In cliff top walks by the sea on a recent holiday in Devon I noticed just how tenacious plants are. In the smallest cracks, where there was the slightest possibility for roots to grip at fragments of stone, small plants had taken hold.
Drifts of sea thrift resembling squat chives, had begun colonizing the most inhospitable and exposed spots giving a softness to the jagged cliff tops in the face of every sort of weather imaginable.
Of course, there are all sorts of parallels in our news today. What is clear is that given even less than half a chance, life will prevail, will renew, and produce small miracles.
Below the cliffs I explored there were shimmering and shifting shapes of seaweed. The variety of seaweeds found in the UK alone is staggering: over 500 varieties with many being edible, many usable as fertiliser and almost all pretty magical to look at in their natural habitats.
So when I am not dreaming of my next seaside break and enjoying designing gardens in Hampshire, there are jobs to be getting on with this month:
• Summer bedding in pots, planters and hanging baskets can be planted out in milder areas: watch out for late frosts in more northern counties and frost pockets.
• In cutting back spring flowering shrubs, you still have to be wary of nesting birds: check the plant thoroughly, especially if they back onto a wall. These shrubs include Choisya, Ribes and Chaenomoles.
• Spirea ‘Arguta’ and Kerria can have one stem in three removed and the other stems shortened to a suitable side shoot.
• Viburnum tinus, Senecio, Ligustrum and other similar evergreens can be trimmed this month.
• Clematis montana is a vigorous climber that often needs to be kept in check: you can be pretty brutal with this climber.
• Cut back Pyracantha to the desired size but remember that you may have to wait a couple of years for the berries to appear in winter if you cut them too hard.
• Climbing and rambling roses will produce more flowers if you are able to tie the side shoots as close to the horizontal plane as possible: this restricts the flow of sap.
• Lawns can be fed, and it is not too late to add fertiliser to plants, especially new or struggling ones that may need additional strength.
• Try to stay on top of the weeds by using a hoe or laying matting and mulch.
• Be careful not to over-water new plants in gardens with heavy, clayey soils: they will wilt and die as air cannot get to the roots.
• Herbaceous plants can still be divided and re-allocated to different areas of the garden.
• Daffodils and other early spring bulbs can be lifted and divided.
I am sure I will be taking some of the clifftop observations into my designs in Hampshire and the southern counties. If nothing else, the sheer vigour and scale of the plants there is enough to inspire more natural and less formal planting schemes.
Why not try leaving a corner of your garden to be colonised by a native species in your area? (Keep the thuggish plants out by weeding by hand). Why not leave a corner unmown and see what plants and wildlife emerges? Or scrape off a small area of lawn and sow some wildflower seed? Go on – what have you to lose?!