Formal Garden East Bed
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This bed stretches from the orangery south to the shade under the oak tree, alongside the main road. It is 42 m2 in area :
Consequently, it enjoys full sun at the northern end but is quite shady at the southern end. The entire formal garden was levelled in 2017 by carving deep into the clay on the west and adding a little bit of fill on the east. The soil is therefore essentially clay with a little humus in the mix from the original [poor] top soil. All the planting is new.
The picture above was taken in the spring of 2019 but the intention is to have a relatively tall 'prairie' style of planting at least as far as the arbutus on the edge of the more shaded section. That will visually divide the formal garden from the main road. The bed is already planted with various heleniums, achilleas, echinaceas and grasses. A couple of deciduous azaleas provide some early colour and, before that, narcissus 'Tête à Tête' brightens the bed. At the shady end some hellebores rescued ['liberated'?] from the previous garden in Chelsfield have been planted and we are trying out a compact form of kalmia there too.
A full list of the plants in this part of the garden is available in the Formal Garden East plant list and the context of this area within the garden can be found on the Plan and Areas page.
