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<strong>NEW</strong>!<br />
£2.99<br />
<strong>NEW</strong>!<br />
Create your perfect outside space - no green fingers required!<br />
TRY ME!<br />
APRIL 2016<br />
ISSUE ONE<br />
388<br />
GREAT IDEAS<br />
FOR YOUR<br />
GARDEN!<br />
READER GARDENS | EASY IDEAS | SHOPPING<br />
F<br />
BRAND NE W!<br />
I R<br />
S T<br />
ONLY<br />
£2.99<br />
I<br />
S<br />
S U E<br />
Garden makeovers<br />
“ MY BUDGET GARDEN<br />
IS SO EASY TO KEEP!”<br />
GET THE<br />
EXOTIC<br />
MOROCCAN<br />
LOOK<br />
Outdoor living<br />
OPEN AIR KITCHENS<br />
FOR ALL SIZE PLOTS<br />
Including<br />
✽ 18 inspiring ways to transform a deck<br />
✽ Sweetly scented tulips for pots<br />
✽ Make a home cinema in your garden<br />
✽ Speedy upcycling to add character<br />
✽ Plant a purple corner & much, much more!<br />
Fresh spring buys<br />
STYLISH IDEAS FOR<br />
OUTDOOR SPACES
Earthy<br />
PLEASURES<br />
DREAM PLANT GROW PICK MAKE BUY<br />
6 MODERN GARDENS APRIL 2016
LIKE WHAT<br />
YOU READ?<br />
TRY IT...<br />
On sale from<br />
March 23rd<br />
GOLDEN<br />
TRUMPETS<br />
Many people don’t realise that certain varieties<br />
of daffodil (Narcissus) are scented and make<br />
wonderfully fragrant cut flowers for the house.<br />
The scent is strongest during warmer weather,<br />
so go outside on a sunny day to gather the best<br />
blooms for a sweetly scented posy. Or you can<br />
buy ready-blooming daffs in pots at garden<br />
centres now for some instant scent and uplifting<br />
spring cheer.<br />
GAP ALAMY<br />
Pot luck<br />
Seek out local spring plant fairs held<br />
in halls and community spaces. They<br />
are open to everyone and a boon if<br />
you have a patch of bare soil to fill<br />
and a limited budget. They are the<br />
best place to pick up lots of lovely<br />
annuals at very little cost. Check<br />
local newspaper listings and event<br />
websites to track them down. The<br />
people selling the flowers have<br />
usually grown them too, so it’s a good<br />
opportunity to ask for advice if you’re<br />
unsure what to do with your plants.<br />
OUTSIDE TIDY<br />
This enamel storage tin with a cute<br />
guinea pig and rabbit design is just<br />
the thing for neatly storing all your<br />
garden bits and bobs.<br />
‘Arthur and Squeak’ tin £17.95<br />
www.burgonandball.com<br />
PHOTO GAP, SHUTTERSTOCK<br />
CREDIT HERE PLEASE<br />
WORDS: LUCY BELLAMY. MAIN IMAGE: GAP ALAMY<br />
CUPPA IN<br />
THE GARDEN<br />
With a pattern<br />
inspired by richly<br />
coloured wallflowers<br />
and sweetly scented<br />
narcissus, this large<br />
cup and saucer is<br />
brilliant for hot tea<br />
on chilly days.<br />
Large teacup and<br />
saucer £32.95 www.<br />
emmabridgewater.<br />
co.uk, stockists<br />
nationwide<br />
We<br />
LOVE<br />
THIS!<br />
DIG THIS!<br />
A pretty, flowery hand fork<br />
helps make spring planting<br />
a pleasure. Lightweight yet<br />
strong, this one is far too<br />
glamorous to hide away<br />
in the shed.<br />
£6.99 www.homesense.com<br />
APRIL 2016 MODERN GARDENS 7
Reader<br />
MAKEOVER<br />
“My budget<br />
garden is so<br />
1<br />
CLIMBERS such<br />
as honeysuckle and<br />
clematis grown against<br />
a bare fence will quickly<br />
cover it with foliage<br />
and flowers.<br />
easy to keep”<br />
COLM SHEPPARD’s surburban garden is<br />
packed with stylish low-maintenance ideas<br />
With vibrant planting, a sweeping<br />
gravel path and an avenue of<br />
slender lime trees, you’d never<br />
guess that this formal<br />
Cambridgeshire garden measures a modest<br />
