Create a garden that looks good all seasons
As seasons come and go, we anticipate the advent of spring the most. Heralding new birth, Mother Nature puts on her best performance at this time, unaided by human intervention, with fields of indigenous daisies demanding nothing more of her than to be admired.
In the garden this most celebrated season brings a lively show of trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs in their prime.
How would it be if our garden were a spectacle no matter the season?
This takes planning and time to achieve but with each succeeding year you may be assured that in every season to come, the present garden will be a more mature expression of what you had planned for it when planting.
Where do you start?
Begin by establishing a basic framework of good “old faithfuls” which might not stand out in any particular season but which form a constant backdrop for all new and existing seasonal elements in the garden.
This planting scheme comprises of trees first, then shrubs, climbers, perennials and ground covers. It might not be economically possible to do this all at once. But over time, if you have a plan, you can begin working towards completing the picture you envisage.
Choose trees, shrubs, perennials and ground covers that look good in every season.
Once the backdrop is established, plant some which alternate in playing a leading role in the garden at different times of the year. You can add these slowly each season when you notice them making a spectacle in the gardens of friends and neighbours or at the nursery.
In planning take note of the basics of good design. These are simplicity, unity and harmony, balance and scale and proportion.
Simplicity. This element brings with it a spirit of calm. Don’t try to plant a little bit of everything — creating what is often referred to as a ‘ fruit salad garden’ — as this will make the space appear small, unnatural and messy.
Unity and harmony. These elements will become apparent over time as your plants mature. To achieve simplicity, harmony and unity use the same shapes (round beds, scalloped beds, square or rectangular beds and shrubs and trees with a round or columnar outline) in different areas of the garden as well as repeating plants around the garden.
Repetition gives rhythm and unity as the elements are linked across the whole. Plants get lost in the scheme of things if they are planted singly.
Rather than buying a single plant choose three, five or seven of the same plant depending on their size and your pocket. Seedlings too are best planted en masse.
Balance. Expressed in the extreme, balance is symmetry. An example is two planters on the side of an entrance which are identical or four similar planters placed on each corner of an entertainment area.
Part of what attracts us to symmetry, is that it induces a sense of calm and harmony. Try to achieve a balance in the variety, size and overall shape, profile, colour and texture of plants.
Note that the spaces between plants are also important. Balance a densely foliaged tree on one side of the garden with another plant or object on the other side which is of a similar size and/or impact.
Scale and proportion. In your planning, ensure all trees and shrubs are of a complementary height in relation to each other and with the surrounding buildings. On planting, bear in mind the size and height of plants in their maturity. If you wish to create the illusion of height in a small garden, use wall space to attach trellises and pillars to support climbers. Link the different areas in your garden by using the same ground cover.
Colour may also provide a linking element in the framework. Bear in mind the same basic principles mentioned above when deciding where to “grow ” colour in the garden. Besides flowering plants, consider the wide variety of leaf colours and textures it is possible to include.
Once again, beware of planting every possible colour of plant that yields the “fruit salad” look, and remember that using too much variety creates a feeling of disquiet.
Repeat colours around the garden for a unifying effect — whether they are in the leaf colours of shrubs, perennials or the flowers of annuals (such as petunias).
Spring garden chores: Neaten up the garden by removing dead leaves and flowers. Trim shrubs into shape. Discard any plants that no longer have any hope of performing well.
Mow the lawn (not too short) weekly to encourage a “thick pile”.
Dig in compost and fertilise plants that are wanting. Water the garden well before and after the sun reaches the top of the sky, say before 10am and after 4pm to prevent evaporation and the sun’s magnified affect which burns wet leaves.
Redefine edges if they have overgrown. Don’t heap up the edges of the bed into a mini mountain with a spade— as roots are chopped off and the soil is disturbed each time this is done.
Rather edge the bed with railway sleepers, logs, rocks or bricks so the soil maintains its level with the lawn.
● Our new gardening column In the
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Garden ”, is written by feature writer, garden enthusiast and former schoolteacher Julia Smith, who has returned home to live in
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Chintsa East. The column looks to inform both novice and accomplished gardeners how to make the most of their green patch.