SMALL GARDENS CAN STILL HAVE GREAT POTENTIAL!

by | Nov 26, 2024 | Gardens | 0 comments

SMALL GARDENS CAN STILL HAVE GREAT POTENTIAL!

Designing a small garden is often harder than a large one. The whole garden is often on view and visible throughout the year, and it needs to look good for 12 months of the year. It is often surrounded by boundaries such as fencing and walls, in varying degrees of repair, and can be overlooked by neighbours, their trees and their buildings.

So here are some tips to consider, to maximise your small garden’s potential:

 

 

     

    • Create a journey through the garden – use a curved path, create 2 or more levels with a few steps, divide the space with informal screens – so that one cannot see the whole garden at a glance and there is an element of wanting to get into the garden to explore!
    • Informal screening can be achieved with small trees or tall shrubs such as Amelanchier and Eriobotrya, or metal or wooden screens/posts: Placing such screening towards the middle of the garden rather than around the boundaries gives the space depth, and creates interest.
    • Use evergreen foliage for permanent structure, and choose deciduous plants that have a long period of interest, such as repeat flowering plants or grasses that keep their plumes over the winter months.
    • Be generous with the size of your borders – wide, generous planting gives a feeling of space and allows for tiered planting. Avoid narrow, long borders along the boundaries.
    • Use large, dramatic foliage such as Tree Ferns and Fatsia to make the garden feel larger; play on contrasts of texture and foliage.
    • Go up! Use fences and walls for planting climbers, and introduce obelisks, arches or small pergolas to create height in the borders and grow plants up them.
    • Consider where the sun falls at different times of the day, and create different seating areas such as a bench, a bistro table and chairs, a wall with a seat incorporated.
    • Consider losing the lawn – create a dining/barbecue area and surround with planting.
    • Use a few, matching, large pots, rather than a number of smaller pots of different materials.
    • Limit your hard landscaping materials, so that you are left with a simple design which is not too busy.

    Happy Gardening!

    Anne Fraser and Caroline Streets

    Planting Gems

    www.plantinggems.co.uk

    [email protected]

    07729 835988 & 07930 876348

     

    Seasonal Thoughts from Planting Gems

    by | Sep 5, 2024 | Gardens | 0 comments

    Seasonal Thoughts from Planting Gems

    Autumn is just around the corner!

    This is a lovely time of year – late flowering perennials such as Rudbeckias, Penstemons, Persicaria and grasses reach their peak, and late flowering shrubs such as Hydrangeas, Hebe and Myrtle have their time in the sun. Some plants put on a second flush. Orange and fiery red, autumn colour is just around the corner and the promise of berries and autumn fruit, conkers and acorns is on the horizon.

     

    It has been a wet, cool Summer so far, and the plants have been as confused as we have! Spring flowering shrubs still performing in mid-Summer; trees losing some of their leaves early; and some perennials very slow to reach their peak. Hopefully we have a warm, late Summer ahead and it is a very good time to stop and reflect on how your garden is performing, and whether it is providing you with the colour and interest that you seek.

    Are your borders wide enough to provide staggered and tiered planting, which generally look more interesting and attractive than a narrow strip of plants? Do your paths and seating areas need a re-fresh or re-think? Are you taking advantage of the sunny (or shady) spots in your garden at different times of the day? Have your trees and shrubs outgrown their space, providing too much shade and using up too much space? Are you making the most of your walls and fences, with taller plants and climbers? Your soil may need to be cultivated and improved, turned over and enriched with peat free compost, and your planting scheme may need a review and a refresh. So have a look at your garden while you enjoy the last rays of Summer.

    There are still a number of Autumn Garden shows before the end of the season to provide you with inspiration. Now is the time to plan and purchase Spring bulbs for 2025. Autumn is also a good time to purchase and plant trees and shrubs. Increasingly, plants need to be tough to cope with warm, dry spells, and with cool, wet periods. It is hard to believe that 2023 was the warmest year on record in the UK! The trends are for eco and sustainable materials, with permeable surfaces to allow water to drain through and not run-off, overfill drains, and cause flash- flooding.  Vertical accents with bug hotels, obelisks and arches are popular, with brightly coloured, contemporary furniture – Lots of food for thought.

    Happy Gardening!

    Anne Fraser and Caroline Streets

    Planting Gems

    07729 835988 & 07930 876348

    www.plantinggems.co.uk

    [email protected]

    Seasonal Thoughts from Planting Gems

    by | Jul 2, 2024 | Homes & Gardens | 0 comments

     

    Pots and Containers: So versatile and stunning in all seasons

    Seasonal Thoughts from Planting Gems

    We have clients who rely exclusively on pots and containers in their outdoor space, and this can be done very effectively. A balcony, terrace, patio… can all be ‘furnished’ with planting in containers that can provide a long-term, attractive scheme, that can simply be enhanced twice a year, with bedding/seasonal planting for year-round colour.

    The first rule is that the larger the pot the better. Not only does it look better but it offers more variety and options in terms of planting. Small pots dry out quicker and need more frequent watering, and the soil will run out of nutrients faster, and need feeding more.

