Time to Trim the Terrace Garden
Along the side of my house overlooking the farm, I had a rather large stone terrace constructed with formal hedged gardens. These gardens were planted several years ago and they are filling in very nicely. For one part of the terrace, I chose to edge the gardens with contrasting evergreen shrubs – teucrium, boxwood, and golden barberry. To provide interest, these shrubs are sheared to different heights, creating a step effect. I was rather surprised lately with how overgrown these gardens had become, but that’s what happens with the prolonged high temperatures we’ve been experiencing. Having formal gardens, like these, requires extra maintenance, but I think it’s well worth the effort.
1 The side of my house that overlooks the farm has an amazing stone terrace with formal hedged gardens.
2 The square gardens are hedged with contrasting shrubs - teucrium on the outside, followed by boxwood, and golden barberry on the inside. I love the way these three plants look together.
3 However, this is what the gardens looked like just a couple of days ago. The excessive heat caused a rapid, out of control growth spurt.
4 This variety of teucrium has purple spike flowers which are a great pollen source for bees.
5 I wanted to wait until the flowers were somewhat faded, allowing a good stretch of time for the bees to gather all of that pollen, before trimming things back.
6 Ryan started the pruning process by trimming back all of the spent allium flowers from this border.
7 These are Gladiator allium, which were spectacular earlier in the summer. Each huge flower head was a globe-like cluster of hundreds of tiny, lilac purple flowers. When the purple fades, the seed heads turn whitish before drying to brown.
8 I look forward to seeing these perennial allium emerge again next spring. Allium flowers, like these, look great in dried arrangements.
9 I love how dramatic allium look in the garden and I told Ryan to keep this cluster until they, too, turn brown.
10 This tall plant is a Formosa lily, one of several that were planted in the spring. Native to Taiwan, this lily bears 8 or more 10-inch-long, beautifully scented pristine white trumpets from late August through early October. I can't wait!
11 I have some rue growing in these gardens, as well. Rue is a strongly scented evergreen herb that is very bitter-tasting. The oil in its leaves can cause skin blistering and Ryan is very cautious when trimming it back not to get any on his skin.
12 Ryan then began shearing the long shoots of the golden barberry.
13 Meanwhile, Wilmer set up stakes and string to make a guide for even trimming of the teucrium.
14 The string in place
15 Ryan trimmed off the tops.
16 And Wilmer tackled the sides.
17 The teucrium neatly trimmed - The lower part of the stone terrace is outside the kitchen and I have plenty of culinary herbs planted in these gardens.
18 A triangle of variegated sage and thyme
19 Tender chives
20 Fuzzy green sage
21 Two more varieties of thyme
22 Gorgeous spiky rosemary
23 And a triangle of oregano
24 The lower terrace gardens all nicely trimmed
25 And the upper gardens all nicely trimmed.
26 Vivaldi found a place in the shade.
Martha Pins
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What a difference a day, and a trim, makes. Everything is looking lovely.
Ryan and Wilmer do good work.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | July 18th, 2012 at 12:15 am
Hi Martha,
I just love all the pictures of your flowers,shrubs and tree's and how nice everything looks on your Farm-Please keep the pictures of your Farm and Pets coming- Your pictures inspire me,I have lots of pictures of my garden on Facebook as well as my little dog Sasha-Thank You for the lovely pictures of your Farm-Fran
Posted by: Fran | July 18th, 2012 at 12:36 am
Love how orderly formal gardens look and i am striving to implement this in my new home. My former home had a more diverse garden look but as i've gotten older i don't like the chaos of too many different plantings. My boxwood hedge surrounding the small garden space is lovely but i am now having a problem with blight on some boxwood so i have to deal with this immediately. The issue appears random but i will have to remove the blighted plants which will cause some empty spots in the hedge line...oh dear, i did not expect this! With approximately 80 true dwarf boxwood in place it really isn't an option to replace these blighted plants with something else. HELP!!
Your herbs look so lovely, too.
Posted by: Sherey | July 18th, 2012 at 1:02 am
So pretty and elegant!
Posted by: Karen | July 18th, 2012 at 4:58 am
Good morning all,
I love these gardens. I have a love/hate relationship with our barberry. I love to watch them change throughout the seasons, but trimming them is such a prickly chore. Of course, I wear a pair of lovely light green leather gardening gloves that I bought at K-Mart a few years back. (thanks Martha).
Off the the The Daily Wag.
Have a great day, all!
Posted by: Sharon | July 18th, 2012 at 5:14 am
Once again, found inspiration here to get out and garden. Heat does mean growth. My yard seems overgrown now and removed many plants to make a place for new blooms. Heading for Grill 42 where Jody has many herbs that I want to get . While I am there, will get an ice cream cone.
