This review of the bed I call ‘The Long Border’ is the second of a number of reviews I am undertaking to assess how the garden is changing and developing. My previous post on ‘The Triangle Bed’ gives further details of my change of approach.
When we first moved here the garden was all laid down to lawn and my partner and I took up a narrow strip along the path in the first year of gardening here (2013) which was the beginnings of this bed.

The Long Border being carved out of the lawn
It was widened the following year and again in 2015. It now measures 11 m long by 1.5 m deep. It lies in front of the property alongside the house.
In March this year it was looking quite dormant but quickly sprang into life.

Long border March 2016

Long Border May 2016
This is how it looked yesterday, not bad for November.

Long Border November 2016
From the outset it has been developed as a polyculture, initially of fruit bushes and herbs, flowers and vegetables. In 2014 it provided increased growing space to put plants and sow seeds that needed a home before other beds were developed. In 2015 eight fruit trees were planted, with the intention of keeping them very small, more like bushes than trees. This year I decided to simplify the contents of this bed somewhat, but even so counting up the plants listed in the table below there are 77 different plants.
The current aims is for this bed are:
- to look attractive for as long as possible
- to have flowers for many different insects for as much of the year as possible
- to produce fruit (in due course) and herbs and possibly other edible crops
- to be largely free of the need for ongoing maintenance.
In practice maintenance is generally taking out unwanted plants and to this end I have planted a number of oca plants between the bushes and trees as a ground cover. Oca has proven to be tolerant of winter conditions here so I can safely leave them in over the winter to provide an even thicker ground cover next year. Eventually I will probably harvest some.
The ground hereabouts is very, very stony combined with heavy clay. The underlying rock is shale and breaks readily but occurs in awkwardly shaped pieces that are resistant to my trowel. I have never attempted to dig this bed apart from planting things and that was a big challenge when planting the trees. However plant roots are doing the job for me. The carrots that I sowed originally and latterly self sown salsify, scorzonera, burdock, dandelion and dock, plus others have loosened and lightened the soil considerably. I have been adding mulch on top to increase the organic content, largely using the plants that have grown in the border.

