Garden design, garden planning, garden layout, planting plants and planting schemes

A new family garden with design, interest and uses

Posted on December 24th, 2009

Once the site had been cleared, worked commenced on grading the site and to create a series of terraces with the highest at the back (upper lawn) and grading downwards towards front (a planted buffer zone separating lawn area from football area) which was also separate from the enclosed vegetable garden which was next up from the entrance level and garden shed.

Some other works completed included the construction of an enclosure for the puppy as well as some wall cladding/trellissing to conceal some unappealling unrendered blockwork wall finishes etc.

Entrance to Dog Enclosure

Planting at Dog enclosure featured Hardenbegia and Libertia.

View of entrance (southern) to enclosed Vegetable garden area

Enclosed Vegetable garden Entrance/exit (northern)

Stepping stone pathway linking Vegetable garden to Garden Shed

View towards Boundary of prepared ground of Vegetable garden

View towards House of well prepared ground of Vegetable garden

A rendered and secure garden shed

View of football play area

View of upper lawn area

Sandstone setts were used to delineate lawn profile

View of Ornamental Grasses/Herbaceous planting area

Feature planting included Tree Ferns and slow but low growing Bamboos

Old granite wall provides an excellent backdrop to planting scheme

The gentle sweep of lawn edge/planted areas provides added interesting

Sweeping lawn edges create variable planted space possibilities

The original Post & Panel fencing was painted green to make it less conspicuous

Practical and robust planting (Pittosporum Tom Thumb and Libertia) at rear of football area

Roll turf provides an ideal and instant finish look to a new lawn

Timber cladding with trellissing provides a coherent but attractive finish

The Good Life – banking on ‘Growing Your Own’

Posted on March 29th, 2009

Coming on the heels of more developed and familiar campaigns advising us, the public, to focus more on our lifestyles and become more aware if not responsible for what we eat, how we use energy to heat, and run our homes, reduce and stop our ‘landfill’ by recycling our waste, be more conscious of what we buy and how we travel, it’s hardly surprising that ‘Grow Your Own’ (GYO) fruit and vegetables is the current flavour of the month campaign to get the public more aware of our environment and contribute directly to collective efforts to reduce our carbon emissions. Not so long ago GYO was considered by some sceptics to be nothing more than a passing craze, but three or four years later, GYO has been embraced by many people determined to discover the good life and now growing a whole range of fruit and vegetables in a myriad of ways. Methods include growing seed in tiny hanging baskets and pots, raised beds, window boxes, on the balcony, under a cold frame and in the glasshouse.

The huge and accelerated popularity and interest in GYO is nothing short of phenomenal with many enthusiasts claiming little or no previous interest in the garden. The demand for GYO products has seen significant shift in consumer purchasing patterns and behaviours with many Garden centre representatives struggling to meet increased demands for GYO products. Many now claim to be selling twice as much GYO fruit and vegetable seed as flower seed.

When it comes to popular home-grown crops, tomatoes is still ahead of growing herbs followed by carrots, peas/beans and potatoes with interest growing in new exotics vegetables such as rocket and aubergines. Recent research indicates that consumers who grow their own fruit and vegetables can reduce their average weekly grocery shopping bill by over € 5.00 or over € 250.00 in a full year, proving that Grow Your Own is not only good for flavour but also good for the pocket! Surely something to bank on for a Good Life?

Enjoying the ‘cut and come’ of Herbs

Posted on January 5th, 2009

The great thing about Herbs is that they can be grown practically anywhere in the garden, but best in the sun. If grown in free draining soil, they will reward you with a delightful display of aromatic and colourful foliage. Little wonder that more and more of us want to start discovering the culinary delights of freshly cut Herbs direct from our own garden.

Whatever your interest, growing herbs is easy, and only a little planning is all that is required in order to maintain this perennial garden delight. Every garden deserves an herb garden, even if this means a few pots or tubs, or simply a window box crammed with parsley, thyme and chives.

Although some herbs like Rosemary or Fennell can grow happily for years, most need to be renewed every 2-3 years, whilst others like Sage or Dill can be grown from seed or cuttings each year.

But how many herbs do I require to start an herb garden? Some herbs like fennel grow quite big 1500mm tall whereas parsley or thyme will not grow taller than 150mm – 200mm. Best to go for a head start, so buy some young herb plants rather than seeds, at least that way you won’t end up with twenty of the one variety! Pick a sunny site and start planting! For the smaller varieties consider planting more than one, but this will depend on personal choice.