five by 12 metres (16 x 39ft). When Colm<br />
Sheppard moved here eight years ago, it was<br />
just a small patch of grass surrounded by fences.<br />
“There wasn’t anything in the garden and it was<br />
overlooked by the neighbours. So I set about<br />
planting the trees to add height and privacy,” he<br />
says. “Most people wouldn’t dare plant trees in<br />
a small garden like this, but I thought ‘why not’?”<br />
A WEEPING<br />
MULBERRY is a fussfree<br />
small tree whose<br />
golden catkins look<br />
pretty in winter.<br />
3<br />
PURPLE HAZEL<br />
“At the far end of the garden I’ve planted a row<br />
of three purple-leaved hazelnut trees (Corylus<br />
maxima ‘Purpurea’) to hide the wheelie bins.<br />
Everyone complains about their bins being<br />
unsightly but they aren’t going away, so I made<br />
a solution as part of my overall garden plan.<br />
“In the middle of the garden I’ve used a<br />
weeping mulberry as a focal point I can see<br />
from the kitchen. I have a slender yew tree at<br />
the end for evergreen interest and cordon apple<br />
trees (small apple trees that grow on a single<br />
stem) planted against the fence. But the pièce<br />
de rèsistance is my avenue of lime trees that<br />
I’ve trained into a weaving hedge, like a hedge<br />
on stilts. All I have to do is climb a ladder<br />
COLM created his stunning garden<br />
in just two weeks<br />
each August to prune them. You do have<br />
to be quite brave to plant 10 trees in such a<br />
small garden, but I knew I could keep them<br />
to size, which gave me the confidence to do it.<br />
“The main thing with gardening in such<br />
a small area is not to be constrained by the<br />
dimensions. Many people think only about<br />
a little bit of the garden at a time and seem<br />
frightened of gardening on a large scale.” ➣<br />
PHOTO: ELOISE HAYES<br />
TIP Painting a fence in<br />
a dark colour highlights<br />
plants and turns foliage<br />
into a feature<br />
PHOTO CREDIT HERE PLEASE<br />
14 MODERN GARDENS APRIL 2016
THAT’S CLEVER!<br />
These purple hazels<br />
hide the wheelie bins<br />
READER GARDEN<br />
BEFORE<br />
LIKE WHAT<br />
YOU READ?<br />
TRY IT...<br />
On sale from<br />
March 23rd<br />
LIME TREES create<br />
a smart hedge on stilts<br />
that’s easy to clip to<br />
shape in August.<br />
2<br />
Colm inherited a garden that was tidy<br />
but featureless<br />
4<br />
GROUND COVER<br />
PLANTS keep weeds<br />
down by covering bare<br />
soil with pretty summer<br />
flowers and foliage.<br />
MY GARDEN<br />
PL AN<br />
LOCATION<br />
“A modern development in<br />
Cambridgeshire where none of the<br />
gardens are big and we’re all overlooked.<br />
My idea was to make the garden more<br />
private and add some shape to the layout,<br />
keeping it all very low maintenance.”<br />
THE LOOK<br />
Formal in a pocket-sized patch<br />
SITE & SOIL<br />
Size 5 x 12m (16 x 39ft)<br />
Faces West Soil Light and sandy<br />
PHOTO CREDIT HERE PLEASE<br />
5<br />
THE GRAVEL PATH<br />
is underlaid with black<br />
landscape fabric to<br />
hold back weeds.<br />
AFTER<br />
MY BUDGET<br />
Natural stone paving £220<br />
Patio installation £1,100<br />
Golden gravel £56<br />
Cuprinol Black Ash fence paint £40<br />
Trees, plants & shrubs £307<br />
Box hedge from a friend Free<br />
TOTAL £1,723<br />
HOW LONG IT TOOK<br />
Spraying weeds 1 hour<br />
Rotavating the soil 16 hours<br />
Laying the path and edging 8 hours<br />
Painting the fence 16 hours<br />
Planting up 8 hours<br />
Laying the patio 16 hours<br />
TOTAL 65 HOURS<br />
WORDS; LIZ POTTER. PHOTOS: COLM SHEPPARD, SHUTTERSTOCK<br />
