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Changing
Places
It’s
the anticipation of spring that keeps gardeners on
edge all winter: that daydream of bumper crops of
crisp sweet vegetables, of borders spilling over
with soft scented flowers, and hedgerows of
luminescent green. But all this imagined beauty
only happens by thorough planning and preparation.
With a
new garden it can be difficult to know where to
start. Visiting a big flower show, browsing through
the garden books and magazines, and watching TV
makeover programmes can often serve merely to
confuse even a seasoned gardener, still more perplex
the novice. Photographs are taken in flattering
light with lenses that compress the view and make
the borders appear full. Show gardens are ephemeral
constructions made especially for the week of the
show. In real time in a real back garden they may
not work, and take little account of awkward plots
and the constraints of our busy lives. Certainly
many are inspirational, if not aspirational, but
when faced with the unmown, unweeded reality the
hard cold practicalities can be daunting. There’s
so much to consider: the soil type, the aspect of
the garden, local climate, views and privacy. Then
there’s whether to have somewhere for children to
play, to grow vegetables, have a barbecue; and how
much time, and money, you want to spend on the
garden.
This is
where a garden designer could step in and save time
and money wasted on short-term solutions and
inappropriate planting. A good designer will not
just impose his or her own garden plan on the site,
but will sit down with you and investigate your
needs, and your desires, and come up with new ideas
that are practical and that fit your lifestyle.
Once a design has been decided upon the work is best
done in the winter, before the end of March. Then
all the mess of workmen’s barrows, piles of stone
and muddy footprints is cleared away, the soil
starts to warm up and spring will trigger the new
garden into life.
Sometimes
when spring arrives, despite all the work and worry
and expense, the new garden can look a little
sparse. Those mid-winter dreams of overflowing
borders have awoken to beds of soil punctuated with
small young plants. Before rushing to the garden
centre for trays of annuals to fill up the yawning
gaps pause to consider that in a year or two these
juvenile perennials and shrubs will grow up and knit
together, provided they are given room to expand and
are not subsumed under blankets of bedding plants.
Far better to mulch the beds with ornamental grade
bark to prevent weed growth, retain the moisture and
condition the soil, and make notes of where to plant
bulbs in autumn for next year. And then to wait,
smug in the knowledge that each year the new garden
will improve according to plan.
But, as any
owner of a mature garden will testify, sooner or
later the dynamics of plant life will catch up.
Those young saplings grow and cast shade, the hedge
becomes greedy and starves the borders below, and
the battle for space amongst the perennials has
elbowed out the weaklings. The winter months are
the time to rescue strugglers and move them to a
less competitive environment, leaving the space
clear to improve the soil and plant more
appropriately. This is the moment to turn to the
gardening books and catalogues and identify the
right plants.
Or perhaps
try a new variety of an old favourite. For dramatic
impact in shade Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’, launched at
Chelsea few years ago, has proved to be a remarkably
good garden plant with white-veined leaves and blue
flowers. Or try Heuchera ‘Caramel’ with shining
amber foliage, or x Heucherella ‘Stoplight’ with
large bright yellow leaves in spring and a blood-red
central splash.
The seed
catalogues are also full of tempting new beauties,
and providing you have at least a cool windowsill,
if not a greenhouse, growing from seed is above all
economical. Thermostatically controlled propagating
trays with cloches are ideal for early sowing of
Nicotiana and Petunias in early February. Set the
thermostat to the temperature recommended on the
seed envelope, keep the vents closed initially. As
germination begins open the vents and finally remove
the cloche altogether. When the seedlings have a
pair of true leaves, gently remove them with an old
table fork, holding them by the leaf. Prick them
out into fresh soil at the recommended distance,
water them in and grow them on until they are ready
to harden off and plant out in April.
Vegetable
gardens start afresh each season and every year
there is a wide assortment of new vegetables to
try. This year Plants of Distinction are
introducing a prettily striped aubergine, ‘Listada
de Gandia’. It reliably produces very thin-skinned
fruits 80-90 days from transplanting the seedling.
Try frying them whole with garlic, tomatoes and
curry spices. And sow a potful of their dwarf pea
‘Half Pint’ to put in the middle of an outside table
in summer for children, and adults, to nibble like
crisps. Plants of Distinction are giving away a
packet free with every order.
Winter
daydreams of burgeoning plots, however, can and do
fade with the reality of spring and the population
rise of pests of every shape and size. Top of many
country gardeners’ hate-list is the rabbit. Just
one can decimate a row of newly planted cabbages in
minutes, and a whole vegetable garden overnight.
There is little that will deter them, with one
exception. A rabbit fence. This should be of
fine wire mesh, at least 1.5m wide. During the
winter make a ditch 30cm deep and 30cm wide, outside
and along the boundary posts of your vegetable
patch, or whole garden if practical. Line the ditch
with the wire mesh along the bottom and up the
boundary posts. Nail the mesh to the posts all
along the boundary and back-fill the ditch. The
finished fence is L-shaped with the bottom edge
buried facing outwards and the right-angle
underground at the bottom of the posts. The rabbit
may try to dig under the fence but be thwarted by
the mesh, and only super-rabbit will be able to jump
over the top. The only other deterrent goes by the
name of Jack Russell, and even he has the occasional
nap.
Then with
all these plans and projects underway, if not
complete, put down the books and the catalogues;
clean off and hang up the spade and spend a few
minutes walking down the lane to look for the wild
snowdrops, the catkins and the pussy willows.
Spring comes sooner than you think.
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