Gardener, know thyself
We dip a toe into garden design and ask those questions that I feel are most important and the very same questions I asked myself when I designed all my gardens
I do hope you enjoyed my Kitchen Garden Cornerstones series! Winter really is the perfect opportunity to take stock, review the photos and notes from your garden, assess the changes you need to make, or get busy researching design ideas. Binge on YouTube and Gardener’s World. Then, when it’s dark and dank outside, take time to let your mind flow with creativity! Then galvanise those ideas on paper. Sketch away! Just get those ideas written down. Keep a notepad by your bed… that’s usually when my best ideas pop into my mind!
In this post, we dip a toe into garden design and ask those questions that I feel are most important and the very same questions I asked myself when I designed all my gardens here.
Take this scenario…
You’re given a blank canvas and paints and you have a day to decide what you are going to paint… but that one painting will be on every wall of every room, in your home for a decade at least. So you had better like it! On the spot: Would you be able to create something beautiful and engaging, that holds fascination and interest for year upon year, right then and there? I wouldn’t!
What about a garden? You have a clean slate. Grass laid fence to fence, edge to edge. What are you going to do with it? Knowing you’re going to be seeing it every day and living with it for years to come… Don’t worry, this is not a question you should ever answer in a hurry. Those that do often live in regret for years!
Where to begin?
Looking out to that empty space, you’ll probably want to add borders for a few plants. You’ll more than likely need a shed or storage, for your mower and tools. What about somewhere to sit and admire your garden? Or somewhere just to feel the sun on your face in the morning to kickstart your daily regime? Or perhaps watch the kids playing on the lawn? Is there a pet that’ll need space to run amok?
Maybe there needs to be a spot for dining and the BBQ? You’ll need some form of path, connecting house, to seating, to shed, and a gate if you have one. While we’re at it, as you look out, are there privacy concerns? Are you overlooked and need some kind of screening? Or is there a blot to hide?
These are fundamental questions. You can arrange these elements however you wish, but these are generally the essentials that you will need from your green space. As layout goes, you’d really want that seating area in the sun, but whether it’s for the morning or evening will depend on your lifestyle. If you’re climate has scorching summers, then you’ll need seating under a tree or artificial canopy, like a pergola.
You’d put the shed in a quiet corner, preferably out of the way, because who really wants to look at a shed anyway?! But if there’s no other space available, then consider your screening options - wafting grasses, trellis and climbers, etc. The beds and borders can be linear, serpentine, islands cut into the lawn, raised, or an infinite combination thereof. But don’t be that gardener that has a massive lawn and paltry miserable little borders, all around the edge. No-one likes that gardener (joking… but not really)
Speaking of lawns… do you really even need one? I had a large lawn while we had large dogs and a young nephew sprinting around. But since our beloved fur babies have departed, the lawn has been ripped up and planted as a Flower Garden (with a focus on pollinators). You could have a mosaic of beds and borders, interwoven with gravel paths, ready for you to meander through while admiring your planting.
Lawns are by no means a prerequisite for a garden. They are always optional!
What's your style?
How about the garden aesthetic? What’ll be the overall style of garden? How will it reflect you, once you’ve outlined the basic necessities. How do you want that space to look and feel? What is your style?!
Are you in the camp of contemporary minimalism? Perhaps a burgeoning rewilder? Are you in Team Maximalist with every flat surface available arrayed and decorated with your blue and white china, candles, cut flowers, books, candles, ornaments, nicknacks, and candles? (That would be my camp!) Are you looking for something purely ornamental, or do you also want to grow your own food? Perhaps you’re only interested in growing your own…?
This is an essential debate! Whether that debate is with a partner, the family, or in your own head, you must be true to yourself. If you’re a maximalist and install a contemporary urban garden, with sleek hard landscaping and spartan borders of evergreen topiary, will you feel fulfilled? Or would you find it rather lacklustre and… well… empty?
House & Garden
While you’re pondering the complexities and nuances of ‘style’, walk into your garden and turn around to look at your house. Are you living in an old terrace? Maybe a modern urban town house? An idyllic chocolate-box country cottage? A sharp-edged slice of an architect's dream? Or perhaps a period home with a contemporary extension? I ask this because the juxtaposition of house and garden should play its part in your garden design.
It’s not impossible to match a romantic cottage garden to the modern home or sleek minimalism and formality to a rambling cottage. But it is difficult to do well… Especially if you’re designing the garden yourself with no experience. I’m not saying it’s impossible, by any means, but merging disparate styles takes skill.
Finding your style does take time. Even more so if you’ve only just moved in to your forever home and/or tackling a garden for the first time. Don’t rush this. Unless you want to be ripping up paths and patches of lawn repeatedly, take time to understand your needs and the foundations of a happy healthy garden. Go out and visit other gardens. Discover what style really pushes your button!