APRIL 2016 MODERN GARDENS 15
GOOD<br />
IDEA<br />
Plants in pots can<br />
be moved around to<br />
complement your<br />
seating area<br />
18 great ideas for<br />
DECKS<br />
Clever TIPS AND TRICKS to smarten<br />
up your space for sunny days ahead<br />
1<br />
MAKE A MINI VEG PLOT<br />
Pot radish, chives and salad leaf plants for<br />
quick-grow crops in tidy wooden planters.<br />
CREATE VINTAGE-STYLE<br />
POT CONTAINERS<br />
You can use anything as long as you drill<br />
some drainage holes in the bottom.<br />
Try old drawers or wicker baskets.<br />
2<br />
Recycle<br />
your<br />
stuff!<br />
CLEVER<br />
ACCESSORIES<br />
A traditional<br />
watering can adds<br />
rustic charm<br />
40 MODERN GARDENS APRIL 2016
UPCYCLE A BUCKET<br />
Plant flowers in vintage enamel<br />
buckets that colour-coordinate. Ebay<br />
is an excellent source for these.<br />
4<br />
LIKE WHAT<br />
YOU READ?<br />
TRY IT...<br />
On sale from<br />
March 23rd<br />
EASY IDEAS<br />
SO EASY<br />
Collect pretty<br />
pebbles and stones<br />
to display<br />
with plants<br />
5<br />
GET STREAMLINED STYLE<br />
WITH BOX HEDGE BALLS<br />
Steel containers are on trend right now. Box<br />
only needs a trim twice a year, so this combo<br />
provides fuss-free style.<br />
3<br />
ADD HEIGHT AND INTEREST<br />
WITH A POTTING BENCH<br />
This doubles up as a drinks station and bbq<br />
helper too. Try B&Q and Homebase for<br />
inexpensive options.<br />
EDGE YOUR DECK WITH HERBS<br />
They create a striking colour contrast – and you<br />
can pick them for cooking.<br />
6<br />
WORDS; FIONA CUMBERPATCH. PHOTOS: M&S, ALAMY,<br />
GAP, RONSEAL, WWW.LISA COX DESIGNS.CO.UK<br />
APRIL 2016 MODERN GARDENS 41
5 <strong>NEW</strong> WAYS<br />
to fall in love with<br />
Violas keep producing<br />
flower after flower<br />
throughout the spring<br />
and summer months.<br />
VIOLAS<br />
If you think these little beauties are old-fashioned,<br />
think again. SWEETLY SCENTED in a painter’s<br />
palette of colours, they’re perfect for pots<br />
LIGHT UP A DOOR 2<br />
Loop strong twine around<br />
pots filled with violas and<br />
hang them outside from a<br />
spare nail or hook. They’ll<br />
flower non-stop for months<br />
with an occasional watering.<br />
So<br />
EASY!<br />
WE LOVE THIS<br />
Hang scented viola’Purple Face’<br />
near a favourite seat. The honey<br />
scent is strongest in the morning<br />
and the evening<br />
1<br />
BUILD THEM UP<br />
Use terracotta pots and wooden<br />
steps or shelves to make a pretty<br />
display. Violas grow happily in shade<br />
and are perfect for brightening up<br />
gloomier corners.<br />
78 MODERN GARDENS APRIL 2016
PICK AND MIX<br />
Group pots filled with violas,<br />
pansies and ranunculus in<br />
sorbet shades for a pretty<br />
spring display.<br />
3<br />
LIKE WHAT<br />
YOU READ?<br />
TRY IT...<br />
On sale from<br />
March 23rd<br />
EASY IDEAS<br />
Instant<br />
colour!<br />
4<br />
BAG IT!<br />
Plant some violas in an<br />
old shopping basket for<br />
a cheerful look.<br />
WE LOVE THIS<br />
Upcycle an old box by<br />
adding a lining and planting<br />
a mix of colours inside<br />
5<br />
GET CREATIVE<br />
Upcycle empty tins<br />
and kitchenalia with<br />
a pot of paint. Use<br />
a hammer and nail<br />
to punch holes in<br />
solid bases for<br />
drainage. Match<br />
the paint colour<br />
to the flowers.<br />
Vibrant violas for any spot<br />
Violas have small flowers and lots<br />
of them. Their fragility belies<br />
a robust little plant that is happy<br />
in any awkward spot.<br />
You can often spot a viola that has<br />
