Design Solutions
Drought-tolerant Mediterranean plants offer an easy route to colour, scent and texture, says Kristina Clode
Q How can I make the most of a sunny well-drained slope?
THIS STUNNING school garden encapsulates all the best things about wildlifefriendly, sustainable gardening. Designed to appeal to children, it’s got colourful
Kristina
flowers, fragrant herbs and
Clode
tactile grasses to delight the senses, it’s low maintenance and the plants are drought resistant.
“The design was made for our local primary school in Sedlescombe, East Sussex,” explains designer Kristina Clode. “I was waiting for one of my daughters to finish her after-school swim club and got chatting with the Head. She had just had the willow tree pollarded and the other parents were a bit disgruntled… so I suggested they turn that part of the playing field into a sensory garden to make the most of the space, and she leapt at the idea.
“I created the design, then volunteer parents and teachers helped with the hard landscaping and soil preparation. I planted the garden with help from the school children – each child planted a plant and laid a stone to mark out the paths.”
The design is organised around an existing willow tree and yurt, with gravel paths leading in and out. Three gravel areas are marked out with large cobblestones, with a yellow shade sail over one area and a story chair in another surrounded by rustic sleeper benches.
The highlight of the garden is the exciting planting palette – a combination of easy-care Mediterranean plants for colour, scent and texture. “On the sunny bank behind the story chair I’ve used low-growing, mounding plants such as santolina, rosemary, cistus and Genista lydia, which lights up the slope with its yellow flowers. They’re a mix of evergreen shrubs with green or silver foliage that hug the slope in an arc of three, creating a framework. They don’t need deadheading or pruning other than a quick annual trim and they flower for ages.
“Hardy, drought-tolerant perennials such as achillea, amsonia and gaura help to fill in the gaps – chosen because they’re texturally exciting, flower for a long time and offer autumn interest as well. Repeating these plants is a way to knit the planting scheme together, while a fine bark mulch helps retain moisture and prevent weeds.”
Taller feathery grasses and perennials are planted in the gravel around the seating areas, creating height and a light screen for privacy. Many of the plants used here are reliable self-sowers, such as Erigeron karvinskianus and evening primrose (oenothora).
“Having a garden like this is a wonderful resource, helping children to appreciate the beauty of the natural world, how to nurture living things and develop an interest in horticulture that could last a lifetime,” says Kristina.
The garden has won two awards in the recent Society of Garden Designers Awards, including the prestigious Judges’ Award. Head judge Richard Sneesby described the garden as “extraordinary… generous, beautiful, stimulating, creative… all the things that you want a garden to be.
“It possibly sets a new high bar for school grounds in the future, and if it goes on to inspire other school gardens and proper funding for them, it might well be the most important Award we’ve given in the last ten years.” ✿