If you’re new to my publication and are thinking about creating a vegetable garden, you might well be interested is starting here…
Cornerstones of my kitchen garden No.1
How does your garden grow?
It's time to consider the planting. Not the plants just yet (hold your horses!), but the planting conditions: Soil, aspect, light, climate. Together, the answers you find to the following questions will help to narrow down the vaaaaassst choice of plants. If you’re new to gardening, these are a few key factors that can either make the garden or infuriate and demoralise the gardener.
What type of soil do you have?
Is it sandy? Is it clay? Is it chalky and stony? Is it free-draining, or is it waterlogged after heavy rain? There could be some areas that remain dry and easy to walk on, and patches that always seem damp. Is it acidic or alkaline? Have a look at your neighbour’s gardens.
If, for example, they have azaleas and rhododendrons, or blue hydrangeas, then it's very likely to be acidic. If there’s lavender and lilacs, the soil will be alkaline. There are a wide gamut of plants that are very amenable to many soils and situations, but there are plenty that will fail if planted in the wrong soil.
For a more in-depth analysis you can even send a soil sample to the RHS!
What is the aspect?
What point of the compass does the garden face? With your back against the house, looking out to the garden, are you facing north, with the house casting a shadow over the garden? Or is the garden south-facing, baked almost all day in sunshine? It could be facing east, with morning sunlight and afternoon shade. Or west, shaded in the morning, but hot and sunny in the afternoon and evening.
How much sunlight?
Is your space completely open to the sky? Is it shady? How many hours of direct sunlight does it receive? Are there mature trees or other buildings casting shadows? Is the sunlight present all year, or do some areas lie in permanent shade in winter? There are degrees of shade, depending on how many direct hours of sunlight there is.
For more info check out this article by the RHS.
How about the microclimate?
Is the garden open or sheltered? Are you exposed to the elements on a hill, or sitting in a frost pocket in a valley? The UK and US have climate or ‘hardiness’ zones that will tell you the average temperature ranges and whether you can expect baking summers or freezing winters and the extremes of temperatures.
These are all important questions that will need answers at some point. Collectively, they will (or should) dictate your wish-list of plants and why some plants will inevitably fail and others thrive. And that is want you want. You want plants to thrive… not linger and sulk, merely surviving. Careful thought and consideration now, will save you £££s in the future, not to mention the massive disappointments!
The nuance of all these factors will take time to learn and fully understand. Blogs or books are helpful, but will always refer to averages, generalities and ideals. How these factors translate to your own environmental and geographical position is uniquely your own and understanding them really comes with experience. Or you can shortcut the learning process by employing a gardener/garden designer that already has that multi-faceted experience.
To my mind, the real beauty of gardens and gardening is that you’re always learning. Every day is a school day, as they say!
A few pointers…
Only make/keep a lawn if you really really need one! A lawn reduces the space that you could use for entertaining and seating, deep luxuriant flower borders, cut flower beds, fruit and veg. If you have a young family, then yes, a lawn is a quality safe place, but it’s by no means a requirement for a garden.
Don’t feel you have to rip everything out. Even old gnarly trees and shrubs can be given a new lease of life with contemporary pruning, lifting and thinning, etc. Plus established trees and shrubs imbue the garden with a degree of heritage, not to mention a boon for wildlife.
The thought of having to dig everything can lead to inertia. It’s a horrible job. I hated it. But, you may not have to dig at all. You could make raised beds or use the No Dig method. I used the No Dig method to create my Kitchen Garden and Flower Garden and they established at an astonishing rate. Now all my gardens are No Dig. It’s so simple. No back-breaking digging… just the spreading of cardboard, compost and planting! Far more enjoyable! And you don’t even have to remove the grass!
Try not to be too rigid in design and theme. Allow room for interpretation and development. Take your time to decide on the right style for you. Visit gardens. Visit more gardens. Observe light levels. Test the soil. Work with the soil and conditions. Rather than forcing plants to ‘survive’, use those tailored plants that will thrive!
Make sure you spend time in the garden as it is. Right now. Before you start. So you know when and where the sun strikes the ground throughout the year. Then map out on a plan to give yourself a visual cue where to position seating, outdoor dining, etc. If you'd rather something more three-dimensional, use garden canes and twine to mark out the paths and zones.
Finally, I’d just like to say that we all start at the very beginning. We all make mistakes. We all kill plants. Don’t be disheartened or discouraged. Persevere. “The right plant. For the right place” is a simple, but wonderful idiom to accompany any planting decisions. Research and plant wisely. ‘Right plant, right place' really works and saves an awful lot of frustration and disappointment, not to mention your hard-earned cash!
Coming up…
As we approach the New Year, I wanted to share something a little different, very much more personal. I am going to share part of my journey from a mentally ill, physically weak, very overweight and beleaguered 40-something, to a happy and contented, fit and strong 50-something.
This is post will be all about the physical transformation and the weight-training exercises I use that have a direct carry over into the physicality of gardening.