When I buy stock from a nursery as opposed to a garden centre, often the plants are cut down in their first year just as they are about to flower, so that all the energy goes into building a strong root system. This means that I am often planting lots of foliage, ( see the 2015 photos below), at a time a plant should be flowering, but with my horticulture knowledge, I know what each plant will do. The result? The plants are definitely happy and have spread as planned to fill in all the soil, thus avoiding space for weeds. As a general rule I plant most perennials at around 5 per m2 if 9cm pots, or 3 if 2lt pots. This means there are gaps in the first season, but it allows space for them to grow into their required space by year 2. One of my top plants for year round interest is Stipa Gigantea grass which only need 1 plant and will spread to around 1.5mtre spread in no time. Gorgeous when it catches the sunlight.
Take a look further down to see how it looked on day one, and also before it was designed.
SEPTEMBER 2015 - NEWLY PLANTED
BEFORE. My client had recently moved in, and the garden was not to her taste.... a bit dull.
