Mind your own business

Soleirolia soleirolii newly planted

How rude of me! Snort. ‘Mind your own business’ is of course the common name for Soleirolia soleirolii which has now been planted between the islands of brick paving down the side courtyard. It will spread and join to create gulfs of pure electric green, which I absolutely LOVE next to the flat grey of the bricks.

Plants spilling onto and blurring the edges of the hard landscaping has been a key theme in the design of the garden. I really wanted to create a wild, natural look; one that almost gives the impression of the garden gone to seed. Partly so it looks established, and not like an overly design ‘new build’ garden, but also because we are not a super-tidy, minimalist family. We all love colour, and stuff. I think a lush, full, naturalistic garden suits us.

Anyway, to that end, we have a few ground-cover plants breaking up the lines of the hard areas. The aforementioned Soleirolia soleirolii, which spreads like wildfire and can be a bit invasive (fine by me), and also Thymus vulgaris and Erigeron karvinskianus – thyme and Mexican fleabane. I’d also love to encourage some moss and have seen several ideas for trying to get it to establish on walls – mostly involving liquidising some with buttermilk and painting the solution where you want it to take. A project for further down the line, perhaps.