Courses and Places For Inspiration

Beginning to garden is often a daunting task; firstly there are all the Latin names and then plants have a nasty habit of doing the unexpected. It is worth remembering that plants are rather like people, depending upon where you put them, they will either fail or excel. Gardening books tend to list average growth and conditions required, therefore gardening is rife with surprises!

A useful start would be to find out what grows best on your type of soil. Soil testing kits are readily available from garden centres and cost very little; they will give you an indication as to the pH of your soil. As a general rule, if you have acidic soil you can plant plants like rhododendrons, conifers and many evergreens which like a good rich woodland soil. An alkaline garden would allow you to plant things like buddlejas and plants that require a nutrient weak soil.

Choosing plants can be difficult and good planning will pay off. Think of it like organising a meal; we all know what happens when you go to the supermarket without a list, you end up buying everything you did not need and nothing goes together for a meal. Start with the basics before worrying about plant names. Think about what you need the planting to do. Do you want good winter colour? Are you looking for something dynamic and cutting edge? Choose your plants by their textures and colour with a balance between evergreen and deciduous plants.

January is the spring cleaning month and a great opportunity to get the garden ready for the summer months. Start with some general housekeeping duties, rake up all remaining fallen leaves - I always fill black plastic bags, a few small holes in the base and leave them tied up and by next year you will have your own organic compost. Clean up untidy shrubs and perennials, remove any overlapping and dead stems.

Stay off the beds if the soil is very wet or frozen, its very easy to over compact and break down the soils structure. You can still plant dormant shrubs and trees in January, weather permitting so you haven't left it too late to get some designing done!

I suggest you visit gardens for ideas and inspiration. I recommend those with small demonstration gardens, e.g. RHS Wisley (right) near Woking, Surrey (www.rhs.org.uk) or Capel Manor in Enfield, north London (www.capel.ac.uk/gardens), because these are easy to relate to most domestic gardens. Plants are labeled and you can see exactly what they will look like. You can come away from such visits inspired because it is easy to transpose ideas to your own garden.

Try planting Cornus mas, this yellow flowering dogwood brightens up even the dullest grey day. I love Edgeworthia chrysantha, its very unusual butter yellow flowers are striking against its silver stems.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14