I felt quite sad when I looked at the heuchera in the compost bin this afternoon. It’s a healthy plant and would have kept on growing to fill the whole of the front garden, if I’d let it.
I’d originally bought it because it is evergreen and thus would have given me colour in the winter, when there’s not much else going on. That it did, after a fashion. It also looked straggly and unkempt in the winter.
So, the plan is to replace the heuchera with pulmonaria (lungwort), which self-seeded in the back garden. Whether I now keep some in the forest garden or not, I haven’t quite decided.
It’s apparently edible with some medicinal uses, so it would be suitable on those grounds. For me, though, it’s a pleasure to have something green and with flowers – again at a time of year when the garden is otherwise looking quite barren. Only, I actually like the look of pulmonaria (and my neighbour has commented she does, too).
Anyway, I have until Wednesday to decide. That’s when I plan the next step to happen.
I was told years ago that the secret of gardening was all about cutting back rather than about growing stuff. I soon found out that it was more difficult to cut things back and dig them up etc than it was to plant stuff.
I can see how it happens: you get attached to stuff and of course the catalogues and garden centres are full of ever-more beautiful plants!
Sounds familiar!
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You mention a forest. We are in the New Forest area. Quercus is right about cutting back. You can do that with heucheras. We have many different ones. Have a look at this: http://www.heucheraholics.co.uk/ is close to us.
Oh, I see now what ‘cutting back’ means.. I had thought in terms of ‘getting rid of’.
The ‘forest’ I refer to, by the way, is what is otherwise known as a food forest: https://spiralseed.co.uk/making-forest-garden/
I’ve not been to the New Forest as far as I remember – must be great being close to so many trees.
Thanks, Helen. It is an idyllic place.