My mind was wandering as I stood hand-watering my tier garden the other day - this is not hard to do - the mind wandering part - when you are slowly making your way down the five beds built into the gradient slope of our south boundary.
Hand-watering inspires thought, especially when reviewing a part of the garden which is only in its third year. In particular, the tier bed with my Acer griseum, (paperbark maple) set at centre stage.
It could not have been placed any better in a bed which only measures 8.5 ft (2.6 m) long by 5.5 ft (1.7 m) wide and with a fence separating my garden from the neighbour’s. Grown from a seedling from one of the other two Acer griseums in our garden, my young maple is still a respectable size and shape. Hopefully, it will remain so, but it is a tree after all.
However, I am noticing my spiked speedwell, Veronica spicata ‘Glory’, (often sold as Royal Candles), has gone ballistic this year. I had placed the plant decently near the short wooden wall of the next tier bed and just path side of off centre. It should have been a good placement given the height and width of 1-1.5 ft (0.3-0.5 m) noted on the plant label.
You cannot always believe everything you read because my Royal Candles are closer to 3 ft (0.9 m) tall and wide. Not exactly the measurements I would equate with a “compact form,” as is also noted in this cultivar’s description.
Royal Candles has completely smothered my Panicum virgatum ‘Rehbraun’, a switch grass that is supposed to grow upwards of 4 ft 1.2 m) tall. And if I want to admire my tickseed, Coreopsis ‘Mercury Rising’ tucked behind Royal Candles, I need to stand on tiptoe and crane my neck.
Even John’s eyes have bugged out over the size of my speedwell. His plant is not nearly as big; I guess it all comes down to where I have placed this plant and the soil in that tier garden.
Speedwells like full sun. Yup. My tier garden is one of the two sunniest parts of my front yard. Speedwells will also tolerate average soil. Yup. I was a little cheap on the soil I had brought in for the five-tier beds (had to have a little dough left in my budget for new plants after all).
The one thing speedwells do not tolerate well is dry conditions because they are shallow-rooted. I am not overly generous with water anywhere in my garden due to its size and imposed water restrictions over the summer months. I would also assume that, being on a slope, the five-tiered beds would drain quite quickly.
There is also only so much water you can regularly deliver to any one plant via a watering can. So, these less-than-ideal water conditions beg the reasoning that my speedwell should really be shorter and not so wide. More in line with its acclaimed compact form.
My knautia ‘Thunder and Lightning’ on the other side of the paperbark maple would also appreciate more water. Its stems are incapable of holding the lovely flower heads upright through this heat period, so it is smothering my Pulsatilla vulgaris (pasque flower) behind.
And then there is the Weigela ‘Baby Burgundy’ in that bed. right up against the fence. I had assumed, being a weigela, it would have a nice vase-like shape that would hide part of the fence. Silly me. The “baby” in its name means it sprawls all over the ground like a six-month-old.
So as I stand with hose in hand in contemplation of this tier bed, it becomes obvious some plants need rearranging in the fall.
Leslie Cox co-owns Growing Concern Cottage Garden in Black Creek. Her website is https://duchessofdirt.ca/
