Join the dots.
And if you really want some hard and fast practical tips, the following work for me:
ABOVE The whole of Longmeadow is interconnected, as is the health of its plants and its overall sense of balance and harmony LEFT Get to know all the details of your plot and plants – such as which flowers to deadhead and which to leave to form beautiful seedheads through from every quarter. These things can vary a lot over very short distances.
if you are starting a new garden. Use small plants and trust they will quickly establish as defining structure, while you busy yourself with the infill. The tallest hedges at Longmeadow were once tiny pencil-thin plants, but all looked as solid as they do now within 10 years.
No chef would work with blunt knives or inefficient pots and pans, and no gardener worth their salt should struggle with bad tools. Buy the best you can afford, be proud of them and look after them well.
Sow seeds, take cuttings, divide plants, layer, graft – try it all. Raising your own plants rather than buying them is hugely satisfying and saves a fortune.
Do not strain over symptoms. It always amazes me that people will take time, energy and often money in dealing with a perceived problem in isolation. Nothing happens in isolation. Everything is connected to everything. Aphids always go for soft growth, which might be down to the weather, the time of year, the extra feed or water you are giving, the variety you have chosen, or any other of a hundred possibilities. Just as the health of your body is holistic, so is the health of your garden. Always try and see the bigger picture.
The healthiest plant is the one that has best adapted to its situation. Don’t mollycoddle plants, but give them just enough support to grow strong and healthy whatever the situation they find themselves in. This is the most effective way of reducing pests and diseases. Most problems with plants come from forcing them to do what they don’t want to do in places they don’t want to be. Look how well plants grow when they self-seed into all kinds of unlikely places. It is simple: find out what a plant wants and provide it. And if you are unable to, due to climate or situation, don’t grow it. We have a simple rule at Longmeadow – we don’t persist with anything that doesn’t want to grow here, and no garden in the world can grow everything.
by encouraging as wide a range of wildlife as possible, starting with insects. So plan for water of some kind, long grass, plants for pollinators and plenty of plant cover in the shape of shrubs, hedges, grass and trees. This will do more to make your garden healthy than any arsenal of chemicals. It will also be endlessly fascinating.
Gardens are, I believe, able to promote physical and mental health and the closest connection to the natural world that most of us have. Through them I have known a deep and profound sense of spiritual well-being. But none of that matters if it becomes a chore. Above all, have fun and if you are enjoying your garden then you are doing it right.
lFor more beginners’ tips, turn to p110.