Cardoon, chokeberry and others 2016
I have prepared a table below to catalogue the plants and their intended purpose and where applicable whether that was achieved. A few brief conclusions are given at the end.
For the table the purposes the plants can have are:
- Edible
- Flowering
- Medicinal properties
- For biomass – at the end of the season, or sooner if they are too large for their space I cut back plants and mulch the ground where they grew, feeding organic material to the soil.
- To supply nitrogen
- To help break up the soil
My observation is that every plant that flowered attracted a good deal of insect life and was also visually delightful so my notation of ‘flowers’ in the table is intended to reflect this dual purpose (unless noted otherwise the flowering period is summer).
Name | Purpose | When sown and notes |
Root vegetables | ||
Burdock | Edible root
Flowers |
Self set 2015
Not harvested, one has seeded from plants elsewhere this summer |
Earth nut pea | Edible root
Flowers |
Planted 2013
Seeds harvested to be shared and sown next year. Tubers too hard to harvest at present, stony soil breaks the underground ‘strings’ they are attached to. |
Jerusalem artichoke | Edible root
Biomass
|
Probably planted 2014
Will harvest later in year and remove from this bed. |
Oca | Edible root, but planted as ground cover. | Planted 2016
After a slow start, did cover some ground. |
Parsnip | Edible root, plant left to flower for the seed. | Self set in 2014 or 2015. Seeds harvested and scattered in vicinity. |
Root chicory | Edible root
Flowers Biomass |
Grew far too large for the bed. Roots cannot be harvested as stony soil breaks them. Large amount used for biomass mulch. |
Salsify | Edible root
Flowers |
Self set 2016
Not harvested, will leave to flower, tap root is helping to loosen compacted soil. |
Scorzonera | Edible root
Flowers |
Planted 2014
Seeds saved to be shared and sown soon. Root not harvested yet. |
Skirret | Edible root
Flowers |
Planted 2014
Not harvested yet, will be digging up and possibly moving later in the year. |
Onions (alliums) | ||
Nodding onion | Edible
Flowers |
Planted 201
Not harvested, allowing to grow larger. |
Allium Mount Everest
|
Edible
Flowers |
Planted 2016
Used as decorative species. |
Allium nutans (blue chives) | Edible
Flowers |
Planted 2015
Nibbled (possibly slugs) relocated elsewhere. |
Perennial leek | Edible | Planted 2014
Sent up flower shoot but immature and bulbils did not form. Move to better soil. |
Garlic | Edible | Planted 2015
All bulbs harvested and some replanted. |
Fruit | ||
Blackcurrant | Edible fruit | Planted 2013
Young plant, did not fruit. |
Cherry ‘Morello’ | Edible fruit | Planted 2015
Young tree no fruit yet. |
Chokeberry | Edible fruit | Brought from previous garden, planted 2013. First year of good fruiting. Fruit left for birds. |
Gage ‘Reine Claude de Bavay’ | Edible fruit | Planted 2015
Young tree no fruit yet. |
Gooseberry
Hinomaki red |
Edible fruit | Planted 2013
Has grown better than the currants and had the first good harvest this year. |
Jostaberry | Edible | Planted 2014
First year of berry production, not harvested as away and birds had them. |
June berry | Edible berries | Planted 2015
Still a young plant, no fruits yet |
Mirabelle ‘Ruby’ | Edible fruit | Planted 2015
Young tree no fruit yet. |
Mirabelle ‘Golden Globe’ | Edible fruit | Planted 2015
Young tree no fruit yet. |
Pear ‘Concorde’ | Edible fruit | Planted 2015
Young tree no fruit yet. |
Pear ‘Invincible’ | Edible fruit | Planted 2015
Young tree no fruit yet. |
Quince ‘Vranja’ | Edible fruit | Planted 2015
Young tree no fruit yet. |
Redcurrant | Edible fruit | Planted 2013
Young plant, had a few berries. |
Whitecurrant | Edible fruit | Planted 2013
Young plant, had a few berries. |
Edible greens and herbs | ||
Bay | Culinary herb | Planted 2015 as small cuttings, still very small but growing now. |
Catmint | Herb
Flowers |
Planted in 2014 |
Cardoon | Edible leaves and flower buds
Flowers |
Planted in 2014. Keep meaning to harvest leaves in spring, but have not done so yet. |
Fennel | Culinary and medicinal herb
Flowers |
Seeds sown in 2013, recurring / increasing since.
Fantastic for insects, harvested for seeds, blue tits also eat seeds. |
Hosta | Edible leaf shoots
Attractive plant |
Planted 2016 |
Hyssop | Insect plant
Flowers |
Planted 2016 |
Lamb’s lettuce | Edible greens
Spring flowers |
Self set 2016 |
Land cress | Edible greens
Spring flowers |
Originally sown in 2014, has been re-seeding since then. |
Lavender | Herb
Flowers |
Several planted in 2016 |
Marjoram | Culinary herb
Flowers |
Planted 2014
Not harvested, has attracted insects and looked lovely. |
Mints (various) | Culinary herb
Flowers |
Several planted in 2016
Some harvests |
Rosemary | Culinary herb
Flowers |
Planted in 2013
Cut back this year as getting too large. |
Sweet cicely | Culinary herb
Flowers |
Planted 2014
Attractive flowers |
Thymes | Culinary herb
Flowers |
Several planted 2016 |
Wall germander and hedge germander | Culinary herb
Flowers |
Transplanted from triangle bed in 2016
Attractive flowers |
Valerian | Medicinal herb
Flowers |
Planted in 2016 |
Wild rocket | Edible greens
Flowers |
Probably self set one or two years ago.
Not harvested, more in the garden than we need. |
Flowering plants | ||
Agapanthus | Flowers | Planted 2016 |
Annual flax | Flowers
Seeds |
Sown in 2016 |
Achillea (yarrow), wild | Flowers | Self set in 2016 |
Buttercup (creeping) | Flowers | Already in the garden. I always pull this up when I see it. |
Calendula | Flowers | Self set 2015 |
Californian poppy | Late spring and summer flowers | Self set 2015
|
Christmas rose | Winter flowers | Planted 2016 |
Clove root | Wild flower | Already in the garden. I always pull this up when I see it. |
Crocus | Spring flowers | Planted 2016 |
Cyclamen | Autumn flowers | Planted 2016 |
Daffodil | Spring flowers
|
Planted 2014
Attractive flowers |
Dandelion | Wild flower | Here already |
Day lily | Edible flowers | Planted 2014
Not harvested |
Forget me nots | Spring flowers
|
Self set 2015
Attractive flowers |
Herb Robert | Wild flower | Already present in the garden. I allow it to roam for a bit and then pull it up. |
Nasturtium | Flowers | Sown in 2016 |
Nettle | Edible leaves | Already in garden. I pull it up from this border. |
Nigella (love in a mist) | Flowers
Edible spice |
Self sown from previous years |
Penstemon | Flowers | Planted 2016 |
Polemium | Flowers | Planted 2014 |
Radish | Edible plant but grown for its flowers | Self sown from elsewhere in the garden in 2015/6. |
Rose x 2 | Flowers
|
2 plants brought from previous garden planted 2014, another added the same year |
Sage | Culinary and medicinal herb
Flowers |
Planted 2016 |
Self heal | Medicinal herb
Flowers |
Transplanted in 2014 from elsewhere in garden |
Vetch | Wild flower
Nitrogen fixer |
Wild gathered seeds sown previously. Very attractive flowers. |
White clover | Flowers
Nitrogen fixer |
Present in garden before I arrived. |
Willow herb | Wild flower | Present in the garden before I arrived. I usually pull this out before it sets seed. |
Others | ||
Acer | Small decorative tree relocated from previous garden | Planted 2013
Growing very slowly, looks attractive |
Dock | Wild plant
Tap root to break up stony soil Leaves for accumulating nutrients |
Here already
Leaves pulled when too large / encroaching on other plants and mulched on bed |
Mustard | Green manure
Spring flowers |
Sown in 2015
Left to set seed, seeds harvested |
Field beans | Edible beans
Nitrogen fixer |
Sown in 2015 from previous crop of beans. |
Tulbaghia | Similar to onion but different family, edible
Flowers |
Planted 2015 |
Assessment
Harvests
There has been a continual potential harvest of edible greens from this bed that I have largely ignored. In the spring there were young leaves of land cress, lamb’s lettuce and wild rocket which I did harvest for salads, but later land cress and wild rocket both of which I can cook if they are too strong went largely unharvested.
Herbs, mainly mints and thymes were harvested once the plants were large enough.
The fruit trees are young yet and are performing differently in response to the ‘small fruit tree method’ I am using. However most of them are developing what look like fruiting spur side shoots so I hope that they will start to flower and possibly fruit next year.
The chokeberry flowered and fruited well for the first time, but I left the berries for the birds.
The red and whitecurrants and gooseberry began to fruit, the gooseberry had a good crop and the blackcurrant and jostaberries may fruit next year.
I have had some Jerusalem artichokes and there will be more to harvest in due course.
Other plants that could be harvested are being left in place, oca for ground cover, earth nut pea as it breaks when I try to dig it up.
I have had some salsify roots, but again these break because of the stony ground.
There have been lots of seeds harvested including calendula, flax and nigella, fennel, earth nut pea, parsnip, Californian poppy, vetch and burdock.
Garlic grows to a good size along the edge of the path.

