Please... do not disturb!

Christopher Lloyd looks at the plants that prefer to be left alone to look after themselves

- Christopher Lloyd

SOME border plants loathe being messed around. Once settled in, they like to be left in peace for the next 20 or 40 years. Approach with a digging fork and the dreadful cracking noise of snapping roots will vie with the human shrieks of the mandrake [see box on page 43].

All of which is a balm to the idle gardener, of course. He asks nothing better than to leave the whole of his garden undisturbed year in, year out. But as a moderately fidgety gardener, I am grateful to plants that look after themselves, because they allow me more time to spend on others, such as dahlias and delphiniums, that are demanding in their requirements.

Most plants that resent disturbance have fleshy, deep-delving roots. The oriental poppy is typical. It takes a year or two to settle in, but once settled it is there for keeps. Indeed, should you decide to get rid of it, the chances are that some of its roots will get left behind and will make new plants. These poppies are propagated from root cuttings.

The same applies to Japanese anemones, whose long season, from early August until late October, makes them indispensable border plants. Root cuttings are struck individually in small pots and stock is always purchased as pot-grown plants. Once established, they can even become a little invasive, in a pleasant way.

The acanthus is another such plant. Every time you inadvertently break a piece of its root, it makes a new plant, and yet a new grouping is quite slow to establish. Acanthus spinosus is handsome but prickly. A. Mollis can be shy-flowering, though mine is smothered with its handsome spikes this year. A. longifolius is to be highly commended, both for freedom of flowering and for its foliage.

Thistly things