WILD AND WONDERFUL

Creating a natural haven...

Don’t lose your views: Avoid huge view-blocking windbreaks, choosing instead smaller, wind tolerant plants. Griselinia littoralis is Lucy’s favourite hedging plant. ‘It looks good all year round and is easy to prune; Escallonia I find to be less wind-hardy and it gets very woody.’

Don’t feed plants heavily: Lucy uses some blood, fish and bone when planting but, apart from liberal use of seaweed on the vegetable patch, she tries not to feed later to discourage weak, sappy growth.

Courgettes and squash do brilliantly planted in compost bins surrounded by slates: high nutrient levels, constant moisture and the extra warmth provided by the slates make for great crops.

Lucy plants ground cover beneath the shrubs to cut down on weeding: Pachysandra terminalis, Salix nakamurana Yezoalpina, acaena and ‘a wonderful unnamed evergreen I found in an abandoned garden’ have become her favourites.

Allow some self-seeding: ‘I weed meticulously but encourage selfseeding of aquilegias, cerinthe, purple Geranium pyrenaicum ‘Bill Wallis’ and pink Geranium palmatum and a few others to give a more natural look.’

Try to use local materials where possible for paths, walls and plant supports. I use razor clam shells as plant labels and driftwood for signs.