Posted by: ann | July 18th, 2012 at 5:24 am
I find that using the string method is very effective for trimming hedges and I do the same. I have Wintergem boxwood along my front sidewalk and extending around the front of my house. My lot is slightly slopped so using the string method helps me to get the tops of the boxwood nice and level. It is always so pleasing to look at when I'm done. And speaking of, I need to do exactly what you have done. We have been particularly hot here in the Mid-Atlantic this year and my boxwood are looking a bit shaggy.
Posted by: John | July 18th, 2012 at 9:20 am
Hi Martha, Thanks so much for taking us back to your Bedford farm so we can enjoy seeing the Terrace Garden with fabulous trimming by superior Ryan and Wilmer. Those two guys sure do a great job even in this hot summer! These photos are stunning and I love the description of all of those plants on the terrace! Photo #1 is my favorite and the rest are fantastic, too! I recall seeing your terraces years ago and they have become even more beautiful as time goes by! The kitchen terrace is great for whenever you need herbs for all the cooking you do! My vegetables are doing fairly well, except for one tomato plant that is a lemon, yellow tomato. It is starting to wither so I moved it out of the sun and gave it more water, but it isn't any better-it will probably die on me, darn. Where could I get the teucrium that is a pollen source for bees? That would be great to have! Hope you are having a great day in LA, California and would love to see tweets-my twitter is finally fixed! Off to see The Daily Wag where F&S are watching Wilmer trim the terrace! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | July 18th, 2012 at 10:28 am
Thanks Martha, now I'm guilt’d into trimming my bushes this Saturday. But seriously, thank you for giving me the insiraption and desire to take on this task. I really like how the purple plants (look like lavender) look so nice in front of the yellow bush. I also do not have any allium bulbs. They look like my onions, which were so pretty that I forgot to eat them this year. I will make sure to plant some in the spring.
Posted by: Lora | July 18th, 2012 at 10:32 am
The garden looks good Martha! Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | July 18th, 2012 at 10:33 am
Hi Martha,
Your formal garden makes quite a statement - it is so beautiful. I believe this is the first time we've seen it untrimmed though. I had no idea golden barberry grew so tall but it looks great trimmed and I like the idea of all the herbs in the lower garden. I like to grow herbs mainly to look at them and smell their aroma but of course I use some for cooking, especially basil. Picture #20 is nice - the sage is in the shape of a heart at that angle. Trish
Posted by: Trish | July 18th, 2012 at 10:36 am
Your herb garden looks fantastic!
Posted by: homer | July 18th, 2012 at 10:53 am
I live barely three miles from you and my trees and shrubs are dying on the vine from the heat and drought. The huge butterfly bushes drooping. Large trees with leaves turning yellow and falling off. Black-eyes susans gagging from lack of water.
I have to presume (and understandably so) that you have a whole-yard irrigation system? And maybe even a separate well for the system, or do you collect rain water in barrels to water the gardens? I'm curious.
FYI: If a stranger pops over and asks, may I borrow a 100 cups of water, that would be me!
Posted by: 65andcounting | July 18th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
Martha, I love you, I love your blog, I love your pets, and I love Bedford Grey! When seeing photos of your spectacular home in Bedford, I am always left with one question: why don't the windows in the front line up with each other symmetrically?
Posted by: Stephen Andrew | July 18th, 2012 at 4:07 pm
Gladiators on the Terrace
.
The stone terrace with hedged gardens overlooks the farm,
The mounting block, the stable and the "ancient's" charm;
The excessive heat however has caused the flora to spurt.
Allowing time for the bees to collect pollen before the hurt.
Pruning huge purple Gladiator allium requires a knack.
Boldly they guard the round boxwood threatening a smack,
As they wait in serene silence of breathless hush
For the Formosa lily and its scented white trumpets to rush.
Careful Ryan how you snip the oily leaves or you may rue the day,
Shearing the barberry yellow tresses in a special kind of way;
Patience, stakes and string help keep the flowering teucrium in line,
Voila, the straight edge is ready and the lopping is fine.
Mixed in, purple headed chives make thyme with the aging sage,
Oregano vies with spiky rosemary, and as we turn the page.
The lower terrace and upper gardens looking their very best.
Vivaldi found a place in the shade for a well deserved rest.
.
.
Posted by: celia stock | July 18th, 2012 at 5:34 pm
What a lovely landscaped garden. The best photo though, is Vivaldi the cat!! Looks so relaxed in the shade! I bet he loves the outdoors.
Posted by: Linda | July 18th, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Very nice! But wish I had a Ryan & Wilmer to take care of all my garden needs!
Posted by: Linda Vanags | July 18th, 2012 at 10:17 pm
Beautiful, I always enjoy your pictures. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Posted by: Helena Pereira | July 19th, 2012 at 6:20 am
The Alliums are Awesome! WOW!
Posted by: katescana | July 19th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Your gardens are lovely, Martha. I feel like I was just invited in on a personal tour. Thank you for letting us have a "sneak peek" and allowing us to enjoy them too!
Posted by: Crista Johnston | July 19th, 2012 at 10:43 pm