Advice
Garden design & redesign
Plants and planting schemes
Images: Mary Newstead
Grand designs
Unless you are an experienced gardener who can piece a planting plan together from a list, it is essential that you take the time to prepare a plan on paper, which will be invaluable whether you are creating a scheme for a small area of a large expanse.
It is not a complicated stage in the design process, although at first sight it might appear to be. Even with experience it is still preferable to draw up a scheme as it will allow you to consider the overall effect you are trying to achieve and it means that any mistakes are made on paper. Drawing a plan also helps you establish how many plants you will need to create the desired effect and it also allows more flexibility as you can move plants around on paper until you have achieved the desired effect.
It is important when drawing your plan to consider the eventual size of your chosen plant subjects and here you will need either experience or reference books to help you work out eventual sizes. I usually assume that each perennial plant will have an eventual spread of around 40-60cm (depending on the specimen). Persicaria, for example, is a plant I use often because it spreads so well through other plants and looks particularly good with grasses, but it is a big of a thug.
Within three years it will need to be split as it will start to elbow out neighbouring plants but, in the meantime, it is a useful perennial as it has a long flowering period. I usually cut it down to ground in mid-summer, when its foliage has lost its lustre, and in a matter of a couple of weeks it rejuvenates and, in my London garden, it continues to flower right up until Christmas.
With regard to shrubs and trees, by using a good reference book, you should be able to establish its estimated height and spread. Here I usually draw a plan by using its eventual size in around 5-10 years’ time.
When it comes to planting, it is inevitable that there will be gaping holes in between your plants (unless you have the funds to buy mature specimens from the outset). It is a common mistake to over-plant in order to fill all available space from the outset. Resist this temptation. If you find the initial gaps too much to bear, you can always fill in with temporary annuals that die off at the end of the summer. A favourite of mine is to plant nasturiums and pot marigolds in between my permanent plants, or other annual flowers that can be sown direct into the ground where they are to flower like nigella, sunflowers and California poppies, or you can use bedding plants such as busy lizzies, petunias and heliotropes.
You can also use summer-flowering bulbs for the same purpose like Gladiolus callianthus, which has white, heavenly scented flowers with a deep burgundy eye. These bulbs are tender so treated as annuals they will give a great show - they are not expensive so plant lots. Permanent spring-flowering bulbs like narcissus and tulips are also useful fillers, and the space they occupy will be covered once the perennials come through.
Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’ (left) is another good candidate as is the summer snowflake - Leucojum aestivum ‘Gravetye Giant’.
Alternatively, you can increase the quantity of each of your chosen perennials because, as mentioned above, they will need to be split in three to five years’ time in any case, so it may just mean you have to split them earlier. If your scheme doesn’t include perennials at all and is laid only with shrubs and trees, then you should not increase the numbers, as this type of plant needs the space to grow and will be harder to move later on down the line.
The plot thickens
Start by listing the plants you would like to include and make a note alongside of the eventual height and spread so when you come to plot them on paper you will have instant access to their sizes. Remember though that in a good planting scheme less is definitely more so your initial list may need to be paired down, several times. Try to keep the number of species you use to a minimum and repeat them for more impact.
Using a grid can make the job easier - I use a grid made up of 50cm squares on a scale of 1:50. You will also need paper, pencil, eraser, a set of compasses or a circle template and a scale rule (usually planting schemes are drawn using a scale of 1:50).
Start with your key plants - i.e. those that will add structure, usually trees and shrubs. Place them on your plan where they will create the most impact and are of greatest use - i.e. to screen an unsightly view or building, to be a focal point or to add bulk to your border. Sometimes, if room allows, both trees and shrubs can be grouped closely together so that they form a mass when they reach maturity. Planting three young birch trees together, for instance, will immediately give you a coppice effect and is most pleasing on the eye, their white trunks creating strong vertical lines that will be ever present throughout the year.
Plot the accent plants next - i.e. those that will create the most impact and contrast to the key plants by way of shape, form and texture like a large specimen yucca, tall perennial grasses and architectural and elegant silvers like Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’ and Melianthus major.
Now you can add the ground cover plants and perennials and by placing them last you can create drifts that will meander among your key and accent plants, filling in the gaps until the permanent plants reach maturity.
The actual size of the above L-shaped border is 5m across by 2m deep at the widest part with the tail of the ‘L’ being approximately 1 x 1.5m.
Each plant has been drawn to scale, so for example, I have drawn plant No 1 (Stipa arundinacea) with a spread of 1m. By drawing its final size from the outset I know I have given it enough space to grow - it will attain its final size within 12 months. Next to the stipa I have placed persicaria, using a circle template of 40cm, so I estimate I will need three plants. With the crocosmias (No 8) I have included two swathes (one on either side of the border). Here I have estimated six plants but, of course, the total does depend on how large each clump is at planting stage. It may mean when I come to purchase the plants that I buy more than six and slot them in to give a good show. My specimen shrub Euphorbia mellifera (No 4) I have shown with a spread of 1.5m even though I know it can grow much bigger than this, but the good thing about this plant is that it can be cut down to ground and will rejuvenate. This means that I have given it the amount of space I am prepared to let it grow to after which if it is too large, it can be reduced in size without harming the plant.
Having said all this, however, while the plan helps ascertain the plant selection and quantities, it is not unusual to change the order slightly when it comes to planting. This happens to me all the time because it is one thing to plan it on paper but in reality I often find I prefer to move the plants around a little.
In winter a scheme such as this one will still look good as the stipas are evergreen and so too are the carex grasses and the euphorbia. The agapanthus and yucca are also evergreen and the miscanthus grasses, sedums and verbenas, while being herbaceous, can be left standing and their spent flowers and seed heads will still add structure to the winter garden.
There will be no colour by way of flowers in winter, however, so to brighten up the garden I like to include some colourful weather-resistant garden furniture to sit alongside the scheme, like this funky coloured steel garden bench (left) (which is in my own garden). Dan Pearson’s Chelsea Flower Show garden in 2004 included these lovely organic-shaped seats.
Or you could go crazy as Diarmuid Gavin did in his Chelsea Flower Show garden in the same year (left).
Or how about trying something simple, like these gorgeous colourful lanterns hanging in the trees.
Whatever your bag, colour in the garden, either by way of flowers or accessories, will lift your spirits, as well as enhancing the appearance of your garden at any time of year, but particularly in winter. If your garden looks good in winter, you never know, it may even encourage you to venture out of doors at a time of year when you can usually be found snuggled up in an armchair.