Mother Nature knows best
When the time comes to create your garden, turn to the real expert. You are not the only one who has a say in how your finished garden will look - Mother Nature will have the last word. Because location, micro-climate, soil, drainage, topography and geology will all let you know what will and will not work in your garden. Scotland is a land of incredible variety. A garden by the seashore will need plants that can withstand salt; a bog garden calls for plants that like to get wet; frost-pocket glens will need far hardier plants than an urban terrace surrounded by the reflected warmth of the built environment. Then there are wee pockets of magic where the west coast is blessed by the Gulf Stream or suntraps or a south facing wall that can make all the difference. It all makes visiting gardens around Scotland and its islands so fascinating.
You can use all these things to your advantage to create your perfect garden or you can dig drainage, plant windbreaking stands of trees, use earthworks to build protective mounds, excavate a wee pond or an impressive lochan. You can give Mother Nature a hand but get it wrong and she will remind you who is boss. Look at how your house sits within the plot, within the streetscape or landscape to inform your design and have a look at neighbouring gardens to see what’s thriving there before you start to choose plants. Then there is climate change: plants that your grandparents would never have thought of growing in that particular spot might well be happy there now. Others have given up the ghost. We also want to garden with more respect for the environment with wellsourced plants and products, encourage birds, bees and biodiversity while discouraging deer and rabbits. Who hasn’t walked outside and been deeply disappointed by the scene of a devoured garden?
Garden trends
The trend to grow our own, be it on a window sill or vegetable patch, continues. Expect to see more pots, planters and equipment to support this. We are even more home-centred and extending our living space - not only out into the garden but also for longer. Think folding glass doors onto paved, decked or gravelled surfaces with heat and light well into autumn and milder winter days and bringing the garden indoors with pot plants featuring more as part of our interior design.
We want to enjoy rather than always be working in the garden. So trends are more towards low maintenance, thoughtful planting. This means careful planning with design, choice of hard landscaping materials and plants.