It's how all the best gardens are made!



A stone trough, grown tired with rampant Persicarias... an Agapanthus (if I remember correctly) and other oddities! Let's give it all a huge cut back; take it all down and maybe take most of it out! Then, let's look around the garden and see what free plants there are we could work with. 

 

I am often asked about the process of garden design. The task

 of designing a garden seems, at times, almost an impossible

thing to do. Think about it. How do you create a garden like

those you see out and about when visiting professional or

public gardens? It’s a mammoth task really! You want (need)

trees and shrubs to give height, structure and a sense of

permanence. You need smaller herbaceous plants which rise

and fall at different times of the year. You’ll want all-year-

round interest, yet given the constraints of border space, how

can you achieve this? After all, a plant can only accommodate

one unit of soil space at a time. Right?   Then, there’s bulbs…

annuals! Throw in the added complications of soil type (clay,

sand, acid or alkaline etc) and an aspect you can do very little

about (North facing, part shade, full sun…) you

really have your work cut out!

 

 

 

Condition the soil (whilst you're at it!)... then we found we had some 'spare' Hostas lying around, a couple of newly-divided Agapanthus, some Heucheras, a spare Lavender.. a Gladiolus or two. I think I even found a small Acer palmatum sitting and doing little in a pot somewhere. Anyway, a couple of hour's work can revitalise a small area.

 

Of course, the world is not full of skilled horticulturalists or

professional garden designers, and given that fact, is it any

wonder that the average British garden is just…. Well, Kind of

average really. In truth, considering your average garden

owner hasn’t been to college and spent several years

studying plants and gardens, our gardens aren’t too shabby

really.

As a matter of fact, I think people’s gardens are a bit like their

pets; they often reflect, display and say a lot about their

owners.

 

Later that same summer! For just a couple of hours' work and a bit of jiggery-pokery. A great improvement!

 

 

Walking down most roads and looking at the gardens on

display – and they are very much on display! – they usually

fall into three quite distinct categories, each type revealing (to

my imagination at least) much of the psychologies going on

in and around their homes and gardens.

Firstly, there’s the garden that wishes it simply wasn’t there.

Or at least, the owners wish wasn’t there! It mainly houses old

shrubs in need of either a severe prune, or replacing completely.

There’s usually always some Ivy rampaging over a rotting

fence with the tall, leggy ghosts of a once compact shrub rose or

Lavender: the rose now some 12ft tall, with 2 very weak buds

trying their best to flower at the tips of their stems!

 

 

Another border! Same garden, funnily enough. In great need of a revamp.

 

Overgrown Roses... a sneaky Cotoneaster...Lamium. You name it, it's probably in there somewhere!

 

 

Next up is the average garden. To my mind, at least

these display some desire to create something nice. And

remember, when you do have that desire to make your garden

(your external display) look good, it is both a gift to yourself

and to others also. I mean, don't expect grateful passers-by to

slip notes of gratitude through your door, but you’ll be

amazed at how many heads turn to look at your creation….

Usually with both appreciation and admiration. One thing’s

for sure, put some thought (no matter how little) into height,

structure, texture and colour, and it will result in a nice

garden. Just add a little care, attention and nurture - that's

all.

 

Again, might as well start from scratch. Improve the soil; stick a few canes in to denote the quantity and spacing of potential planting. It's all good.

 

 

Lastly, sometimes you come across a garden where you can

plainly see that the owners not only know a thing or two about

plants and gardens, but that they also have some creative flair

for design; a desire to make something beautiful, and a

willingness to invest some serious time (and money!) into

their garden.

Later that same summer. Not a bad effort me thinks. Dahlias, Heleniums, Osteospermum... a Delphinium... a Lily. Room at the front for some ground cover plants... maybe add the odd annual or two.. a climber at the back perhaps... and Bob's your uncle! 

 

 

I believe the stand out garden of any street usually has

elements such as these:

 

     A use of plants not taken straight from your average  

garden centre or DIY store. There are probably around 50 – 100 

very common plants (and their cultivars) used in gardens  

today. When making planting decisions try investigating 

contemporary ideas in garden design; borrow some of what 

you see in the magazines; visit independent nurseries and 

experiment with exciting plant combinations! It’s elements 

such as these which will reap horticultural rewards and give 

you a first class garden.

 

 

     In these gardens there’s usually also more border space

than lawn. Look at those wide rows of houses and gardens

you see in American films. A front porch; stars and stripes 

blowing in the wind.

Big, timber-fronted houses with an expanse of lawn at the

front, usually boundaried with a white fence and a few

static low-maintenance shrubs scattered around the lawn’s

perimeter or lining the front of the house. Nondescript,

evergreen shrubs offering a little lip-service to horticulture.

Also, make no mistake, lawns in general are far from low-

maintenance! A garden that has little - or no – area of lawn,

is to me, a garden proper! Plants have something to offer

during every season and can be managed with greater

sustainability than any lawn and return far much more

back to the gardener, the environment and the local

wildlife. 

 

Here's another border i'm currently working on improving. Tall Rudbeckia taken down (top left-hand)... two clumps of golden Artemisia, down and controlled... canes in places to give me ideas. This autumn the border has been revamped with the addition of orange Heleniums, Spartina grasses and a Stipa gigantea at the rear. Next year, it will also be inter-planted with Dahlias, Cannas and Ricinus - see my little design below.  

 

Watch this space. I'll post a picture of the finished result next summer.

 

 

Lastly, I wonder if these people have a gardener. To be honest,

and yes, as a self-employed gardener I realise this might

smack of self-promotion, but having a regular

maintenance gardener, one who knows his plants, who is a

little creative and is both keen and able, really helps improve

a garden no end. 

 I’ve been a witness to this many, many times!

 

To my mind, obtaining the services of such a person is by far

the best way in which to design, develop and move a garden

forward. But, I suppose I would say that wouldn't I?

 

How very splendid!

 

'till next time.

Le Jardinier.