Duchess of Dirt: Grass growing wild in the Cox family garden

Give my husband time to sit long enough and he starts thinking up all kinds of projects - which, naturally, all translate into more work.

And here I was thinking it was nice to sit in a chair, in the garden, with my morning coffee…no hose in hand, no weed bucket beside me, secateurs still secure in their pouch. I was so enjoying the golden opportunity of simply admiring the garden in gentle morning light.

Now the man wants to take out a five to six foot tall grass that I cannot even hug properly. It has grown too big for its spot and John is asking me for ideas on a replacement plant. (Like he listens to me when it comes to his garden?)

I do like a challenge but honestly, he should have thought about the placement for this plant more thoroughly… or moved it before it got to the hulk it is now. Miscanthus sinensis ‘Strictus’, or porcupine grass as it is commonly called, can actually grow to nine feet tall and up to six feet wide. As it is now, it is definitely thinking of swallowing up the ninebark, Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Monlo’. (You may be more familiar with the name Diablo…although I recently learned that Diabolo is the actual registered name.)

Now, Diabolo is no slouch itself at eight to nine feet high and wide, but you can probably visualize the problem with two such brutish-sized plants rubbing shoulders. And ‘Strictus’ has not even reached full size yet. And there is the thing. Thinking ahead would have placed these two in their separate corners to allow breathing room for the other lovely specimens in that bed.

Ha. I should talk. I have gone and placed a giant silver grass, (Miscanthus x giganteus), right in line where the chestnut tree can reach over and knock its head off its shoulders. That plant is on my list of what needs to be moved around in my garden come autumn. The grass, not the chestnut tree! Thankfully, the giant grass is only at six of its expected ten foot height and a quarter of its four to five foot width.

All this early morning banter with my husband did get me thinking, however. Late July into August is an excellent time to make up that list of plant changes. Mainly because, like John, you now know a plant’s full size potential, making it easier to select a better location…even if it means one or two other plants will also need to be relocated to make enough room.

It is like playing a game of chess. There is strategy involved in winning the landscape design game. You may not always make the right move but the real fun is in simply playing the game.

Speaking of editing… it is time to take a look at the vegetable garden and start thinking about where you will place those winter veggies. And get those seeds started now. I have sowed Komatsuna (red and green varieties), arugula, kale, collards, radishes, broccoli raab, and some Chinese cabbages for our winter eating. I have held off a little because of the heat but will be sowing some spinach and my two favourite winter lettuces, ‘Rouge d’Hiver’ and ‘Merveille des Quatre Saisons’ (Marvel of Four Seasons), very soon.

Leslie Cox co-owns Growing Concern Cottage Garden in Black Creek. Her column appears every second Thursday in the Record.