2 for 1 experts’ tips: late-season colour
As more gardens in our 2 for 1 Garden Entry scheme continue to reopen, some of their head gardeners share secrets for making summer colour last
Jonathan Pearce Pensthorpe Natural Park, Norfolk
Favourite plants? The brightly coloured daisy-like flowers of echinacea has to be up there. They add great structure and are always a crowd-pleaser here.
Top tip? A good mulch in spring will prevent plants from drying out in the summer. It also helps stop the flowers going over too soon later in the year.
Where to look? We are lucky enough to have a garden which peaks in late August/ September. The Millennium Garden designed by Piet Oudolf is 20 years old this year, and still looks as good as when it was first planted.
Andy Karavics Scampston Hall Walled Garden, North Yorkshire
Favourite plants? Grasses like Molinia caerulea ‘Poul Petersen’, which are striking when they flower in autumn.
Top tip? Give the plant the right requirements from the start. Plant it in the right place and feed it with enough nutrients for its best performance late in the year.
Where to look? The whole garden has very good late colour, especially the Molinia wave garden and the perennial meadow.
Helen Picton The Picton Garden, Herefordshire
Favourite plants? Has to be asters, as we grow over 400 varieties! Aster amellus ‘Vanity’ is a real showstopper with its purple-blue flowers.
Top tip? Plant a broad range and make sure some are lateflowering plants, not just long flowering, so there is always something fresh coming.
Where to look? From late August onwards, our herbaceous borders are at their peak, and as the season advances the woodland areas bring extra colour.
Gordon Baillie Arley Hall & Gardens, Cheshire
Favourite plant? The brightyellow flowers of Sinacalia tangutica looks superb at this time of year. The flowers are followed by fluffy seedheads.
Top tip? Use a potassium-rich liquid feed as soon as plants start to flower to prolong their flowering period. Where to look? With asters, phlox, rudbeckias and sedums, Arley’s Herbaceous Border is still full of colour even at this stage of the year.
William Dyson Great Comp Garden, Kent
Favourite plants? Salvia concolor peaks in September and October, with a big show of deep-blue flowers.
Top tip? Regular deadheading. And if you pruned your Mexican salvias in July, they will keep going for longer. Where to look? The central parts of the garden and the Italian garden look incredible. The Golden Border is still in bloom and the ruins are backed by the woodland area’s early autumn colour.
Karen Clayton Eltham Palace, London
Favourite plants? The asters, echinaceas and heleniums in our herbaceous border are an end-of-summer pick-me-up.
Top tip? Cut back summerflowering perennials in late spring to keep your borders going for longer.
Where to look? Eupatoriums, rudbeckias and salvias stand out in our herbaceous border. Also, our woodland garden has drifts of Japanese anemone.