     

    So in your large container, choose a shrub, with height and structure, as the centre-piece, then some smaller shrubs or perennials to create a scheme, making sure those are all suitable for the site conditions. How many hours of sun will the container receive each day? Is the site exposed or windy, which will dry out pots quicker and rock plants if tall? There are plants suitable for all sites but one must choose the right plants, just as if planting out in a border. Choose a mixture of evergreen and deciduous plants, to ensure year round interest

    And then finally add the seasonal planting: pansies, cyclamens or hellebores in Winter, or geraniums, cosmos, begonias or verbenas in Summer. This adds a splash of colour, and enhances the existing scheme with a seasonal feel.

    There will be some gardening to do – Pots and Containers will need topping up as soil levels drop naturally over time. They will need feeding as nutrients run low, and some regular watering. And there will still be some weeding/pruning/dead-heading to do, but it will not take much to create a stunning display and enhance your enjoyment of your outdoor space over the Summer and beyond.

    Happy Gardening!

    Anne Fraser and Caroline Streets

    Planting Gems

    07729 835988 & 07930 876348

    www.plantinggems.co.uk

    [email protected]

    Common mistakes when planting a new border…

    by | Jun 27, 2024 | Homes & Gardens | 0 comments

    Common mistakes when planting a new border…

    Walking back from my local underground station I recently came across a newly re-designed front garden with a border that stopped me in my tracks… a small planting area running alongside a driveway,  only 60cm wide but  planted with a selection of shrubs that look nice and cute now but which will soon become very large, some of them reaching up to 4 metres in height and width,  taking over the space and spilling onto the paved area… some will undoubtedly need to be taken out within a couple of years or in any case will require so much clipping and pruning that they will fail to thrive.

    Planting a new garden or a new border requires careful consideration and knowledge of plants, which your landscaper or gardener may not have.

    Not considering the plant growth and its full size at maturity is a key factor in a failing scheme.
    But also, what is your soil like, heavy or light, wet or dry? What is the orientation, how much sun does it get. Is it exposed to wind and pollution? Will the plants self-seed and invade the garden? Or are they short lived and subject to disease?

    These are questions that a horticulturalist comes across every day – finding the right plant for the right space is key.

    Other common mistakes when planting a new border include:

    • Planting too much variety; try to reduce your palette of plants and repeat them throughout the border instead
    • Choosing plants that all flower at the same time; try to think of year-round interest, don’t buy all that looks good in the garden centre in May
    • Not preparing the ground properly; digging a hole is just not enough, you need to clear weeds and rubble, add compost and sometimes a root fertiliser.

     

    Despite all this, gardening is very much about trial and error, so don’t let these mistakes stop you from experimenting with a new planting scheme – just do your research first and be prepared to move plants around the garden!

    Happy Gardening!

    Anne Fraser and Caroline Streets

    07729 835988 and 07930 876348

    Planting Gems

    www.plantinggems.co.uk

     

     

    Seasonal Thoughts from Planting Gems

    by | Mar 5, 2024 | Gardens | 0 comments

    Seasonal Thoughts from Planting Gems

    Is your garden ready for 2024?

    It is official! 2023 was the warmest year on record in the UK, and 2024 is predicted to be warmer still. Periods of drought followed by periods of unusual, persistent rain, means that our gardens are having to cope with unpredictable and challenging conditions. Unseasonal warmer temperatures have also resulted in some shrubs budding for a second time – or coming into bloom early, making them susceptible to sudden cold snaps, reducing later flowering, with knock on impacts for pollinators and setting seeds. Building a resilient garden that can withstand these pressures, will allow your garden to thrive through whatever conditions the climate throws at it.

     

    So how should we, gardeners respond to this situation? Of course it is important to choose the right plant for the right place. To give a plant the best possible chance of thriving, it is vital to take note of aspect and soil, and the plants requirements, so that when planted, it is off to a good start – No good planting a sun lover in a shady corner where it will struggle, even without unpredictable weather conditions.

    It is also important to improve the quality of your soil to reduce the stress on plants and trees. A mulch of good quality compost, together with some grit, will add nutrients to the soil and improve drainage. Scratching the soil surface with a cultivator or similar tool will also help reduce compaction, and deter the rain from forming a surface crust which causes run-off rather than absorption.

    With more warmer, sunny days, there is an increasing trend for ‘outdoor sitting and dining areas’ even in the smallest of gardens. Being outside more, surrounded by wildlife friendly, attractive planting is good for our physical and emotional well-being, as is recycling and re-using materials or choosing materials that are natural and ‘eco’ to create your haven, such as wood, natural stone and terracotta. Choosing plants and landscapes that are less in need of watering after the first year and finding a way to collect and store water (in ponds or water butts) for those drier periods, is also a way of doing our bit!

    By making these choices, gardeners can give back to the environment while also creating beautiful outdoor spaces.

    Happy gardening !

    Anne Fraser and Caroline Streets

    07729 835988 and 07930 876348

    Planting Gems

    www.plantinggems.co.uk

    [email protected]