Brilliant Acer Keys

Autumn colour, aesthetically one of the best sights in autumn – brilliant red acers and butter yellow hazels, but it all happens for a reason.

 Leaves are green because they are full of chlorophyll, which absorbs all but the green part of the light spectrum,  as the weather becomes colder and daylight shortens, photosynthesis slows down and chlorophyll is absorbed by the plant. Leaves become less green and appear yellow, orange and red depending which secondary pigment is present in the greatest amount.

Will only get better...

OK I know they are not everyone’s cup of tea but they could be. If you use the right grasses in the right combinations you can have a wonderful border that keeps getting better as the seasons progress, by now the grasses are golden and silvery and the perennials are flowering or just going over with lovely decorative seedheads still to come. During the winter these structures will become frosted and beautiful.

My favourite grass is Stipa tennuissima, a low growing grass – light and delicate, and a gorgeous companion for many perennials (and annuals) Lovely with Gaura linheimeri or with Echinacea sp. Stipas prefer a well-drained soil in a sunny site. In heavy soils try Molinia caerulea with Astrantia ‘Hadspen Blood’.

medal winning garden

First Prize at Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show

treasures in the grass

Mowing regimes are well underway in the garden now, although this hot dry spring followed by this wet spell will have upset most routines. Perhaps it is worth considering a ’no mow’ regime instead, the benefits are many – less work for a start, but more important is the benefit to wildlife. A beautifully mown lawn is a joy to behold but is a wildlife desert, whereas areas of unmown grass will support many insect species.

These areas need not be large; we can’t all have large flowering meadows as part of our grand estate! However they can be attractive, I have an area of front garden that is difficult to utilise and have mown a spiral in the long grass. Many wild flowers have flourished and I have added a few plugs to help it along. I was very lucky last year when bee orchids made an appearance – if I had been mowing the whole area they would never have appeared.

Wintersweet

The usual suspects can be found now in garden centres, by which I mean the winter/spring flowering shrubs. Most of these have the added bonus of being fragrant – trying harder to attract the few insects around at this time of the year?
My favourites are Hamamelis – witch hazel, and Chimonanthus – wintersweet. Still to come but not so far away, is my all-time favourite, Viburnum Carlesii – makes me swoon, the most heavenly scent.
When choosing plants for the garden pick those that earn their place – offer more than one feature. For example fragrance and looks, autumn colour and spring flowers or when using plants for a purpose i.e. screening select those that offer another interest, for instance mixed species hedging for increased bio diversity or fragrant honeysuckle on a trellis  – these lists are endless!

spring is in the air...

Looking out of my window now, the rain is pouring and working in the garden is a half remembered dream, but now is really a very good time to make plans for the garden. Making plans now, especially for larger projects – from evaluating borders to redesigning the whole garden – means that work can be carried out in spring and you can enjoy the fruits of your labour by the summer.
When evaluating your borders consider structure, are there plants with enough structural interest to carry the garden through the winter and to give height? – remember a garden is 3 dimensional! Are there contrasting forms and textures to give interest.
If you are considering a complete overhaul remember that “form follows function” so ensure that in the planning stage the garden will meet your needs ands don’t sacrifice functionality for aesthetics.

Agapanthus seed head

A common request when working as a gardener is “can you put the garden to bed”. This usually means a ruthless cutting down of all herbaceous perennials. However, the snowy and frosty weather makes me wonder whether we should not put the garden to bed at all. The stems of many plants have been stunning during the snow and also offer a winter home to many beneficial insects i.e. ladybirds, which I’m sorry to say I have dislodged many of during the winter tidy up. Of course now in the familiar dreary murky weather the straggly stems of these plants look anything but beautiful!