Every garden is a challenge in one way or another but sometimes a new garden whether left by the builders or by its ex-owner is almost a threat! But take heart! Many of the prettiest and most entertaining gardens I know have been made by people who knew nothing or little about planning a garden, let alone about gardening itself when they began.
Three truisms about planning a garden might bear repeating:
If there is a lovely tree far away, "steal" it.
Plant your own trees in front of it so that the in-between scene (if this is not attractive) is hidden and the tree appears to be an extension of your own plants and your garden.
If there are many trees in the distance, or even in neighbouring gardens, imagine your garden against the backcloth made by them and group your plants accordingly.
This way your garden will appear bigger.
The owner of a new plot filled with nothing but builders' rubble thinks first of his lawn, then of trees and shrubs.
Once the grass is down, the garden begins to look established.
Then the plot must be furnished.
It is possible, even in this country where the techniques of moving large trees are seldom practised, to obtain first-class mature examples of many decorative trees and shrubs.
Some companies will produce a special list of large specimen trees and shrubs for immediate effect which creates the impression of an apparently mature garden from the emptiest meadowland.
This is really useful when planning a garden.
Prices however, are necessarily comparatively high for large trees, for they require special techniques in both growing and moving.
Most of us are faced, therefore, with the alternative of planning a garden by looking ahead ten years or more to imagine the final effects we hope to achieve.
Small trees and shrubs are astonishingly inexpensive and when bought from a reputable nurseryman almost fool-proof.
Except for certain quick-growing varieties these will develop little in the first year or two of their newly planted life.
After this, however, when reasonably well established, they will romp away, accelerating in the speed of their growth until they become no longer seedlings but sturdy young plants that play a vital part in the landscaping of the garden.
Meanwhile the imaginative gardener can fill the space with quick growing annuals that can furnish the garden with leafy plants.
Let us consider the really new garden, the uncultivated building site - a pathetic wilderness of weeds and builder's rubble, baked, often without protection or privacy, its soil nothing more than a churned-up mixture of baked clay and half bricks! What can we do with it? Should we first defend it with fences or hedges, decorate it with trees and shrubs, cover it with a carpet of green turf, utilise it for a children's playground or cultivate it for fruit and vegetables? Before we begin to scheme and start planning a garden, let us ask ourselves what a garden should provide.
Most of us see our gardens as an extension of our living room.
Did you know that the majority of people see planning a garden as one of the first jobs to be done when moving into a new home?
Three truisms about planning a garden might bear repeating:
- plan carefully before you begin;
- make use and exploit every inch of space, and
- select your plants with great care.
If there is a lovely tree far away, "steal" it.
Plant your own trees in front of it so that the in-between scene (if this is not attractive) is hidden and the tree appears to be an extension of your own plants and your garden.
If there are many trees in the distance, or even in neighbouring gardens, imagine your garden against the backcloth made by them and group your plants accordingly.
This way your garden will appear bigger.
The owner of a new plot filled with nothing but builders' rubble thinks first of his lawn, then of trees and shrubs.
Once the grass is down, the garden begins to look established.
Then the plot must be furnished.
It is possible, even in this country where the techniques of moving large trees are seldom practised, to obtain first-class mature examples of many decorative trees and shrubs.
Some companies will produce a special list of large specimen trees and shrubs for immediate effect which creates the impression of an apparently mature garden from the emptiest meadowland.
This is really useful when planning a garden.
Prices however, are necessarily comparatively high for large trees, for they require special techniques in both growing and moving.
Most of us are faced, therefore, with the alternative of planning a garden by looking ahead ten years or more to imagine the final effects we hope to achieve.
Small trees and shrubs are astonishingly inexpensive and when bought from a reputable nurseryman almost fool-proof.
Except for certain quick-growing varieties these will develop little in the first year or two of their newly planted life.
After this, however, when reasonably well established, they will romp away, accelerating in the speed of their growth until they become no longer seedlings but sturdy young plants that play a vital part in the landscaping of the garden.
Meanwhile the imaginative gardener can fill the space with quick growing annuals that can furnish the garden with leafy plants.
Let us consider the really new garden, the uncultivated building site - a pathetic wilderness of weeds and builder's rubble, baked, often without protection or privacy, its soil nothing more than a churned-up mixture of baked clay and half bricks! What can we do with it? Should we first defend it with fences or hedges, decorate it with trees and shrubs, cover it with a carpet of green turf, utilise it for a children's playground or cultivate it for fruit and vegetables? Before we begin to scheme and start planning a garden, let us ask ourselves what a garden should provide.
Most of us see our gardens as an extension of our living room.
Did you know that the majority of people see planning a garden as one of the first jobs to be done when moving into a new home?