So what do I use to stock my new Herb garden? Well there’s a huge range, but select varieties you will use and enjoy. Here’s a list of the more popular varieties:

• Parsley (available in various varieties flat leaf and curly leaf) use both types in a range of meat and vegetable dishes. A small plant.

• Thyme, fabulous aroma and used to flavour almost any dish. A small plant.

• Chives, a very small but simple to grow herb. A real easy ‘cut and come’ plant, simply use fresh chives to add a mild onion flavour to food and salads.

• Mint – spearmint or Bowles mint (this plant can be invasive, to control root spread/growth, plant in a plastic tub in the ground).

• French Tarragon is a delicate upright plant, but excellent for flavouring fish, salads etc.

• Green Sage, great with stuffings and Pasta.

• Fennell a very hardy large self seeding plant. Used to flavour a wide range including fish, eggs, cheese, vegetables etc. The leaves and bulb have a lovely aniseed flavour which is popular with many.

• Lemon Balm used in iced drinks and hot teas. Like mint, can spread rapidly so plant in a container in the ground.

• Golden Marjoram can be used in meat stuffings.

• Oregano, add to all Italian style sauces.

• Dill, very popular herb with the leaves and seeds used to flavour pickles, cucumber and fish dishes. A tall plant with feather like foliage.

• Chervil, a little similar to Parsley in appearance with a delicate spicy fragrance and used in soups, sauces and salads.

• Basil or Sweet Basil, is a pleasant smelling annual plant with a spicy taste. Great with all tomatoe dishes.

• Rosemary fantastic to flavour Lamb, poultry, roasted or barbequed.

• Bay with its aromatic leaves is a very large plant and popular to add flavour to a number of dishes including fish, soups and especially French casseroles. Don’t forget to discard the leaves before serving food!

Sometimes the Herb garden can look a little jaded over the winter months. To avoid this why not add a little more structure by planting the perimeter with Buxus Sempervirens, which can be clipped tightly to provide an all year round smart green planted perimeter. Use Bay Leaf Standards or Mopheads to add a formal look and visual interest at head height. Plant you favourite herbs inside the perimeter. Remember herbs are best grown in a sunny location and if used in Kitchen, plant near House. If space is limited, you can also plant herbs in amongst the shrubs or in containers. Plant in groups of 3-5 for added impact.

Grow It Yourself – where to start?

Posted on November 3rd, 2008

It does seem amazing how quickly DIY gardening appears to have been overtaken by GIY (grow it yourself) gardening! Not so long ago, growing your own vegetables, was seen by many to be a popular past time for a few old gardeners who were lucky to own/have a large site or allotment. These days with large sites hard to come by and allotments much in demand, old gardeners or gardening junkies are no longer the sole exponents of GIY. No, many new entrants are young professionals, nature enthusiasts, people who are genuinely interested in getting closer to nature or reducing their dependency on mass market produce. Whilst others are experimenting by growing their own vegetables, almost like self sufficent micro farmers or even environmentalists, taking positive steps to reduce carbon footprint or better still growing for their own organic consumption and self satisfaction. Not surprising therefore to read in Press reports that the sale of vegetable seed has overtaken the sale of flower seed. So if you are a potential GIYer and do intend starting a programme or project of growing your own vegetables, you might be interested in the following advice . So whether your motivation is to reduce air miles or taste organic food, there are some important points to consider when planning to start a vegetable garden.

Does size matter? No – not really, whether you have a pot, an old kitchen sink, a window sill or a sprawling site, growing your own vegetables is not only easy and exciting, it is also very rewarding.

Location – unless of course you enjoy longer walks through your garden, for practical reasons, the vegetable plot or kitchen garden should ideally be positioned nearer the house.
More importantly best to choose a position which permits the vegetable plot to enjoy a sunny aspect for much of the day. Although some vegetable produce will tolerate some shade (for example lettuce, runner beans etc), most won’t, so pick the site very carefully, pick a sunny and a sheltered position, avoid exposed windy sites. Other site aspects worth considering include picking a site where the prevailing ground conditions are level and free draining. Finally do bear in mind that good soil conditions will also be required, whether you prepare the ground by digging or mix in new soil or soil conditioners, most vegetables will require a growing depth of at least 300mm.

