Adam's Garden

One of the most difficult parts of gardening is keeping the garden looking nice for the whole year. For example a garden that is filled with azaleas looks stunning in the spring and early summer. However, unless you are particularly fond of the foliage, the garden can look rather plain for the rest of the year. However, this can be ameliorated to a certain extent by judicious planting of those species with ornamental leaves. Until I recently paid a visit to The Garden House, a beautiful ten acre garden in the Southwest of England, I was unaware of quite how many different species of Rhododendrons and azaleas have ornamental leaves. One particular feature, of which the head gardener is very proud, is a hedge of diverse species of Rhododendrons, surrounding a central lawn, in which the plants have been allowed to grow into and amongst one another. It is only about four foot tall but it has been trained in such a manner that it appears to be formed out of the landscape itself. The plants have been carefully chosen and those with the larger leaves have been omitted. Unfortunately, because very few of them have been labelled, during my visit I did not find out what the different kinds are, which is a shame as one of them possessed round leaves of a cool slate blue and would look perfect in any garden.This feature is probably a little grandiose for the average garden given the restriction in space and does not really present a viable option. I employ a number of tricks to keep up interest in the garden for as much of the year as is practicable and I will now outline these.

Firstly, I know I have mentioned this before but it is worth repeating, it is very useful to have a number of plants grown in containers. These can then be placed strategically around the garden, either in the beds and the Borders or simply in the open. In the last case it is possible to make an arrangement or collection of container-grown plants which can be particularly effective if plants of contrasting size are used. I sometimes use my 15 foot alder in this capacity along with a few Rhododendrons. Potted lilies are perfect for slipping into small gaps between the flowering shrubs and herbaceous plants at a time when there is a distinct lack of colour and it is surprising how many plants lend themselves to containers, although I have had a number of failures in this regard - notably Galtonia candicans, a tall bulb-grown a plant, which in my case grew about ten inches before curling back and dying. Several weeks can be pinched at the start of the year by rearing plants for the containers indoors although it is tricky to prevent damage from the cold once they are put outside,if it is too early.

Another trick is to rear a variety of annuals that can be transferred into position to flower at the appropriate time of year. For example, greenhouse sown Nemophila will flower outside in the spring, when positioned between herbaceous perennials only just poking their heads above the surface of the soil. Naturally, as the perennials come up and encroach upon the space occupied by the Nemophila, it will be possible to remove the annuals and either allow the perennials their space or substitute a later flowering annual which is smaller. I find it wise to ensure a steady supply of annuals ranging from those that will flower early in the year to those which are later flowering. I concede that during the hotter months it can be a problem keeping pot-grown annuals watered, especially if they are still in smaller pots, and and for that reason, even though it is a chore, I always transplant a number of my annuals into slightly larger pots as time goes by. Probably the most useful of these annuals are those that flower mid-season, Viscaria and Phlox for example, because by late summer the perennials have taken over, leaving little or no space for the annuals, which is just as well given the garden workload by then.

It is essential to have a backbone of shrubs, evergreens, trees and foliage plants in any garden if the aim is to have year round interest. The flowering trees like lilacs and magnolias serve the double purpose of structure and (briefly) showy colour. The flowering shrubs like buddleias and azaleas do a similar job, but my favourites are those with ornamental foliage. The foliage plants like Photinias are becoming commonplace and it is possible now to fill a garden completely with this kind of plant, which I am sure some people do in the interest of expediency. Even though many of these looks superb it can be quite boring to have plants that look the same all year round and therefore I prefer to limit the number and let them fade into the background when other species are having their moment of glory. Evergreens, particularly firs, do a great job in the winter, and many of them produce attractive juvenile shoots which you could almost say are the equivalent in spectacle of flowers.

Another attractive property of certain plants, widely underused in the garden, is attractive seed pods. There are numerous of poppies, not to mention old favourites like Lunaria with its delicate round paddles, and innumerable thistles. How about Eryngium, commonly called sea holly, or maybe even Physalis? Grasses could come into this category, like pampas grass and Carex pendula with its slender hanging seeds. A wide range of plants have tremendous berries - Cotoneaster, Berberis and Iris Foetidissima to name a few. The list is endless.

I am in danger of boring you with the number of ways it is possible to enhance the garden for the whole year so I shall stop banging the drum. I am sure you will all have many more ideas and I would be keen to hear about your own tricks of the trade; so until next month I wish you all the very best of gardening.

You can find more articles in the archive under Soiled Hands.

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