Beating the Weeds

Its 2013, I finished my book, its ridiculously mild, still, though not actually raining again. So, I went to the Dog Kennel Hill patch with gloves, recyclying bag and plants. I added in 3 x bronze fennel, 1 x euphorbia robbiae, 1 x euphorbia wulfenii and a hardy geranium - and did two whole sacks of weeding... J had to stop by and bring the second sack along with a second set of gloves because the first set got sopping wet. Mainly I pulled out the stuff I thought was couch grass but is probably trefoil, groundsel and sodden leaves. The whole patch is looking really healthy in spite of the carpet of weeds. The Euphorbias are all doing really well. With all the rain the Acanthus is finally bedding in to the otherwise hard soil. The California Poppies seeded widely so they will look extra great this year. I am rather amazed that the Lychnis does not seem to have seeded even though it does so willy-nilly in my parents' garden which is why I have some to guerrilla garden. The Hollyhocks remain alarmingly prolific. At some point I want to transplant a lot more of them up the hill and perhaps in St Giles Churchyard gardens.

I did check in to make sure the plants I added to St Giles were still doing ok and yes indeed, 2 Arum Lillies and an Acanthus.

Mucking in

Also... thanks to Helena of Grove Park for some compost! She is spearheading an ambitious plan to guerrilla garden ALL of the tree pits in Grove Park and has kindly donated some compost for my guerrilla works in exchange for some ready to go Michaelmas daisies (and there will be some white daisies, Leucanthemum, and maybe some hardy Geraniums ready in a few weeks too).

Friends of Borage

Sunday morning; figured [correctly] that not many people would be about Camberwell Green... So I had a thought that the difficult-due-to volume-of-litter patch next to the Job Centre could be the place for the plant I call Friend of Borage. Its a very tough, not to say chronically invasive, perennial that looks fairly like Borage but with white flowers that bees love. Every little bit of any root will grow. Our garden was about 50% FoB when we moved in [now down to about 15%]. On clearing up the bottles, cigarette packets and coffee cups up popped a Southwark council cleaner with brilliant timing. We moaned about people's inability to use bins as I used his trash cart. I also planted a couple of Hollyhocks from the Dog Kennel Hill forest and added some compost [recycled from my aubergine pots]. In this spot one of the hardy geraniums and one of the michaelmas daisies that I previously risked here are also alive - now with a bit of non-dusty soil around them. This side is also less litter heavy so maybe, with the autumn rain it will start looking good. I plan to add to the FoB.

 

This is the one spot where my guerrilla nasturtiums both grew and flowered - yay. They will self seed...

Good Counsel

I have finally split up the very pot-bound mass of irises given to me by rose-gardener extraordinaire and painter Lynette and transplanted them to the Dog Kennel Hill patch next to the handful of sunflowers that survived the various weedings and erratic rainfall (and away from the Hollyhock forest). How can I bear to guerrilla garden irises - one of my favourite plants? Because I dont have a space for them where enough sun would bake the rhizomes! Plus, if I did, I would buy more glorious Flag irises from one of my favourite nurseries, Woottens of Wenhaston. I also planted out 3 more Lychnis and 2 more Aquilegia from my mum helping the strip spread up the hill. Today, on-site, I met a local councillor Stephen Govier who was enthusiastic about my adhoc gardening and might even be able to magic up some mulch.

I end so many posts like this it is getting to be a signature file, but - plenty more Hollyhocks to transplant!

The Pits of Grove Lane

 

Surprise! Of the 2 tree pits opposite Johannson's Deli and Restaurant [an intimate Scandinavian joint with a lovely fireplace] one of them has sprung life! A Nasturtium has broken cover and so have a couple of Californian Poppies amid the weeds. This makes me want to actively plant it [not least because the bins near here are often whiffy]. I'm going to my parents' soon to make off with more plants, so headsup for a group dig in a few weeks [the soil will be tough going]. Any suitably hardy plants welcome too.

Gardening Leave

Belated pics of surprisingly successful plot! (I know its a mess but most of the added in plants have made it). These are the raised beds next to the Job Centre on Camberwell Green, bottles and other detritus mostly removed (I only had one small bag with me!). Banana skins welcome though as they rot down quickly and provide potassium for flowers. The cornflowers are fab and will hopefully self-seed. The Solidago is doing well. The fennel and the white daisies are hanging on [the soil is really rubbish]. 2 Nasturtiums are growing. I gave the Buddleia a slight trim [that got some looks], and a waiting bus driver assured me that he didnt leave his rubbish here.

The other side. I've only added in one pale pink Hardy Geranium and a bit of the lilac Michaelmas Daisy thus far.

Compost?

If any one would like to donate any compost to further my/our guerrilla activities, dont hold back! Or plants for that matter.