Garden Consultations - are they worth it?

Unexpectedly for a bleak December day I received an email request for a Garden Consultation from a keen gardener who felt 'she had lost her way'. Now this type of request for the help of a Garden Designer is reasonably common and it highlights how our experience and training can, often in a single visit, help to answer any queries and also to reassure, or put a fellow gardener on the right path.

My client had a fabulous period property with a large, shadey, woodland-style garden, full of collected memorabilia and antiques, wine-crates, pots and artefacts arranged attractively, mostly in her 'courtyard area'.  She was very hands on and loved growing vegetables and also flowers from seed. She was aware of the limitations of her garden but also knew that it could be even more attractive.  Recently retired she was determined to iron out the few problems she was facing and focus on making the garden less labour intensive and more rewarding. Hence her internet search and request for me to help her.

Our correspondence neatly summarises what took place:

enquiry: I would like to add a gazebo / pergola in our courtyard to add some interest. Courtyard is a walled garden approx 17ft x 20ft but on 2 levels. Gazebo would probably be in area 10ft x 10ft.  We are in Ryde. Would you be able to arrange a site visit to give some advice please. 

So an appointment was made and armed with this information I planned my visit.  Now, it is important to stress that a Garden Designer can not 'design' on the spot.  But because of our general horticultural  and design experience we can often lend a fresh eye to a situation and provide real help to someone who wants to sort out a problem for themselves.  Often, an initial consultation can lead to further design work and also a follow through contract to build the garden.  But, in this case I knew I had a practical gardener to meet.

My email and notes sumarise that:

Hi Sue,  Good to meet with you yesterday and to discus ideas for your intriguing garden.  Here are the summarized notes of the issue including plant choices we discussed:


The Courtyard Area:
1. Introduce 2/3 very large containers to make a statement
2. Include large characteristic plants e.g. Olives, pencil thin Cypress trees or the hardier Fastigiate Yews
3.  Simple evergreen box plants in large  balls give substance and have a calming effect amongst all the collectibles
4. Define the edge of the change in levels
5. Introduce scent especially night-scented plants e.g. Trachelospermum jasminoides, Rosa Alberic barbiere or Rosa Mme Alfred Carriere,
6. Large feature pots of Citrus trees are evocative as are Angels trumpets (Brugmansia) but both of these will need winter protection.
7. White plants look great in the night especially Nicotiana sylvestris (tobacco plant) grown from seeds( can also be used in the garden)
 
The Main Garden:
Create new clearings by eradicating ground ivy etc., improve the soil and then plant in repeated drifts ( 7- 10) through the evergreen areas:

• Digitalis purpurea var. alba( seed)
• Anemone japonica alba/'Honorine Jobert' ( perennial plant)
• Leucojum aestivum ( Snowflakes) bulbs
• Lunaria  rediviva (Honesty) (seed)
• Hydrangea 'Annabelle', 'Snowflake' or Quercifolia( shrubs)
• Miscanthus 'Morning Light' (tall, stately perennial grass)
• Euphorbia amygdalodes var. robbiae ( perennial) limey green flowers
• Geranium phaeum 'Album' - white hardy geranium ( perennial)
• Epimedium perralderianum ( perennial) soft yellow flowers, evergreen Anemone nemerosa ( wood anemone) bulbs
• Galium odorata ( Sweet Woodruff) ground covering perennial with white flowers
• Acanthus mollis ( perennial) big architectural perennial , leaf motif often used in mediterranean gardens 

Finally, the on-line company to check out is www.roominthegarden.co.uk  for the rusted metal garden features. They have a bespoke service so you could send in your own designs/measurements. Check out the 'Walled Garden' page and you will see a delightful gazebo, covered in white roses against a tall wall, very like your area. It should inspire you.


Good luck, Chris

A fairly immediate reply informed me that the time had been well-spent.  Very satisfying to enable a fellow gardener to take control again of her garden.

Hi Chris

Thank you so much for your time on Thursday and for your notes.  It's good to chat things over with someone new, and to have a new set of eyes looking over the place.  I'm starting to research the Mediterranean / Moroccan ideas.  I had a look at 'Room in the Garden' - fabulous ideas, and gives me a good sense of direction and will keep me more disciplined - I think that's what I need - find a style/theme and stick to it.

Thank you also for the planting notes - I'm going to get started and sort out which seeds I can start off now, and print myself off a shopping list, so I don't get waylaid in the garden centres!!

All the best, and I'll keep a regular look out on your website.