seeded itself into a gravel path or between<br />
the cracks in a pavement. Violas are<br />
smaller than pansies but with lots more<br />
flowers. Unlike pansies, their blooms stay<br />
pristine even after a heavy shower of rain.<br />
There are few flowers that bloom for as<br />
long as a viola.<br />
DIY stores, supermarkets and garden<br />
centres sell them in a vast range of colours,<br />
but plant trays are often mixed,<br />
which makes it difficult to create a simple,<br />
impactful colour scheme. Buying the<br />
plants in small individual pots, or even<br />
scattering a few seeds in pots and growing<br />
them on the windowsill, means you can<br />
choose pretty tones and hues of the<br />
same colours for a contemporary display.<br />
Think brilliant blues, sky blues and indigos,<br />
or canary yellow with zingy apricot and<br />
vermillion orange.<br />
HOW TO PLANT<br />
✽ When buying young plants, choose<br />
those with healthy, bright green leaves<br />
and tiny buds that are just starting to show<br />
the colour of the flowers. If the petals are<br />
still hidden, the colour of the stem will<br />
often provide a clue as to the eventual<br />
colour of the petals. Look for bright, white<br />
roots at the base of the pot as these are<br />
a sign of new growth.<br />
✽ To pot gently tip the violas from their<br />
pots and tease out the roots with your<br />
fingers. Plant three or four plants together<br />
in a big pot of multi-purpose compost,<br />
and water well. Snipping off the faded<br />
blooms will make extra flowers grow.<br />
PHOTOS: ALAMY, GAP, FLOWER<br />
COUNCIL OF HOLLAND<br />
APRIL 2016 MODERN GARDENS 79
AN OUTSIDE CHEST<br />
OF DRAWERS<br />
Part potting bench, part storage unit, an<br />
outside solid wood chest of drawers is both<br />
useful and attractive when customised in a<br />
vibrant colour of your choice. Use it to display<br />
plants in beautiful pots, stow away your small<br />
tools such as trowels and secateurs, and store<br />
essential items like plant tags and garden<br />
string. Make it weatherproof with two coats<br />
of exterior oil-based paint, or set it up in your<br />
shed away from the elements.<br />
You can source an old set of drawers on<br />
Freecycle or via charity shops. Emmaus has<br />
a good range of furniture (www.emmaus.<br />
co.uk) as does Sue Ryder (www.sueryder.org).<br />
Or bag an eBay bargain.<br />
£30<br />
£8<br />
PHOTOS: GETTY, GAP<br />
WINE CRATE<br />
RAISED BEDS<br />
Perfect for a small garden, old wooden wine<br />
boxes are a good way to grow herbs or simple<br />
salad crops. Some wine merchants and offlicences<br />
sell the boxes, or they’re available for<br />
£8 each (plus postage) from www.etsy.com.<br />
Before planting, drill eight to 10 holes in the<br />
bottom of the box so water can drain out freely.<br />
If you don’t have an electric drill, add a layer<br />
a few inches thick of pea gravel in the base,<br />
then pop in a layer of plastic (a black bin bag<br />
cut to fit the box is fine) with 10 holes punched<br />
in. This will ensure that your crops don’t get<br />
waterlogged roots, which could kill them.<br />
Now fill with potting compost, plant your<br />
herbs and watch them grow! We planted thyme,<br />
rosemary, sage, bay and chives.<br />
TIP Apply an exterior<br />
primer before the paint to help<br />
protect from the elements
LIKE WHAT<br />
YOU READ?<br />
TRY IT...<br />
On sale from<br />
March 23rd<br />
SIMPLE MAKES<br />
Free!<br />
WELLINGTON PLANTERS<br />
YOU WILL NEED<br />
✽ Old wellingtons<br />
✽ Electric drill<br />
✽ Small offcuts of wood<br />
✽ Potting compost<br />
