“It’s my own private paradise”
Colour-coordinated flowers and luxuriant foliage have turned this London garden into a shady haven. Owner Gerlinde Kathuria tells us more
Colour-coordinated flowers and luxuriant foliage have turned this London garden into a shady haven
Few city gardens have such a luscious leafy look as this handsome plot in north-west London. “I suppose it’s a large garden for London,” says owner Gerlinde Kathuria. “It’s shaded by large lime trees and a huge poplar, but I do get a little bit of sun every day.” Gerlinde grew up on a farm in her native Germany. “My mother had a productive kitchen garden and grew all the family’s food – she hardly ever bought a vegetable. We moved here 30 years ago, but for the first 10 years I was busy raising my three children so we employed a professional landscape gardener to create the terraces and lay the paths. Now the garden rises up gently from the house a few steps at a time. There’s a lovely lawn at the top and lots of places to sit.” At first the garden was filled with lowmaintenance shrubs and a limited colour
FOLIAGE FRAMEWORK (left to right) Outside the back door pots of tender kalanchoe sit beside orchid cactus Epiphyllum laui; Begonia semperflorens,
astilbe, fuchsias and hardy geraniums provide splashes of pink beside curving pathways; bold black aeonium ‘Zwartkop’ with Crassula ovata, acer, Aloe vera, cannas, agave, echeveria and blue fescue palette of white, blue and yellow flowers, with no pinks or reds. “But when my children went away to school I used the money we were spending on the gardener to develop the garden myself,” says Gerlinde. “I took over responsibility for the design and planting and took out lots of the less-interesting shrubs, so only about 25 per cent of the original plants were left.” Gerlinde looked in gardening magazines for ideas and consulted her RHS Encyclopedia of Gardening for help finding plants that would thrive in her shady borders. “At first I planted lots of tulips in pots, but thought it was an
“There’s a lovely lawn at the top of the garden and lots of places to sit”
incredible waste of money to throw them away after just one season. So, I started to track down more permanent plants such as rhododendrons, fatsias, fuchsias and camellias, because they live for a much longer time.” Gerlinde likes to boost interest by pairing these favourite shrubs with colourful bedding plants. “If it’s a whiteflowered hydrangea, for example, I’ll underplant it with black ophiopogon to provide interest all year round, long after the hydrangea has finished flowering.” Foliage plays a key role in Gerlinde’s planting schemes and there’s one plant in particular that she wouldn’t be without. “I’m the Queen of Hostas,” she laughs. “Whenever I go to Chelsea Flower Show I often think my hostas are better than the ones on display! I’ve got hostas in all the different sizes, with foliage in green and white, green and gold, and sometimes blue-grey, so I like to team them up with other plants in a coordinated way. “Hostas are quite slow growing, but once they almost fill the pot, I’ll divide them by sawing them up. A hosta that’s packed too tightly in its pot doesn’t display attractively.” During spring and summer Gerlinde’s always on a snail hunt. “If I spot some damage on any plant I search and search for the culprit,” she says. “Usually it’s just one tiny little snail! When I find him I’ll remove him and cut off any damaged foliage. Slug pellets are a last resort. “I don’t feed my hostas, but there’s hours of watering involved because I have a front garden and a roof garden to water, too. If I took away all my pots there wouldn’t be much garden left!” Besides her regular slug and snail patrols, Gerlinde’s other main job is feeding her container plants. “At the start of the year I use a nitrogen-rich feed, such as Miracle-Gro, then in April I change to a potash-rich tomato food, to encourage flower growth. “When I’m in my garden, I escape into my own little world,” says Gerlinde. “Even when I’m out and about I’m always looking at other people’s front gardens for inspiration. I always seem to find a plant combination that really excites me.”