Going Back To The Old Ways

The Cutting Down Of The Herbaceous Border Begins

The perennial plants in herbaceous border have put on a beautiful display over the summer and autumn months but are now tired and faded. Ready for their annual cut down, the team use hand shears and secateurs rather than the noisy hedge cutters, as in the previous years, to cut the stems down to the ground. Hedge cutters were first used to cut down the plants in the herbaceous border in November 2011 and, although a much quicker method, there is something quite therapeutic and rewarding about cutting down plants using secateurs and hand shears even though it takes twice as long!

A Pile Of Birch Plant Supports

The birch basket plant supports made at the end of April, see blog entry 2nd May 2017 'Twisting The Silver Birch In To Shapes' were pulled out of the border, placed into a pile ready to be taken to the chipper pile. 

Raking And Collecting Up The Debris

Working through the two borders all the cut down plant material, lifted annual plants, debris and leaf litter were raked in to piles and lifted into the trailer using leaf grabs and pitch forks. The black pourus pipe was pulled out from the border, rolled up and placed into storage until next spring. 

To The Compost Heap And Chipper Pile

Using Hand Shears

Herbaceous Border (L) Cleared

After two days both sections of the border had been cut down and, over the coming days, the congested plants will be lifted, split into smaller pieces and replanted. When this has been completed, and the leaves from the many wisteria that grow up the cottages behind the border have finished falling all over the soil, they will be raked off, the border weeded and forked through before a mulch of leaf mould added over the soil.

Herbaceous Border (R) Cleared

Cleared, Waiting For The Wisteria Leaves To Fall