Q & A: Guide for a gorgeous garden
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Your garden is an extension of your living space, especially in summer.
Q: How do I plant to create a classic cottage border?
A: Informal planting such as in cottage borders is random. To achieve this look you should mark the border into the amoebic-shaped bays and plant bold groups within. Plant in odd numbers to avoid a regimented arrangement. A classic combination that usually works is a mixture of spiky leaves and tall flower spikes with broad leaves and blowsy blooms.
Great partners are lupins and hostas, foxgloves and poppies, alliums, roses and lilies. In between them, add ornamental grasses and thread spikes of Verbena bonariensis and you’re on the award winning track.
Q: Do all shrubs need pruning?
A: No, but you can get more blooms by pruning spring flowering varieties immediately after they flower, and those that bloom on current season’s wood in early spring. However, if lack of space demands it, you can safely reduce any plant by one-third providing you follow pruning with a feed Growmore – about a handful per plant, to aid recovery.
Q: Blooms on my roses have failed to open. They’ve remained as part-opened buds but the petals have gone dry and turned brown. What’s the cause?
A: Its a condition known as rose balling that usually happens when damp weather persists followed by dry, sunny spells. Simply cut out the affected blooms.
Q: I don’t have a proper garden, just a paved yard. Are pots my only option for creating a flower garden?
A: No, raised beds are ideal to showcase treasured plants. And, because you will be importing soil into your garden, you can choose one with a low pH to grow acid loving plants such as rhododendrons and camellias, and fill another bed with limy soil for growing plants like pinks and rock roses. Build your raised beds with generous coping around the to double up as a seat.
Q: What is the best approach for tackling a weedy garden?
A: First you should know your enemy, as your strategy will depend on whether the offending plants have an annual or perennial lifecycle. Annual weeds live for only a short time but will be ready to set seed in less than six weeks of germination, so its important to keep on top of them. The hoe is your best weapon, and 10 minutes spent every week would stop most annuakls in their tracks.
Forking and hand-pulling will get rid of shallow-rooted perenials. unfortunately, you may need to resport to systemic weed killers such as Roundup to tackle menaces such as blindweed. Their roots have a tenacity to run deep into the soil and any tiny place that breaks off will go alone.
Q: My sister has some great hellbores in her garden and has offered to give me a piece. When is the best time to do this?
A: Dig up any large clumps in autumn or early spring. Discard the old woody centre, selecting the healthy, well rooted outer parts for new planting schemes.