Back to the garden again after a busy few weeks and of course the garden has run riot. Three times recently my gardening style has been described as ‘messy’. But I’m not sensitive. Well, of course I am! What is a messy style? Plants overspilling the paths, geraniums climbing over other plants, self-seeders encouraged. Sounds just right to me. However July is a turning point in this garden and those geraniums do need to be cut back, I have a mass of rose deadheading to catch up with and worse still I have two trays of annuals not planted out yet. I’d better get on with six for the week and then get out there and garden.
One
Here is the garden path. Encapsulating self seeders and overspillers. The alchemillia mollis and geranium psilostemon and ‘Brookside’ are the main culprits. Last autumn I lifted a number of alchemillia mollis from the main border to tidy things up and promptly planted them in the thin border for the ‘time being’. They love it there. ‘Brookside’ self seeds very readily here and since it is an extensive roamer I am more ruthless and I do thin it out every year.
Two
There are one or two shasta daisies escaping from their restraining supports but on the whole I do keep these pretty tidy. These also self seed. Here they are working rather well with a dahlia that gained a reprieve from last year. They are planted in front of the blackberries, probably not acceptable to some.
Three
This week the verbena bonariensis have looked stunning. Of course these self seed here. This week I heard them called thuggish! I find them rather amazing. Here they are growing amongst the grass ‘Karl Foerster’.
Four
Surely these hydrangeas are tidy? A little blousy perhaps? Next week they will be frazzled to a messy shade of brown as the hot weather spoils them.
Five
Do meandering climbers also count as messy? If so, guilty as charged. Clematis cover walls, fences and arches. This is the first year in flower for ‘Madame Julia Correvon’. She has valiantly pushed through the undergrowth and made it the top of the wall where her beautiful flowers are much appreciated.
Six
Oh, I know what it is. I have allowed erigeron karvinskianus to self seed all over the terrace! Now that does look messy.
I was remiss at reading SOS posts last week. I hope to catch up this week, but of course there’s some tidying up to do first. The links for the SOS posts are hosted on The Propagator’s site. I’ll stop by there now. Happy gardening everyone.
n20gardener 
I like your messy garden – it’s charmingly rustic and naturalistic!! Apart from the alchemilla mollis which I have a love/hate relationship with and dig it out wherever it appears. I want to try erigeron but worry it will spread too rapidly. But it is pretty.
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Yes, the erigeron has spread, but I wanted it to. Then it was caught by frost and took a step back. Now it’s coming through again and I have a couple of places that I would like it to populate. Then I will take it hand!
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I much prefer a ‘messy’ style it is so natural looking and I bet the wildlife love it. The Hydrangea are very pretty.
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Thank you, I am one of those who like a hydrangea!
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A messy garden that has charm because despite everything there is an overall harmony. Very pretty path and nice choice of flowers on each side
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Aah, yes. Overall harmony is what I aim for. Thank you for that description.
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It looks like a garden should look – lovely, with plants doing their thing and softening the edges.
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The dahlia/daisy combination is perfect – not messy at all!
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I have been busy cutting things back this week, funny how suddenly things go from being lush to messy! Your ‘Madame Julia Correvon’ is a gorgeous colour and I would welcome her any day, I seem to have a hit and miss style with clematis, some do fine others sulk. As for the erigeron karvinskianus I struggled to get that one going and now I am having to pull loads of it out! It’s hard to achieve that balance in the garden 😁
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A little exuberance is always very welcome in the garden. It is more natural looking that strict control and tidiness.
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Hey, some (or many) plants are at their best while sloppy. Bougainvilleas are popular, particularly farther south. They bloom best where they have space to grow freely. They get pruned back, preferably at the end of winter, and are then allowed to do what they want. Fleabane does well on stone walls here, and can get as sloppy as it wants to, and only gets removed as it gets dry through summer. It returns annually to repeat the process.
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There is nothing messy about exuberant plant growth. Your garden is looking great.
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