Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
Wild things
Letting plants grow as they like adds a real mix of colour to the garden
GARDEN style has veered towards the relaxed look over the past decade and this has been more recently amplified by a desire to let nature take its course.
We want to have planned gardens, however we’re also beginning to realise the importance of simply letting some plants grow as they like, while tolerating other uninvited guests because they are good pollinators or act as habitats for creatures which make up the great tapestry of garden life.
To achieve a mix of order and chaos in your plot you might consider choosing some plants that will readily self-seed and spread themselves around the garden. It’s a laid-back approach, the plants are free and it’s hard to beat the pictures that mother nature creates when given free rein.
In my garden, I have my favourite self-seeders, plants that I really like. When I’m weeding, I keep an eye out for their seedlings and try to leave them undisturbed. With some plants they are obvious, such as the coarse hairy rosettes of
Echium pininana, and others you will get to know well if they are frequent visitors.
Here are some of the best selfseeders:
Anthriscus sylvestris ’Ravenswing’ is a cultivated form of wild cow parsley that you will see in hedgerows across the country billowing with frothy foams of creamy white flowers. ‘ Ravenswing’ has dark purple stems and leaves, and is pretty easy to identify as a seedling because of this distinctive colour. It has self-seeded in my front garden underneath the birch trees and has been useful in extending the season of interest that starts with spring bulbs. It likes welldrained sandy soil and performs in sun or dappled shade. Alchemilla mollis is a perennial that will spread around quite easily and find its way into cracks and crevices in an utterly charming fashion. This ability to grow in poor soil makes it a good choice for those tricky areas, especially dry shade. I love the colour of its limey-green foliage and pretty sulphur yellow flowers. It’s always a beautiful picture after a shower as raindrops sit glistening on the hairy leaves.
Foeniculum vulgare or common fennel is dotted around my garden, its fine frothy fragrant foliage softening the edges of borders. At the height of summer the tall stems will be topped by flat heads of yellow flowers. If it threatens to become a weed for you, then cut off these flowers and pop them in a vase.
Digitalis purpurea, our native foxglove tends to self-seed in clusters so you get little groups of them standing together. The seedlings are easily identified by the furry leaves in a rosette formation. These are biennials so you can sow now for next year but also buy some one year olds in pots to plant for this year. You get tall spikes of wonderful spotted purple tubular flowers which bees love to burrow into.
Geranium palmatum has taken over a good portion of my garden and I’m happy about this as I love the green ferny foliage and the profusion of pink flowers at this time of year. If you find it getting a bit out of hand, you can easily pull up the seedlings by hand and chop off the flowers of bigger plants before they begin to set seed.
Valeriana officinalis is a tall perennial and has been used as a medicinal plant for centuries, most notably as a sleep aid for insomnia. It’s an elegant plant with clusters of pale pink flowers on top of stout stems. It prefers damp conditions in sun or dappled shade.