Et voila! One perennial border … tidied and mulched
15 minutes of tidying and mulching every day and I’ve knocked my herbaceous borders into shape. Well, I’m certainly further along with the tidy up than I was this time last year.
Leave some height and structure if possible
The general idea is to leave some woody stems above tender herbaceous perennials to protect the new crowns from frost and provide a habitat for insects, but most of mine had become rather soggy and unsightly, so I trimmed them down and applied a compost mulch around the plants and over the crowns to provide some protection. I also lifted and potted 3 lupins and put those in the greenhouse, as I never seem to be able to overwinter lupins in the ground.
The strawberries were next for the the ‘tidy up’ treatment. I removed all the dead leaves and put those in the compost bin (remember, you need ‘brown’ materials in the compost too), then applied a mulch of compost around the remaining crowns.
Strawberry plants – tidied and mulched
The herb bed is now quivering in anticipation, as that’s next on the list for the chop and mulch treatment.