A long garden - 3 years later

These clients were lucky to have a large plot, with a very long garden. However despite all the space, they barely had enough space to sit or entertain.

The Brief

• To make it more interesting!
• To have somewhere to grow vegetables in their poor thin free draining soil
• To make more of their existing small pond. 
• To make a large area of planting behind the pond easier to manage.
• All the planting areas are mostly in shade under trees, with difficult rooty conditions.

The Solution

• Divide the long space. I suggested a pergola next to the existing Bamboo area which over time has protruded partially across the width of the garden. Then add another small border to the other side of the new pergola. This  introduces central height  and frames a view in both directions.
• In my opinion their existing patio was not large enough and only just fitted their table, with no space to walk around it. This therefore to be extended, using the same type of paving which would soon blend with the existing.
• Build a raised vegetable bed, importing new decent topsoil, which would hold moisture better than their native acidic soil.
• Demolish a brick built raised pond, construct a new upper pond with waterfall to the existing pond.  Enlarge second patio area  to enjoy the new 2 tier pond. 
• Introduce a path through their existing large planting area next to  pond, to make maintenance easier , but also make it more interesting. Walking between planting always a good solution.
• Lift some turf in a sunny area of the lawn, and plant some perennials and grasses to catch the sunlight.

See end for before photos. 

From the patio area, a new central border with fabulous Stipa Gigantea to catch the evening sun.
Rudbekia also now in flower, and Astrantia and Geranium if cut back now, will soon be back in flower.

The view from the extended patio

Existing pond, now with waterfall from a new upper pond.
This large planting area cleared out and a pathway through makes for easier maintenance.
The Brick pond removed (where the chairs now are) and patio enlarged to allow space to enjoy the pond life.

Pergola constructed next to existing bamboo with a small new planting area on the opposite side . This makes a frame
to the new planting border, which become a focal point.
 Bricks under the pergola work better than lawn.
A concrete trench was built  around the bamboo to stop it from further extending into the garden.

Another patio area extended to allow plenty of space to entertain out side of the kitchen.
The 20" raised beds mean that the vegetables have done well with good soil to get their roots into.

BEFORE

A square brick pond took up a lot of space, and unless standing over it, no water
was visible. This was demolished to allow for more space on this second patio. The brick circular
bed was also removed, to allow access to a new pathway through planting.

The long garden with all the planting along the fence lines and under trees

The existing patio next to the kitchen was not wide enough, nor long enough, since the
herb bed make that part of the patio area unusable.

The Dark Side

There are some fabulous dark foliage plants to choose from but if overused, the garden can look a little sombre. When working on a planting design, I aim to have a "triangle" of dark accents, ie just 3 areas, one in each border in  a small garden, adding a little punctuation of dark colour amongst the many greens. A few more in a larger planting scheme.  They look particularly good if used next to orange, pink or cream flowers.

My regular choices will be from the following and  will depend on the size of garden.

Shrubs for dark accents

Cotinus Coggria "Royal Purple" or "Grace", the Smoke Bush. But these need plenty of space. They want to be 2.5 metres tall AND wide.

Cotinus Royal Purple (Internet Photo)

A much better choice for limited space is Physocarpus Diablo. It keeps a nice upright shape and easily pruned to keep to the desired size in any garden.

Physocarpus Diablo. (Internet Photo)

Another lovely choice would be an Acer. Some though get too big, so do read the label to see the ultimate height when choosing. One I often see badly used in gardens is Acer Bloodgood. Lovely foliage, but after a few years too big for a small garden, making the garden feel very dark.

Acer Bloodgood (internet photo)

In my own garden, I do have a Cotinus, and also an Acer, but my Acer is the weeping variety, grafted on to a rootstock which will never grow more than about 1.5mtrs. Here is mine.

My own Acer Palmatum Dissectum Garnet with Cream heads of Hydrangrea Annabelle beyond

The same Acer, and on the opposite side Orange Heleniums

Perennials for dark accents

A word of  warning - avoid Lysimachia Firecracker! It  has beautiful foliage, but underground roots spread everywhere. Do NOT be tempted to use this..... ever.