Should I go or should I stay?

How sad that someone should think of selling their house because they cannot manage their much beloved garden anymore! This was the sentiment sadly told to me by a client recently. Flooding, a new housing development turning their quiet country lane into a rat run, a new neighbour with expansionist tendencies, the arrival of two boisterous grandsons and a commitment to looking after them were just some of the reasons given to me.  Only a brief mention of the obvious- just finding the physical demands of a large garden more tiring. ( I admired their spirit!) But, holding their daughter's wedding in the garden in August had highlighted' the lack of colour in the garden' and had encouraged them to pick up the phone and ask for help.

So, not quite giving up then? Just re-assessing the gardens potential, I thought so! Indeed I hoped so, because it was a glorious spot and so much work, love and attention had gone into it.

My task then, was to sort out this conundrum. To re-design one whole area where a tree had been taken down and to trawl through a massive long border, identifying which shrubs needed pruning, reducing or removing. Very quickly followed by creating additional spaces for large new drifts of mid-late flowering perennials and grasses whilst saving and re-using existing interesting early flowering material. A challenge worth undertaking I believe.

Did I mention the enormous leylandii hedge, dying out too?

I like these folks, it can be done!

Island Blend

After a very busy spring and early summer focussing my attention on my clients garden projects it has been refreshing to meet up with an old friend and horticultural inspiration, Oliver Mathews. Oliver is a top class garden photographer and we first met when he came to take pictures of one of my earlier projects. Put simply, I was bowled away by his stunning images but equally entranced by his quiet dedication to his craft, turning up at dawn to ply his trade and patiently waiting for wind, sun and light to be absolutely perfect. It was a joy to work with someone who really understood the positioning of plants not just for colour effect but more importantly to catch the light. My giant swathes of Stipa gigantea did just that and I think it also encouraged him to return to his own garden to begin experimenting with grasses. This meeting however, was for Oliver to write about someone else's pictures, notably Rob and Jo Whitworth. The Whitworths are also wonderful garden photographers and they too had visited to take pictures of my garden projects for their photo library. Whilst taking a short break for coffee in my own front garden with its exotics theme they began to focus attention on my plantings there and before I knew it, they had me posing in the garden! Some time later, those pictures of my Southern Hemisphere garden were sold to the RHS 'The Garden' magazine and in due course, Oliver was despatched to write the article. So, whilst trying to stay focussed on the job in hand and name all the plants within the garden, I have to say it was, as ever a delight to catch up with Oliver. Next up, I have promised to visit him and his wife, Sheila in their maturing Brook garden. But as ever, he left me with a teasing statement, telling me he had taken recent pictures of a clients gravel garden I had designed which I really must see..........

Stopping by Woods

As gardeners we can learn so much from the natural rythms all around us.

My cycle route takes me along the river Yar, where a ribbon of deciduous woods flanks the river on one side and the farmland on the other. To the sound of the curlew and sandpiper piping through the woods my attention was caught by the repeated patterns of vegetation mile upon mile.

Young hazels, willow and oaks formed the structure, with just a glimpse of catkin and tight coppery bud waiting to emerge. Ground ivy covered most of the marshy earth and in places reached for the sky, growing up into fallen branches and the taller trees, twining amongst liguana -like honeysuckles. Brackish pools appear randomly amongst the fallen leaves with escaping streams leaching out their precious gift of water into the surrounding vegetation. Whispering rushes guard these, forming an inpenetrable edge to the river. The early morning light washes over their feathery tops, changing tone with the seasons. Endlessly fascinating, wave upon wave as the wind brushes over them.

Clearings with fallen logs invite me to stop and stare - or play like many families do, so that their children can explore the wonder of the quiet glades. What can be more magical in a young child's eyes than tiny woven paths through vegatation, with logs to scramble over and hidden plant treasures peeping out from dark corners?

Stands of the glossy leafed evergreen fern, Asplenium scolopendrium punctuate this with their bold foliage. Strap-like leaves of iris foetidissima form further aysmmetric groupings in the clearings. In design terms we would talk of 'ground cover' and 'architectural specimens'!

The simplicity of this woodland planting can be echoed in our own garden plantings, especially in those wild boundary areas. Why, the endless formal hedge or cuprinol stained fence? A natural planting like this will not only please the eye, but provide home to much wildlife as well. Shade loving ornamentals and bulbs can be added to create further interest if desired.

