By mid-July the construction work was just about finished and new turf laid so we appreciated the regular rainfall which followed more than we might have done other years. About 50 dahlia plants went into half of Richard’s veggie plot, sacrificed to my plants. The apricot-flowered bronze leaf ones (City of Ankmaar) mostly went into the bed we made last year in front of Tony’s wall, with maybe six plants in Wichford pots. I managed to squeeze some plants in odd places around the garden and about eight in the site where we had previously grown dahlias, in front of the deck, once the turf job was finished. Woody pieces of tuber and ones which had not produced shoots ended up on the old open compost heap in the shaded area behind the new extension, where they grew and – despite the lack of sunshine – produced 4 or 5 flowers.
Eventually I got tired of picking dahlias from the veggie plot for display indoors and decided to drastically cut back on the number to overwinter. We’ll keep the apricot ones, some Caribbean Fantasy (white, yellow and dark pink) and any remaining Balthazar, but abandon Who Dun It and the pink dwarf ones.
We were able to buy some cheap junipers and other perennials for the new beds beside the front culvert, added some bits of Vinca and watered assiduously because the soil is not very deep. We gradually repaired the edges of beds where clay and sand got dumped and by the end of August it was looking like a garden again. Richard created a nice work area for me on the garage side of the house where I kept my pots of lilies after they had flowered. We bought new benches for the paved patio area outside the back door when we discovered it was such a pleasant shaded area while the deck was in full sun. It turned out to be a favourite spot for afternoon tea.