A process of learning
Dr Potter and Mr Smithson combined to produce a characteristic wealth of ideas
❍ Source locally: that is, make use of your local nurseries—that ensures good bio-security—and use local materials where possible. It’s amazing how much useful material you can get out of your own hedges, for example. Again, that ensures good bio-security
❍ In terms of herbaceous borders, you need to be a good Scout. That is, Be Prepared: plan ahead to ensure a good succession of flowers throughout the season. Have plunge plants, such as Salvia Armistad, ready to fill any gaps. In the vegetable garden, avoid gaps by succession sowing
❍ Save your own seed, then grow your own plants from it. Over time, you’ll produce plants acclimatised to your specific conditions. Growing your own plants from your own seed is just more fun and gives you more satisfaction
❍ We’ve become firm believers in Charles Dowding’s no-dig system (www.charlesdowding.co.uk) in the kitchen garden. We just mulch, heavily, then let the worms do the rest of the work
❍ We use an enormous amount of compost here, much more than we can create on site ourselves, so we get four tons of recycled green-waste compost every year from Viridor (www.viridor.co.uk). If you buy in manure, source it very carefully and store it carefully, otherwise you may bring in all sorts of baleful weeds, diseases and chemicals
❍ Several companies have been useful to us, including Perrie Hale Nursery, Honiton, Devon (01404 43344; www.perriehale.co.uk) for hedging plants. We go to New Wood Trees, Stoke Gabriel, near Totnes, Devon (www.newwoodtrees.co.uk; 01803 782 666) for multi-stemmed specimen trees. We use Forde Abbey Nursery, Chard, Somerset (01460 220231; www.fordeabbey.co.uk) chiefly for hazel rods and Chris Pike of Branch Nurseries, Sutton-on-trent, Nottinghamshire (01636 822154; www.branchnurseries.co.uk) for trained fruit trees. (In that instance, we’ve gone so far afield because we simply couldn’t find a more local nursery offering the same quality of ready-trained stock)