A few of my regular favourites are Heuchera Obsidan, Eupatorium Chocolate (recently renamed as Ageratoma altissima Chocolate), Actea Brunette (for shade) and Sedum Purple Emperor. Also, one I discovered this year as I mentioned in an earlier block is Penstemon  Husker's Red (below)

Penstemon Huskers Read for early dark foliage.

Actea in its dark form (there are green ones) is a fabulous plant. Really interesting foliage for months, then, when most other plants have stopped flowering, it starts around early September and has wonderful perfume too. I have one at home just near the front door. 

Actea Brunette. Gorgeous scent late season. (internet photo)

Heuchera Obsidan in my own garden.
 Underplanting with Pink Lythrum ( Loosestrife)  just starting its second flowering after being cut back

My own garden with Eupatorum Chocolate behind Helenium  and Orange Achillea

My own garden with Eupatorium Chocolate behind Echinacea Magus

My own front garden with dark accents from Sedum Purple Emperor below Orange Rose Pat Austin.
(A fabulous repeat flowering Rose. I have deadheaded dozens of flowers already!)

Reviving those early flowering perennials

Several weeks ago before I went away for two weeks in late June,  I cut back various Geraniums and Alchemilla Mollis, which now have really fresh foliage, and some already back in flower. But this morning, taking a short break from the drawing board, I cut down 2 more of my earlier flowering plants. Knautia Macedonica and also one I have not grown before,.....Penstemon Digitalis Husker's Red. Other varieties of Penstemon of course are typically July/August flowering plants, but this particular one flowers really early, which is a bonus in late May/June.

Foliage in May in my own garden

Internet photo showing flowers

Not a red flower, but beautiful beetroot colours stems and foliage,  with the palest of pink flowers. 






I rarely use plants in a client's garden that I have not personally grown at home for at least a couple of seasons. Since we did a bit of an overhall on our garden last autumn, I had he chance to  try out a few new plants, this being one of them. Once the flowers had faded, I cut off the foliage about half way down, to a leaf node, to see whether it might throw out some smaller flower buds, but it didn't. However, I noticed a load of new fresh growth at the base this morning, so have  now cut back down to ground level. (photo below).  Will it flower again? I am not sure, but I know that I will at least get a repeat of the beautiful fresh foliage to join in with the Sedum planted next to it.  I will let you  know if it does flower a second time.

Basal foliage of Penstemon Husker's Red cut back this morning.

Back to cutting down Knautia. 

Knautia is a fabulous plant for early colour and if you keep deadheading to the next leaf node (joint), they will continue to flower for several weeks.

However, they do suffer with mildew, particularly  if the weather is dry. This year has certainly been a challenge!

I have however been watering this past couple of weeks since I came back from holiday, and this morning notice a fair amount of new basal foliage on the Knautia. So, I have now cut down everything. (see below).  I know that the foliage will now grow back  AND I will get more flowers over the coming weeks. Top plant if you can just bare with the gap it leaves in border in August. Give it a good drink.

Knautia cut down this morning. It will be back!

Pruning Lavender

Over time Lavender plants can become leggy. The way to avoid this is to trim them back just as the flowers are fading. Don't wait until the spring, or the woody stems will have "gaps" between healthy foliage, and the plants will loose their compact habit.

So, once you have enjoyed the purple flowers during June and July, then one day notice they are no longer colourful THAT is the time to get out the shears and give them a good haircut.  Usually around late July to mid August. By pruning now, they have several weeks to put on new fresh foliage well before any winter frosts, and look good all winter.

In our own front garden this hedge is made up of just 3 Lavandula Angustifolia Plants, planted approx 60cm apart. It's amazing how quickly they bulk up into substantial plants, so if planning a new border, allow for each plant to grow into a space of around 60x60cm square. Therefore, if planting next to a path,  or lawn, position the plant at least 30cm from the path edge.