What to grow? Some might have favourites, some might stick with old reliable:
• Potatoes are good, and probably one of the easiest to grow, they are also great at breaking down heavy soils. But do remember to give them plenty of water.
• Leeks – easy to grow from seed and young leek tastes wonderful
• Broad beans – very tasty when young but are very easy to grow
• Sweetcorn – harvest when tassels are brown and boil in salted water
• Radishes – many different varieties to choose from, but an ideal and fast growing crop from which to teach the children GIY
• Runner Beans – quick growing, plentiful and pick and with lots of pick’n’grow fun

Deciding on the Layout – is important especially where space might be limited. For example you can grow some varieties at ground level whilst others such as French and Runner Beans can be trained to grow very effectively up trellising or bamboo canes. In larger sites, plan a series of long narrow beds which are easily accessible from both sides, but do remember to leave plenty of space between the growing beds, for example you should be able to move along pathways between beds with a wheelbarrow or more importantly if you like to get down on your hand and knees and get dirty, you’ll need at least 900mm – 1200mm spacing between the beds. Growing beds can be ground level on larger sites or raised on smaller sites or where soil conditions are poor. Raised beds can be developed using soil from other sites and mixing with compost, manures, soil conditioners etc. Also because they are raised you can ensure that drainage is good. As stated earlier, most vegetables prefer to grow in sunny areas, therefore it make sense to orientate beds on a north south axis, this ensures that all vegetable get sun each day. Be generous on spacing between beds, and consider a surface material so that all weather access is possible.

Ground Preparation – the better the soil, the better the performance, it is not impossible to provide good growing conditions. Vegetables require nutrients, water and oxygen. Soil plays a vital role in providing nutrients to plants. So it is important to prepare ground by digging to improve plants take up of nutrients. Alternatively if ground conditions are poor, you can use raised beds to provide better growing conditions for plants. In contrast to the ‘dig system’ the concept of using Raised Beds is sometimes referred to as the ‘No dig system’. Raised beds can be constructed from a variety of boards/timbers, recycled pallet boards, railway sleepers, pressure treated new sleepers, builder’s scaffolding boards all being popular choices.

Using crop rotation wisely – rotating the planting and growing of vegetables yields many benefits in terms of efficiency, bounty and disease/pest control. For example, Broccoli grows well in soils containing good levels of nitrogen, on the other hand, beans put nitrogen into the soil. Potatoes with the large canopy of foliage are very effective at suppressing weeds, whereas onions grow particularly very well in weed free soils. So from a crop rotational perspective, one would plant beans before of broccoli and potatoes before of onions.

Starting a rotation cycle – you should plan for at least three years, meaning the same vegetable will grow in the same spot every third year. However if you wish to also grow potatoes, better to use a four year rotation. The RHS has a very simple way to remember where each vegetable comes within the cycle: British Rail Late, where:

B = brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, turnips etc) was
R = roots (beetroot, parsnips, carrots)
L = legumes (peas, Broad bean, French bean, Runner bean, onions, garlic, chives)

How it works in practice is in area 1, you plant brassicas first year, roots in second year and legumes in third year. In area 2, you plant roots first year, legumes second year and brassicas third year. In area 3, you plant legumes first followed by brassicas and roots.

Maintenance – providing you have done good ground preparation, maintenance of the area shouldn’t be much more than adding a good fertiliser (Fish Bone & Blood) before planting or manure in Autumn. Watering is important especially during the early vulnerable stage, again bets done early in morning or late in evening and always check to make sure water is getting down to plant roots. Weed regularly to avoid unwanted competition for nutrients and water.

If at first you don’t succeed – try again. Sometimes it is only as a result of trial and error that you will discover what grows best for you in your area and conditions. Don’t be afraid to ask other local gardeners for tips or advice with particular problems, most of all, have fun in growing your own vegetables and join the burgeoning legion of GIY enthusiasts..

Sustaining a working Garden

Posted on January 9th, 2008

Garden Advice and tips on starting an eco-friendly garden and more. Also growing your own fruit and vegetables not only helps the environment, your pocket and it tastes a lot better too.

DNG: City & Town, Issue 47 Autumn 2007 (pdf).