Please… do not disturb!
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 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
