Gardening: Martyn Cox
Want to max out the flower power? Then bring some...
IT DOESN’T matter whether they contain trees, shrubs, grasses, perennials or a mixture of all of these plants, beds and borders will elevate your garden to t he next level. Showpieces of contrasting shapes, colours, sizes and textures, they will add interest all year round but tend to reach peak flower power in summer.
For my money, autumn is the best time to design, build and plant these indispensable features. Anything you set in the ground now will establish readily in moist, warm soil, and damage caused to lawns or other parts of the garden by trampling feet will have recovered before displays explode into life.
Gardeners use the terms beds and borders interchangeably, but there are clear differences between these features. Beds are usually isolated in lawns or an area of paving, and are designed to be seen from all sides. Borders are more linear in shape and tend to be backed by a boundary wall, hedge, fence or house.
The decision to install either beds or borders depends largely on the shape, size and style of your garden. For example, a series of curvaceous beds are perfect for breaking up a large lawn in an informal space, while the clean lines of square, oblong or diamond-shaped beds suit contemporary or minimalist styles.
Borders are ideal running down either side of an average, rectangular back garden as they keep the central area free – remember that the edges don’t have to be straight, so they can be used to break up a geometric outline.
They are great in larger gardens, where the space has been split into several different ‘rooms’.
Before getting your hands dirty, it’s best to plan beds and borders on paper. Sketch out the layout of your garden, plotting existing features. Add the new planting areas, making them as generous as possible for maximum impact. Play around with their shape and location until you are happy.
The next step is to mark them out on the ground. String attached to wooden stakes is perfect for geometrical forms, using a builder’s set square to ensure accurate corners. Fix the outline of curved beds and borders with a line of dry sand or by manipulating a hosepipe into the desired shape.
There’s a clever trick for marking out circular beds. Drive a sta ke into the ground and cut some string that’s slightly longer than half the width of the desired size. Make a loop at one end, slip over the stake and attach the other end to a cane. Pull tight and walk around the stake, scratching a circle on to the surface. If you are creating beds and borders on a lawn, work your way along the marked-out area with a half-moon edging tool, then strip back the turf with a spade.
Dig the area over, working in plenty of well-rotted manure or garden compost. Break up heavy clods with a fork and rake the surface level.
A random selection of plants are unlikely to gel, so it’s best to choose a planting theme. You could go for a specific style, such as tropical, cottage garden and prairie-style planting, or try a colour scheme – a white, green and sky-blue palette will add a calming effect, while a combination of red, purple and orange commands attention.
Set taller species at the back of borders and towards the centre of beds, graduating plants in height as you come for wards. Apart from focal points, aim to plant in groups of three or five.
The spacing between plants varies according to mature size, so check the back of labels for information.
Finish by mulching the surface with a 3in layer of garden compost or composted bark, leaving a gap around plants to prevent materials from softening stems.
Apart from giving displays a tidy appearance, mulching locks in moisture, insulates roots and prevents weed seeds germinating.