Your pond may turn green. This is a perfectly normal thing to happen and is known as new pond syndrome. It will clear in about 10 week’s time. To hurry things along, you could buy some watercress and put it in the pond – after a couple of weeks you should notice it improving as the watercress feeds on the green algae in the water. Keeping the pump on all the time will also help.
Other than that, don’t put any chemicals or other treatments into it, it will clear given a bit of time.
Area by Hari’s Bench
Shrubs: No need to do anything to them unless they get too big – if they do, cut back after flowering – you cannot kill any of them by cutting them back too hard! Shrubs in this area are evergreen – so they keep their leaves all year round.
Choisya ternata ‘Aztec Gold’
Acer (tree – don’t do anything to it)
Plants by Wall and Stream
Trees: No pruning required
Sorbus aucuparia (Mountain ash)
Shrubs: No need to do anything to them unless they get too big – if they do, cut back after flowering – you cannot kill any of them by cutting them back too hard!
Rhododendrons – if they look unsightly, you can remove the dead flowers
Lilac – deciduous (loses it’s leaves in the winter)
Perennial Plants: These will die back in the winter and come back the following year. Remove finished flowers and remove dead leaves and stems when they die back in the autumn.
Hemerocallis (day lilies)
Climbers: Clematis montana: You can wind their stems around the metal screens on the wall. They will die back in the winter and regrow in the spring. If they get too big, cut them back in the spring– you can cut them back hard and they will recover!
Plants in Pebbles by Pond
Mainly alpine plants. These are perennial plants from mainly alpine or exposed areas. Remove and dead flowers. Some of them will die off in the autumn and come back next year – trim or pull off dead leaves or stems in autumn. Some of them will have leaves all yeaaar round. These plants don’t need lots of watering.
Plants by Urmila’s Temple:
Climber: Clematis (care as before)
Shrubs(care as before)
Viburnum opulus (snowball bush) deciduous
Banana: Tender perennial (doesn’t do well in very cold weather) – before the first sign of frost, wrap the banana in horticultural fleece so it will grow back next year. For information on how to do it, click this link: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=336
Thyme (evergreen herb)
Marigolds – remove dead flowers when they start to fade and they will produce new ones. This plant will die in the winter, so can buy more next May. You could plant daffodil bulbs here in September for colour in the spring.
Plants by Wall (in eating area with rugs on the wall)
Fruit trees – moved from the front garden
Canna lilies – these are tender perennials. In October, before the frosts come, dig them up and put them in a pot and keep them in a frost free area (garage?). Keep them lightly watered (not wet) and they should last until next year, when you can plant them again. You can cut all of the leaves and stems off when you dig them up as it will force them to hibernate.
Dwarf sunflowers. These will die in the autumn. You can have fun next year by planting seeds of tall growing sunflowers
Marigolds (as before)
Plants in Grey Pots
Phormium – evergreen spiky leaf shrub
Ivy – evergreen climber
The other plants are annuals and will die off in the autumn. When they do, remove them and replant with different ones next year.
Plant in Green Waterbutt
Tetrapanax: Chinese rice paper plant. Deciduous shrub – will die off in the winter and regrow in the spring
Plants in Island Bed Opposite Gate
Fig (deciduous shrub) no care needed unless it gets too big. If it does, prune in May after frosts have finished.
Cosmos ( annual) removed dead flowers and it will keep producing more. It will die in the aurtumn and need replacing next year. You could plant bulbs in this area for spring colour.