Best laid plans now will bring a blast of colour to borders next year
As we savour the late bloomers in borders, now is the time to plan ahead for an even more impressive display next year, says Agnes Stevenson
If you’ve planned it well, then your garden in late August should be full of rudbeckias, echinaceas, perennial sunflowers and asters. Crocosmias will be in flower, roses will still be going strong and bedding plants that have been deadheaded regularly, will be providing bright colours and a froth of foliage.
That’s how I’d like my garden to be looking at the moment, but it isn’t quite there yet. I have gaps where nothing grows; bare spots where early perennials have already come and gone and too many shrubs offering little in the way of late summer flowers.
But I’m working on it, and every years things get a little bit better. Gardening is an ongoing process and there’s no point when you can say it’s finished, but that’s what makes it fun.
Last week I was talking to a firm of architects who have just completed a huge project in Dubai.There, in the desert, they have used biophilic principles to create a building that feels welcoming and comfortable.
There’s a whole philosophy now about how much we as humans are drawn to organic forms, so everything from hotels to hospitals are now being designed using materials such as wood and stone and with green walls so the occupants feel connected to the natural world.
But if you are lucky enough to have a garden you can achieve all these wellbeing benefits simply by pottering about outdoors, seeing what changes the seasons brings and witnessing the intricate patterns made by flowers and foliage.And that’s what I like most about gardening – watching seedlings sprout, leaves unfurling, buds opening then petals falling and the canopy turning red and gold.
At the moment, as well as enjoying the bright colours of August, I’m writing out lists of spring bulbs and I’ve already placed orders for next year’s
sweet peas, which will be sown in October, at the same time as I’m enjoying this year’s tomatoes.
While part of me is enjoying what is happening right now, another part is focused on planning ahead with unfailing optimism that next time round the results will be even better. And sometimes they are.
The decision I made earlier in the year to plant more Persicaria “Firetail” has been a huge success and I now have a ribbon of its dark-pink flower spikes running the length of the longest border. Next I’m going to add to the agapanthuses, also in flower, and plant more Spireas at regular intervals along the front edge to provide continuity with those already spilling over the retaining wall in soft mounds of pink and white flowers.
All this will help to add a bit of structure to what has been, until now, a bit of a jumble.And while I’m not aiming for precise spacings between plants, a little bit of gentle repetition is easy on the eye and has the calming effect that advocates of biophilia are always aiming to achieve.