Gardening...

Making a plan

What sort of garden do you want?

Water Gardens  provide a haven for all sorts of wildlife, along with an ideal growing space for moisture loving plants.  Water can be incorporated into anyone's garden, from a formal pool to a bog garden. The sound of water trickling in the garden is very relaxing and therapeutic. Bear in mind that young children should not be left alone with any sort of standing water feature.    Smaller water features are ideal whilst youngsters are about. Wall mounted gargoyles, pebble pools and freestanding fountains are the best bet.  For those who wish to incorporate a pond in their garden, think about what you want it for.  Do you want to keep fish? Do you want to attract frogs? Do you want it just to grow water-loving plants?  Whatever style of water feature you choose, keep it in scale with the rest of your garden, after all, a stately home requires a lake, and a backyard requires a pebble pool.  Marginal plants that love water include Iris, Acorus and Calla.

Cottage Gardens are informal gardens. No straight edges required here. Curved edges, winding paths, hidden nooks and crannies area must. Paths meander around free flowing flower beds that incorporate hardy annuals such as Lupins, Foxgloves and Lavender. Cottage gardens were originally designed to grow edible plants, so fruit hedges were planted that yielded Damsons, Apples and Blackberries. Cottage garden plants tend to seed themselves, so everything is grown as naturaly as possible.

Formal Gardens rely on geometric shapes to pull them off.  They have straight edges, immaculate lawns and perfect right angles.  Do not attempt a formal garden if your garden is an obscure shape!  Hedges can be made from Box, which need to be trimmed to keep them in tip-top shape.  Lawns should have a path dissecting them, to keep in with the geometric design.  Pergolas and carpet bedding are just some of the formal features that can be found in a formal garden.

Wildlife Gardening is quite the opposite of formal gardening. The main thing we need to do is to attract wildlife. Birds will visit your garden if you grow plants that have seed-filled heads, such as thistles, sunflowers and ornamental grasses.  Birds also need a drink, so a shallow birdbath is a must.  Try to attract hedgehogs into your garden by leaving a pile of old branches under a deciduous tree.  In autumn the leaves will fall and make a lovely haven for the hedgehogs to bury themselves into.  Not only will they feel safe from predators, but they will also come out at night and indulge in their favourite pastime – eating slugs!  Borders should be full of wild flowers; these are full of nectar and attract bees and butterflies.  Buddleia is known as the Butterfly Bush because it attracts Butterflies!  Frogs and toads need a pond with a shallow edge to survive, and nocturnal animals can often be seen sipping water at night. As long as you can feed and water wildlife in a safe environment, then they will revisit your garden year after year.  A wildlife garden is natural and therefore low maintenance.

Alpine Gardens and rock gardens are believed to be for those people who have poor soil.  This is not true.  Although alpines need an open sunny site, they also need well-drained soil.  They don’t like nutrient rich compost or leaf mould.  Gone are the days when rockeries were made from rubble, half-enders and bags of set concrete.  These days a few pieces of weathered stone, some good topsoil and a pile of gravel can be transformed into the most beautiful rockery and alpine garden.  Saxifrage plants such as Tumbling waters, or Dianthus plants, known as Rockery Pinks are both ideal for Alpine and Rockery gardens.  Don’t plant them too close together as rockery and alpines like to spread.

Patio Gardening is on the increase.  Patios can be used to entertain guests, and barbeques are often the main feature on a patio.  Plants are grown in containers, such as troughs, tubs and planters.  These can be re-used year after year, and planted with different flowers time after time.  Make sure you invest in some good sturdy containers, as the cheaper ones tend to crack and break when they are filled with soil and plants.  Terracotta or ceramic pots are good vessels, but make sure they are frost proof.  Many people these days do not have access to a huge garden, but would love to have some colour, even the smallest of areas can be spruced up with a few colourful-planted pots.  Pots come in all shapes and sizes, and can be used with permanent displays or can be re-planted from season to season.  Permanent displays may include Ivy, Hebes and Japonicas.  Bulbs, bedding plants and Fuchsias are ideal seasonal plants. The best thing about patio planting is that the pots can be moved around; so creating a fresh look just entails you moving a few pots into clusters.  Patio gardens do need a lot of watering though, as they dry out quite quickly.   .