✽ Potted plants, such as nasturtiums and<br />
marigolds, or flowering spring bulbs for<br />
instant colour<br />
60p<br />
WHAT TO DO<br />
1 Using the electric drill, bore some holes in<br />
the bottom of each boot – about seven or<br />
eight, depending on the size of the wellies – to<br />
provide drainage.<br />
2 Place a piece of wood in the sole of each<br />
boot to help stabilise it. Now fill with potting<br />
compost.<br />
3 Plant flowers according to the pot or label<br />
instructions. If you are putting in bulbs, plant<br />
them at the same depth as they are growing<br />
in their pot.<br />
SPOON HOOKS<br />
Hooks are invaluable in the garden – you<br />
can never have too many for hanging<br />
pots, shed keys, tools or baskets.<br />
These little hooks are made from old<br />
spoons and make an unusual feature<br />
hung on your shed wall or fence, so start<br />
hunting through your cutlery drawers and<br />
set to work!<br />
YOU WILL NEED<br />
✽ Some old spoons<br />
✽ Drill and metal drill bit<br />
✽ Screws, around 20p each from<br />
DIY shops<br />
So<br />
EASY!<br />
WHAT TO DO<br />
1Take an old metal spoon and gently<br />
bend the handle near the middle.<br />
Carefully form it into a U-shape. You<br />
don’t want to bend it too much.<br />
2 Leave the tail of the handle pointing<br />
outwards rather than back towards the<br />
head of the spoon. Drill a hole in the<br />
bowl, then simply fix it in your chosen<br />
spot with a screw.<br />
APRIL 2016 MODERN GARDENS 89<br />
PHOTOS: FIONA CUMBERPATCH, GAP
Garden<br />
LIKE WHAT<br />
YOU READ?<br />
TRY IT...<br />
On sale from<br />
March 23rd<br />
CINEMA<br />
A MOVIE SCREEN UNDER THE<br />
STARS is simple to set up, and the perfect<br />
way to entertain family and friends outside<br />
IN THE<br />
SPOTLIGHT<br />
A folded sheet<br />
pegged to a<br />
line creates the<br />
perfect screen.<br />
SET THE MOOD<br />
Use flickering lanterns<br />
to create ambience.<br />
100 MODERN GARDENS APRIL 2016
LIGHT UP<br />
THE TREES<br />
Fairy lights add<br />
atmosphere.<br />
TAKE<br />
THE<br />
INSIDE<br />
OUT!<br />
TAKE A SEAT<br />
Comfy chairs make<br />
your garden cinema<br />
set-up complete.<br />
BEST BUYS<br />
With a laptop, a basic Netflix<br />
subscription and a digital<br />
projector it’s easy to set up an<br />
outdoor film night for late night<br />
romcoms, action adventures and musicals.<br />
Just string up a white sheet, light a few candle<br />
lanterns and settle back to watch the film.<br />
Many of us with wifi and a laptop or tablet<br />
are familiar with downloading favourite films<br />
in a single click or swipe. With a mini-projector<br />
it’s easy to watch these films on a big screen,<br />
even without a blockbuster budget. The right<br />
projector will give you a crisp, colourful image.<br />
Mini-projectors are small, portable, simple<br />
to use and can be bought online, in electrical<br />
shops and supermarkets from around £170. The<br />
USB port means they are brilliant for projecting<br />
images from tablets, laptops and smartphones.<br />
BIG SCREEN<br />
A crisp, white cotton double sheet slung over<br />
the washing line, or a rope between trees<br />
or posts, creates the perfect cinema screen<br />
and is set up in seconds. Position the ‘screen’<br />
away from nearby houselights, streetlights or<br />
passing car headlights so everyone can see<br />
the projected movie easily, and use tent pegs<br />
to tautly secure the sheet at the bottom. Any<br />
sheet will do. You can peg two sheets together<br />
to make your improvised screen thick enough<br />
to capture the clearest image.<br />
