Digging up clumps in the garden Cresta Run

THERE

is no speedy way of tidying up the drystone wall that supports the azalea border in my garden.

It takes time to spot the selfseeded treasures among the weeds and ferns that colonise the stones.

Rushing the job would mean sacrificing the wild violets and tiny aquilegias that I’m encouraging to spread beneath the shrubs.

And at the foot of the wall, the lawn slopes away quite steeply so when the grass is wet it’s a bit like trying to garden on the Cresta Run.

Dropping a bulb while planting the first daffodils I watched it pick up speed and not stop rolling until it had reached the road.

The last time I slipped here I didn’t go so far, or so fast, but then I don’t bounce quite so lightly as a King Alfred.

Growing in this part of the garden is Geum rivale, the pretty little Water avens that flowers in late spring.

It’s not so prolific as the summer Geums such as ‘Totally Tangerine’ which keep going for many months, but its pretty, dusky pink flowers combine nicely with the pale yellow primroses and sky-blue Grape hyacinths nearby and I’d very much like to have more of it, which is why I’ve been digging up every sizeable clump and splitting it up.

Splitting perennials is the quickest way to make new plants, and it costs nothing.

Over time, one plant can be turned into half a dozen or more, each identical to the original, and now is a good time to do it.

As well as the Geums I’ve been dividing Heucheras, Alchemillas and the single big clump of Erigeron that survived when all the others were frizzled by the sun.

I’ve sliced Hosta roots into pieces, prized apart sections of hardy Geranium and hacked at Daylilies.

This may seem harsh, but rather than resent such brutality, most plants quickly recover and start to grow much faster once they’ve got space to spread out.

Once the new borders have gone in I’ll have lots of empty space to fill and I’ll need to do it quickly if the weeds aren’t going to gain the upper hand.

Fortunately some flowers make the job easy. The Alchemilla mollis that grows behind the house has seeded itself into our mossy lawn, so I’ve been prising up the seedlings and potting them on and Drumstick primulas have revelled in the leafy mulch that we spread around them and have grown to huge proportions.

I’ve also been sowing trays of numerous perennials including apricot-coloured Foxgloves and Verbena bonariensis, which I’ll bring on under cover during the winter months.

And then there are the cuttings of everything from Hydrangeas to Roses which are now in pots in shady corners.

It will take a couple of years before these new shrubs are ready to occupy space of their own, but eventually they’ll help to fill the garden with colour.