Planning a New border
The Spring sunshine over the last few weeks has brought crowds flocking to local garden centres, keen to improve their gardens for the coming season. With the soil warming up and still moist from the Winter rain, now is a good time to introduce some new plants to the borders. But before you rush for the cheque book, you should do a little planning. The secret to creating a good border lies in knowing what you want and what you have already.Take a look at your garden right now and decide which areas of planting you want to improve, and why. You may want to create a scented enclosure around a sunny terrace, or screen off a children’s play area. Maybe you just want to liven up a border, so it has something of interest all year round, or you could fill one area to peak in the summer, wben you spend more time in the garden. Check the aspect of the site, noting if it is sun or shade and test the soil with a simple PH testing kit. Also look to see if the soil is light and sandy or heavy clay, or somewhere in between.
Armed with this information, you are ready to draw up a list of plants which will suit the site and suit your needs. You will save a lot of time and money if you choose plants which thrive in the conditions in your garden. It always seems to be the case that people want to grow Mediterranean sun lovers in cold, north facing borders, but try to resist! Also, when making your list, stick with plants you know, rather than choosing something from a description in a book. You often won’t get what you expected! If you don’t know many plants, take a stroll around your local area and look to see what is growing in your neighbours’ gardens. What grows well for them will probably grow for you too. Pick a selection of plants from the following categories:
* Structural plants – usually evergreen, to provide a backdrop in the Summer and add interest in the Winter
* Key architectural plants with strong shapes, which create a focal point and a place for the eye to rest
* Decorative shrubs with Spring or Summer flowers, or Autumn berries and leaf colour
* Herbaceous plants – perennials which come up and flower every year
* Annuals and bulbs to provide a splash of colour for a short time
It’s a good idea to draw up a simple plan to scale of the area you want to plant. This should ensure that you don’t try to cram in everything on your list and end up with half the garden centre in the back of the car! Start off by positioning some structural plants on your paper plan. Draw circles to represent the size of each plant in 3 – 5 years, to give them room to grow. Put 1 or 2 key feature plants at strategic points, and fill in the spaces with decorative shrubs and drifts of perennials. Aim for a variety of plant shapes, and odd numbered groups of plants. Groups of 3, 5 or 7 plants look better than 1 on its own. Try and restrict the number of different types of plants you choose and repeat some of them around the area. This will unify your scheme and prevent the area looking like a box of chocolates! Finally mark out some areas where you can plant some bulbs in the Autumn and decide on some annuals to fill the gaps between the young shrubs.
Your scheme is now complete. All you have to do now is head off to the garden centre with your plan, and stick to it, without being seduced by whatever is in flower at the time. You can be confident in the knowledge that you’ve created just what you want and it will bring you pleasure throughout the year.