My joy at this scene is yet to be heightened as I know that concealed and sheltering among the leaves are mile upon mile of primroses and my favourite, the celandines. Come spring they will highlight the path just like cats eyes in a road.

This truly is a lesson in 'less means more'.

© Chris Barnes

A Gentle Plea for Autumn Planting

At a recent seminar I attended on water-wise gardening and water-saving methods at the Hillier Gardens in Hampshire I was staggered at the alarming statistic that the south of England receives less annual rainfall than parts of the Middle East!?

So I thought it may be timely to remind all gardeners, new and experienced that one of the best times for any form of gardening activity is the autumn.

It has become glaringly obvious this year that the ‘window of opportunity’ for any real gardening activity is getting shorter. So begin to plan ahead for the autumn and don’t wait another season before you are caught out by either water-shortages or long dry winters or indeed a long wet spell!!

Autumn has always been the best time for fruit tree, ornamental tree and shrub planting, particularly bare-root hedging plants. But it is also an ideal time for most ground preparation and for planting of all garden plants. The soil will still be warm and with a decrease in day-time temperatures and increased rainfall, growing conditions are ideal to give plants a good start. If garden borders are given a good mulch of organic matter as well it will both help to feed the soil over the winter period and also help to conserve moisture if there is a hose-pipe ban. A bulk purchase of compost is a very good investment as is increasing water butt capacity and installing other rain saving devices.

I know I speak for most horticultural professionals when I say that we can best meet out clients needs if gardening projects are planned now and worked on over the autumn and winter period. It is simply impossible to fulfil all gardening tasks between the Easter Bank Holiday and the May Bank Holiday – so make plans now and begin to act on them. Because if all predictions are correct we are going to have to get used to these changing weather patterns and adapt our gardening practises sooner rather than later.

Chris Barnes – garden design, consultation and management http://www.chrisbarnesgardens.co.uk

Death by Gravel

Having built and demonstrated the strengths of Gravel Gardens I find myself being asked to help others do the same. Starting from scratch is often easier than doing a re-design which was what I was asked to do recently. I wasn't sure I was up to this task when I saw the absolutely huge expanse of gravel that lay before me. What was the drive and where did the garden start and finish? It was really hard to tell there was so much gravel and so little planting.

But my Clients were really good folks and honest about the weaknesses of their newly acquired garden. They had seen the gravel garden at Afton Park with it's flowing grasses, architectural shapes and pools of seasonal colour and realised that their own gravel garden was wanting.

Fortunately, I knew a little of the history of both the house, site and garden so between us we were able to piece together what must have been the rationale behind this mass use of gravel. The site was indeed demanding. Over the years it had been used as a builders yard where concrete blocks were at one time manufactured, then a joinery workshop and finally a conversion to a beautiful barn home. The gravel had simply been poured down to conceal a multitude of sins, the worst of which was vast areas of solid concrete. The only redeeming factor was that the owners of the joinery workshop had laid some decking paths and tracking in and around the gravel which broke up this mass surface area. A huge concrete cruciform and two chronically congested wooden planters with a palm and dogwood desperate to be re-planted had been used to 'give interest' to the gravel plus a motley collection of pots of all persuasions with a curious collection of everything from miniature conifers (yuk! sorry but just don't like them) to Pennisetum grasses (lovely!). The previous owners had clearly tried but lost their way in this sun-baked, shallow soiled expanse of building materials.

But how to proceed? A closer examination of the planting within the gravel was revealing. It was clear that several plant species were holding their own and indeed beginning to colonise this inhospitable area. Stipa tenuissima was doing well, Alchemilla mollis , Calendula officinalis, Linaria were all self-seeding into the gravel. Large carpets of 'Snow in Summer' with its lax grey foliage and white flowers was dominating the edges, but lacked the all important contrast of a stronger colour nearby with the two exceptions of a stunning pool of magenta dianthus and a couple of mounds of Armeria maritima or Common Thrift. I was encouraged by these survivors and felt by adding to the pallete of plants within this garden and upping the ratio of plants to gravel we could alter the whole character of the garden.

As ever, I began to make my mental list of plants for hot, dry, situations over shallow soil. What I was looking for was a contrast in leaf shape, texture and form. Stronger colours were needed to punctuate the blandness of the gravel. More grasses were needed both tall spires and more flowing examples. Flat, creeping ground-huggers would offer another dimension also. I was definitely beginning to get excited. Then my Client took me over to their newly built Alitex Greenhouse which had some newly acquired stunning architectural plants in it. Now we were cooking . . . . .