Aim to have viewers 6-10m (20-30ft) from<br />
the screen. You can adjust the size of the image<br />
by moving the projector closer or further away,<br />
to make it comfortable to look at.<br />
Don’t forget, you’ll need room for the<br />
projector table and chairs and somewhere to<br />
put out food and drink that people can reach<br />
safely and easily in the dark.<br />
➣<br />
Easy<br />
to use<br />
PHOTO: OLIVER PERROTT FOR WWW.LIGHTS4FUN.CO.UK,GETTY, ALAMY<br />
INFOCUS IN122A DLP PROJECTOR<br />
Brightness 35 lumens Resolution 800 x 600<br />
Contrast 1500:1 £318 www.tesco.com<br />
PHILIPS PICOPIX PPX2055<br />
PORTABLE PROJECTOR<br />
Brightness 55 lumens Resolution 854 x 480<br />
Contrast 1000:1 £169.99 www.currys.com<br />
Budget<br />
buy<br />
APRIL 2016 MODERN GARDENS 101
MAKE IT!<br />
RHUBARB TART<br />
INGREDIENTS<br />
✽ 225g plain flour<br />
✽ 100g butter<br />
✽ Pinch of salt<br />
✽ 3 tbsp cold water<br />
✽ 15 sticks of rhubarb<br />
✽ 150g caster sugar<br />
WHAT TO DO<br />
1 Heat the oven to 180°C.<br />
2 Sift the flour into a large bowl and<br />
use your fingertips to rub in the butter<br />
until the mixture looks like crumbs.<br />
3 Stir in the salt and add the cold water.<br />
With a fork, mix into a dough.<br />
4 Wrap the dough in cling film and chill<br />
for 20 minutes.<br />
5 Chop the rhubarb into 3-4cm (1-<br />
1½in) pieces and toss them in sugar.<br />
6 Roll out the pastry to line a 25cm<br />
(10in) tin and fill the case with rhubarb.<br />
7 Bake for 40 minutes, covering the<br />
tart with tinfoil for the last 10 minutes.<br />
TIP Serve your tart<br />
with crème fraîche –<br />
it pairs well with the<br />
sweet-tart rhubarb<br />
120 MODERN GARDENS APRIL 2016
MAKE IT!<br />
RHUBARB<br />
CORDIAL<br />
GROW AND EAT<br />
LIKE WHAT<br />
YOU READ?<br />
TRY IT...<br />
On sale from<br />
March 23rd<br />
INGREDIENTS<br />
✽ 15 sticks of rhubarb<br />
✽ Caster sugar to taste<br />
✽ 1 lemon<br />
WHAT TO DO<br />
1 Chop the rhubarb into small pieces<br />
and heat in a pan with 75ml (2½ fl. oz)<br />
of water.<br />
2 Once the rhubarb softens, tip it into<br />
a sieve over a large bowl to drain.<br />
3 Measure the liquid and return it to<br />
the pan. For every 1 litre of juice add<br />
75ml of water along with the juice of<br />
one lemon.<br />
4 Add sugar to taste and warm until<br />
it dissolves.<br />
5 Allow to cool, decant into clean<br />
bottles with screw tops and store<br />
in the fridge. Dilute cordial with<br />
sparkling water to serve.<br />
TIP Ideal for using<br />
up older, larger sticks<br />
of rhubarb<br />
TIP Eat warm with<br />
creamy custard for<br />
a delicious pudding<br />
MAKE IT!<br />
RHUBARB AND<br />
GINGER CAKE<br />
INGREDIENTS<br />
✽ 225g golden caster sugar<br />
✽ 225g butter<br />
✽ 4 eggs<br />
✽ 225g self-raising flour<br />
✽ 1 tsp ground ginger<br />
✽ 1 tbsp demerara sugar<br />
✽ 8 sticks of rhubarb<br />
WHAT TO DO<br />
1 Heat the oven to 180°C.<br />
2 Cream the butter and sugar until pale.<br />
3 Beat in the eggs one at a time,<br />
adding a spoonful of flour after each.<br />
4 Sift and fold in the remaining flour<br />
and ginger.<br />
5 Pour the mixture into mini loaf tins.<br />
6 Chop the rhubarb into 10cm (4in)<br />
lengths and lay one piece along the<br />
top of each cake.<br />
7 Sprinkle the cakes with sugar and<br />
bake for 20-25 minutes.<br />
8 Turn out onto a wire tray to cool.<br />
APRIL 2016 MODERN GARDENS 121
AVAILABLE<br />
FROM<br />
ALL GOOD<br />
RETAILERS<br />
On sale from<br />
March 23rd<br />
Buy 3 issues<br />
for just £5<br />
greatmagazines.co.uk/tryme