the remains of the chicory plant in flower
Fertility
Because the soil is yet largely unimproved and was quite poor to begin with (compacted clay and stones) the fertility in this bed is significantly less than in the main polyculture beds (yet to be reviewed). I moved some plants earlier in the year and they (tree onions, Welsh onions and other alliums) have grown much faster and larger once transplanted elsewhere.
I have been trying to grow large plants for biomass to add organic matter to the soil. Jerusalem artichoke and cardoon have done that job well. Chicory was also good at generating biomass, but was too good, got too large and been cut right back. I wasn’t able to dig the whole root out.

Californian poppy with vetch climbing cherry tree behind, summer 2016
There are permanent nitrogen fixers in place – earth nut pea, vetch and white clover but I could perhaps include some more; peas don’t grow that well in this border but field beans do.

Salsify flower with land cress and forget me not behind

Salsify flower and seed head
Flowers and biodiversity
The flowers of calendula, flax, Californian poppy, sweet cicely, marjoram, sage, thyme, valerian, salsify, scorzonera, skirret and burdock all attracted masses of insects, but the fennel was as in previous years an absolute insect paradise. It also then provided and continues to provide seeds for blue tits.

Fennel and carrot in long border summer 2014
I have found plenty of beetles and spiders on the ground and one or two amphibians (I didn’t count, but I think one frog, one toad). There is no surface water nearby apart from puddles but the ground is often damp and there is plenty of mulch to hide beneath.
I have seen snails but they have not been a problem, I have barely noticed any slugs at all in this bed.
Aesthetics
There have been flowers from spring when the land cress, sweet cicely and forget me nots flowered and there are still flowers now in mid November. Some of them have been absolutely magical. I am hoping to enhance this by planting lots of white flowering plants the end near our lounge. Some other flowering plants have been moved to increase their visual impact. In addition I may decide to sow some more carrots next spring for flowers in 2018.
This picture was from last summer and is something I would dearly be able to bring together again – nature did it for me on that occasion!

Love in a mist seed heads, calendula and Tulbaghia 2015
I appreciate all the details you provide. I recall that you used to leave tuf in place for new beds, simply laying mulch over it. I’m curious if that was a purposeful change in policy or just a response to the new situation?
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He there!
It was a bit of both. The Triangle Bed and Long Border were primarily for flowers and temporary plant accommodation to begin with and I didn’t deem fertility particularly important. The turf removed to create these beds was part of the foundation for the perennial veg polycultures on the other side of the garden (with branches, sticks, twigs, grass cuttings and other organic materials from the garden).
This gives me an interesting comparison between what I think of as the raw unimproved beds and the polyculture beds. There is a very significant difference between them in terms of performance – the polyculture beds are much, much more fertile. No surprise really!
What I also want to do is to see just how long it takes for a much more gradual build up of fertility and improvement in soil texture to occur in the Triangle Bed and Long Border, just by means of adding the biomass they generate back directly back into the beds to break down and enrich them and also for the plant roots and worm activity etc to break up the extremely hard soil. The soil is certainly better textured but I don’t know if there is any more fertility there yet.
Anni
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Thanks for the reply. It certainly looks like it’s gaining in fertility fast. I will keep an eye out for your further comparison of the beds. Thanks for always experimenting!
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