UPDATE YOUR GARDEN WITH THIS YEAR’S TOP TRENDS
All the latest (and greatest) ideas for your outside space
An unexpected result of the lockdown is that it has created almost 3m first-time gardeners in the UK. Many of us found joy in raising plants from seed, while others got busy making raised beds to nurture home-grown veg, or carved up their lawns to make space for wildflowers. With holidays on hold, we have been revelling in simpler pleasures such as bird- or bat-watching, stargazing or toasting marshmallows around the firepit (no more gas-guzzling patio heaters, thanks!). Most importantly, though, all of us found that, whatever we do in the garden, just being outside among the greenery, with open sky above, makes us feel a whole lot better. So here are the top themes you need to know about to give your garden an on-trend makeover…
PLANT BLOOMS THAT WILL LAST
Nick Bailey, Gardeners’ World presenter and author of 365 Days Of Colour In Your Garden (Kyle Books), suggests these long-players to keep the colour coming right up until the first frosts…
CREATE A CALMING RETREAT
This September’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show is to feature a new category. Called Sanctuary Gardens, it includes the NHS tribute garden ‘Finding Our Way’ and highlights the need we’ve had these past months for the garden as a tranquil retreat. Colour has a role in affecting mood, too, with studies showing that green is the most soothing shade of all. Award-winning designer Jo Thompson, who created RHS Garden Rosemoor’s Cool Garden, where calming, subtle colours rule, explains: ‘Red roses are beautiful, but pale pink roses around a front door give a real feeling of serenity. Silvers, blues, pale yellows, peaches and pinks in a border blend harmoniously together, and never jar. Grey-leaved foliage from, say, Nepeta x faassenii, Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ and Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’, make good visual breaks between plants; think of lavender, at intervals along a border, as a blending brush.’
DON’T MISS: VIRTUAL CHELSEA
For the first time in its 108-year history, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show will be taking place in September (21-26), due to Covid. But, as in 2020, there will be a Virtual Chelsea (18-21 May) to inspire the nation. Find new daily content at rhs.org. uk/virtualchelsea
FIND BLISS IN THE BACKYARD
How can we turn our gardens into wellbeing havens? Take lessons from landscape designer Matt Keightley, who designed RHS Garden Wisley’s new Wellbeing Garden, opening 24 June. ‘The garden has organic paths and winding walkways so that people can relax and appreciate it at their own pace,’ he says. ‘Improving mental health is often about reducing anxiety, so surrounding people with tall grasses, rather than blocking them off with a dense hedge, lends a sense of security. There is nothing harsh.’
Water is an important feature, to provide soothing distraction, encourage wildlife and dampen noise, as is the clever use of colour. ‘In the longest arc, we go from calming whites and blues to uplifting yellows and light oranges, making a happy space, then on to deep, dramatic colours,’ explains Matt.
The main thing, Matt says, is for us to realise the positive impact of connecting with nature. His favourite feelgood plants include tactile, aromatic rosemary, and Papaver ‘Lauren’s Grape’, an easy-to-sow poppy that Matt says is like a cheery goblet of Rioja. • Your Wellbeing Garden by Alistair Griffiths and Matt
Keightley is out now
GREEN UP YOUR HOME
The meteoric rise of houseplants signals our desire to connect with nature and bring the outdoors in. The big sellers during lockdown have been large-leaved greenery, from parlour palms and yuccas to ferns and fiddle-leaf figs, which benefit (watering aside) from occasional feeding and frequent spritzing. We also benefit from the improved air quality in our homes. The top air purifier? Easy-growing Sansevieria, which, with its robust vertical leaves, makes a great sculptural statement. For more advice on bringing the outdoors in, see page 96
GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE
Increased awareness of climate change and the delights of watching wildlife busy in our gardens during lockdown while our own lives were on hold are making us keener than ever to turn our plots into small-scale nature reserves. Swapping paving slabs for planting pockets, letting a patch of lawn grow wild and leaving seedheads for the birds are three helpful strategies to adopt. ‘Plant from spring to autumn and beyond, because with climate change, wildlife is increasingly thriving in winter,’ says Ann-marie Powell, who designed RHS Garden Wisley’s new Wildlife Garden, opening 24 June. ‘We’ve used a bank of Amelanchier lamarckii, a gorgeous tree that supports wildlife all year round,’ she says, ‘and mixed native hedging, including evergreen cotoneaster and rugosa roses, to make a wildlife corridor.’
The biggest message, though, is to include water. ‘In my own garden, I just have a large dish with a few aquatic plants, a slate beach on one side, cobbles on another,’ says Ann-marie. ‘I can’t tell you how much pleasure it gives me to watch the frogs and the birds bathing.’
BUY MORE HOME-GROWN
Increasingly, we’ve been buying more British plants, partly due to higher import costs post-brexit. Buying British also chimes with the trend that the RHS calls ‘comfort planting’: many of us are turning to English cottage garden favourites such as lupins and hollyhocks that bring us the comfort of childhood during uncertain times. To find local-grown plants near you, visit independent plantnurseriesguide.uk
FROM PLOT TO PLATE
‘This golden era of gardening hasn’t happened since Dig for Victory in the Second World War,’ says Sue Biggs CBE, director general of the RHS, which last year saw a 45% increase in people using its website for advice on growing veg. And once we’ve dug up that first potato – yellow-fleshed Charlotte is Monty Don’s favourite – we’re hooked.
The World Food Garden at RHS Garden Wisley, opening on 24 June, is a great venue for learning more. ‘It’s all about taking ideas away,’ says its designer, Ann-marie Powell. ‘You can lose yourself in the World Food Maze, take notes in the Good to Grow section, then sit and eat among the herbs and edible flowers in the cafe garden.’