I not only take off the tops, including a few inches beyond the flower stalks themselves, ie into the foliage, but also the sides. This is because otherwise the plant becomes too wide.












The second photo shows them after pruning. Admittedly the sides look a little sad, but in just a few weeks they will have greened up once more.

The sides will soon recover with fresh new shoots.

A very easy plant, proving several weeks of interest, and taking about 10-15 minutes of maintenance a year. A bonus that our compost bin also smells of Lavender!

Attracting Wildlife

HOW TO ATTRACT BIRDS, BEES AND OTHER INSECTS.

Many customers include "attracting wildlife" on their garden "wish list". This is really easy to do, and I am proud that my own garden attracts loads of wildlife.

Birds prefer to be able to land on something tallish initially, to check out the area, then gradually  move lower down. So, a small tree works really well as their landing post.  We have a sparrow whose routine is to land on a Acer just 6 feet from our window, clean his beak, then fly down to get water at the waterfall.

Water is a big attraction, so if you are not able to have a pond, then do have a bird bath. If you do have a pond, a few vertical plants such as Iris encourage Dragonflies who prefer to land above the water to lay their larvae. Although we enjoyed one a couple of years ago laying its larvae in amongst some moss on a rock on the pond edge. I used a macro lens to film it so, it's really up close and personal! (See film link below)

Butterfly on Verbena Bonariensis
Photo by Anne Massey

A variety of flowering plants are of course also key for attracting different types of insects with different food needs. These are the ones which are doing a job of providing nectar this month.

Bee on Geranium Rozanne. A great plant for ground cover and flowers for many weeks.
Photo by John Massey

Bee approaching Geranium Rozanne

Photo by John Massey

Gypsophila Rosenschleier

Photo by John Massey

Gypsophila Rosenschleier

Photo by John Massey

Teucrium Lucidrys

Photo by John Massey

Verbena Bonariensis

Photo by John Massey

Tiny Fly on Fennel
Photo by Anne Massey

Butterfly on Verbena Bonariensis (1)
Photo by Anne Massey

Bee Approaching Penstemon (1)
Photo by Anne Massey

Bee Approaching Penstemon (2)
Photo by Anne Massey

Bee Approaching Penstemon (3) here you can see the pollen on its back legs already collected.
Photo by Anne Massey

If you would like to see some of the wildlife in our garden in ACTION, here is the link to a one minute film I made a couple of years ago, call "Them and US", which was runner up in a TV competition.  Poem written by me too, with me also doing the commentary.

https://youtu.be/UJYIxdVzZmw

Geranium Rozanne - flowers for months!

Who doesn't love blue Geraniums!  We all used to have Geranium "Johnsons blue", which is very pretty, but it doesn't tend to last long, nor repeat flower.  This one called Rozanne, with a white centre, and spreads to around 60cm wide and high, so plant to allow space to grow into. It is well behaved, stays nice and neat, and flowers for a very long time. The only drawback is that in spring the foliage can look similar to creeping buttercup...... so be careful not to weed it out!

It was shortlisted for the Chelsea Plant of the Centenary for the decade 1993-2002, and won the public vote.

As a garden designer it is my  blue geranium of choice, since I  know it is a great performer. Like all Geraniums, a chop back in mid July will extend its flowering season right through till October.

Pretty as a peach

I bought a set of 3 metal rusty Poppy Seed heads a few years ago at Hampton Court Flower Show.  I did some clearing our recently of the planting in the area because of pesky ground elder. Some of my new planting included these Digitalis (Foxgloves), which are a peachy colour.   With the evening light in particular, they look great with the tones of the rust on the Poppy heads.

Most Foxgloves are biennial. This means that it takes the plant two years to mature to produce flowers. Once flowered, they set their seeds, then die. So, to keep the plants for future years it's important not to remove all of the little seedlings that will grow around their base. Another idea is to cut off the flower stems, once their seeds are ripe, and carry them carefully to another area of the garden then turn upside down and sprinkle the seeds in any gaps you have.