Garden News Mini Mag

Roger’s pick
for structure
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Colour is key in Roger’s
garden, with themed
areas of monarda and
lilies in bright reds and
yellows
fresh all the time,” he says. There
are newts, frogs and dragonflies,
but incredibly about six or seven
fish have found their way in.
Used to planting one each of
everything, Roger has recently
discovered the benefit of
planting perennials, as what
once was the Mediterranean
garden is now a Piet Oudolfinspired
naturalistic haven. This
by no means large area is packed
with teems of colour-coded lilies,
monarda, eupatorium,
heleniums, echinacea, asters,
sanguisorba and dots of grasses
between. A large Trachycarpus
fortunei that never stops growing
has huge yellow flowers in June.
There are plenty of jobs for
him to do now in the garden, but
his next one is to unwrap the
exotics for the summer, plus his
beech hedging and conifers need
pruning in a week or two.
And has the garden turned out
as he planned? “I do worry about
maintenance,” he says. “Do I
simplify the garden as I get older
or leave it in all its glory? But it’s
as perfect as it can be, and there’s
no space left to add anything.”
Tilia cordata ‘Greenspire’
This compact, neat and tidy small-leaved
lime is ideal for pleaching. Height: 12m (40ft),
spread: 17m (58ft).
Aesculus pavia ‘Atrosanguinea’
Hailing from the horse chestnut family, it has
red candles and bronze-green leaves. Height:
5m (17ft), spread: 3m (10ft).
Cercis canadensis
Spectacular red-pink leaves glow through
spring and summer, deepening to orange in
autumn. Height: 10m (34ft), spread: 10m (34ft).
Roger’s rules for success
1Get planning - it’s everything
and cataloguing is a
fantastic idea. Organisation is
the key to making things easy
for yourself.
2Learn to propagate as it’s
beneficial to your garden,
and to others if you give
cuttings away as gifts - it’s so
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easy to do once you know how.
3Decide what you want your
garden for – mine is for me
and my passion for plants. It’s
very high maintenance! It
reflects me and my interests
and is an outlet for creativity.
4Add height and
imagination to your patch.
Ilex crenata
A bushy evergreen shrub, perfect for clipping
into Japanese ‘cloud tree’ shapes. Height: 4m
(13ft 6in), spread: 3m (10ft).
Acer griseum
This slow-growing acer has attractive peeling
bark. A tree that’s beautiful all year. Height:
10m (34ft), spread: 10m (34ft).
Trachycarpus fortunei
Exotic large green palm fronds and yellow
flowers in June. Needs winter protection.
Height: 20m (65ft), spread: 2.5m (8ft4in).
I see many gardens that are
all exactly the same and
planted at one level – why not
try something new and
different? Climbers can work
wonders, so go for an akebia or
Tropaeolum speciosum
growing up an up obelisk – it’ll
look wonderful.
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