Time for reflection
As 2018 draws to a close, why not get plans in order for the new gardening year ahead?
IT’S that time of the year when we look back and look forward, remembering the past and anticipating the future. Gardening is epitomised by faith and hope, and gardeners are optimistic by nature.
We tend to learn through reviewing our successes and failures, and these lessons inform our next gardening steps.
Like so many others, I’ve embraced the houseplant revolution by not only filling my home with plants such as palms, ferns and rubber plants, but I’ve also been busy planting up terrariums and bottle gardens.
This renewed interest led me to open a city centre plant shop, and among the top sellers is Monstera (known as the Swiss cheese plant), which likes bright surroundings but it should be kept away from direct sunlight. If kept warm and occasionally misted, it will grow quite large.
Calatheas have also been very popular and it’s easy to see why.
Their pleasing oval leaves have deep green veins with a dusting of blush pink, and they let you know if they’re thirsty by adopting a rather drooping stance!
Sansevierias are known as the mother-in-law’s tongue and with tall, strap-like foliage, they make a striking statement in any interior design. A must-have when it comes to indoor greenery, they are easy to care for, requiring just a little water every few weeks.
I made the decision at the start of the year to really put the work in at home and finish some gardening jobs which I’d been avoiding.
For once it was a New Year’s resolution I stuck to and I’m now the proud owner of a new grove of wonderful bamboo, which in time, will create a lovely screen between me and the neighbours. I lifted bits of the lawn and gave the space to perennials and grasses.
The conical-shaped bay trees, which I’d used as mechanically twirling specimens at the 2016 Chelsea Flower Show, were repatriated and planted throughout my plot, creating spiky columns of dark green, which even in mid-winter make a statement. But gardening work at home is never-ending and as soon as this year’s tasks were over, I’d earmarked the jobs to be achieved by spring.
My ponds have never become what I’d intended them to – there’s three of them, large rectangular basins which are just a little boring.
Next year I’ll change them to infinity ponds, always appearing to be brimful of water, indeed overflowing, and reflecting the colourful surrounding lush growth.
The latter part of summer 2018 and into early autumn was spent filming a new gardening TV series for Channel 5 which will air some time in spring.
It saw me tour the country with gardening pals, watching as a new wave of garden designers and builders performed their magic in hospitals and care homes.
At Gardeners’ World Live in Birmingham, I designed two gardens for the Young Landscapers Award, supported by the Association of Professional Landscapers. I watched as Jacob Botting and Laurence Senior battled it out with Dan
McGeoghegan and Ryan Bell.
Both teams did extraordinarily well and their plots delighted visitors to the show.
The year ended on a sad note as it was announced while I was writing this piece that one of the giants of British gardening, rose grower and great innovator David Austin, has passed away aged 92.
His exceptional creations, including Constance Spry, Gertrude Jekyll and Olivia Rose Austin, will delight us for ever more.