.
I did put in a lot of bulbs to start with. Daffodils,
tulips, and crocus. Last year was very pitiful – I think I only had four clumps
of daffs and three whole crocus! I had already decided probably two years ago
that this bed was due for an upgrade, but it was very much not a priority as it
isn’t a veg bed. Hollyhocks never grew, and other seed mixes never seemed to do much either. It always ended up full of grass (from the bird feeders in the plum tree) and always looked a mess.
Well finally, its time has come! I had some timber painted
up which was destined for the herb bed, but that is going to be a big job
(digging out herbs, weeding, building the next level of timber frame,
installation, paper/cardboard as weed suppressant, fresh peat-free compost,
then replanting of the herbs). I decided to use the timber to do the flower bed
instead as I also had five bags of leftover peat-free compost from another project.
So on a very hot and sunny September Saturday following a
trip to Poundland and Sainsburys to buy a mix of bulbs, I set about sorting it
out. I had a realisation that old-Laura used to buy timber from a yard and it
came in 5ft, 6ft, 7ft and 8ft lengths which goes some way to explain why my
beds are all silly sizes. This particular bed is 7ft x 2ft! The leftover timber
is only 6ft, so I had to do a bit of bodging to get it to fit. If there is one
thing I am good at, it’s bodging it to fit – ten years on the allotment teaches
you lots of things!
I began by digging out as many of the old bulbs as I could find, and weeding out the definite weeds, mostly dock. Some of the corms of the crocus were less than 1cm wide; I could have done with a fine sieve to get everything. After I had done this, I started sorting the timber out. I am quite proud that I did it by myself and ya know, it looks pretty good!
I began by digging out as many of the old bulbs as I could find, and weeding out the definite weeds, mostly dock. Some of the corms of the crocus were less than 1cm wide; I could have done with a fine sieve to get everything. After I had done this, I started sorting the timber out. I am quite proud that I did it by myself and ya know, it looks pretty good!
I then used waste cardboard from the shed to put down a
biodegradable weed suppressant layer. It wasn’t perfect but the bulk of ground
was covered which will greatly reduce the number of weeds that grow through. I then
put two bags of peat-free compost in, raked it level-ish, and then I started
placing the bulbs that I had dug out back in. I then went through each of the
packs I had bought and put them in too – you can see I have put them pretty
close together! There is a good mix of things, and with the fresh compost they
should absolutely thrive and be a beautiful display next year.
I have planted over 200 bulbs in this bed – 170 new ones and
about 60 that I dug out – and it includes: miniature white daffodils, miniature
mixed yellow and orange daffs, some miniature white daffs with an orange
trumpet, mixed crocus, tulips, alliums, purple snow glories, mixed anenomes, mixed
sparaxis (an iris), and also a root of heliopsis (an oxeye daisy type).
With three more bags of peat-free compost on top and the
timber frame these bulbs should be well protected from frost. The wood tends to
insulate the beds. I have also placed an offcut of plastic garden mesh over the
top weighed down with bricks, this is mostly to stop the fox from digging!! I am
undecided about putting a layer of pebbles over the top as a mulch and
decoration. It will look nice and stop things digging, but I may be scattering
some seeds on top of the compost in the spring to have a big decorative flower
patch with cornflowers, poppies, scabious, nasturtium etc in it.
Looks good, dunnit?
