Garden Answers November 2023

There is something wonderful about visiting other gardens, whether they’re part of the National Garden Scheme or at grand stately homes – or even friends and neighbours. We know it’s something that GA readers love to do and our Gardens To Visit feature (page 62 in this issue) is always very popular. We can draw so much inspiration from them in many different ways, but some people naturally find it difficult to equate what they see in a well-established, large garden with what they have to work with at home. But fear not – GA is here to help! In this issue (see page 22), Naomi Slade explains how to create a grand effect in your garden no matter how big it is. There are smart planting and decorative ideas…

AN AUTUMN TAPESTRY Mixing and matching the containers on your balcony or patio this month will create some beautiful scenes that can be missed if pots are left in isolation. Move wavy grasses so they mingle with the hot late colour of asters and heathers. The fiery autumn colour of Japanese maples is also more dramatic if placed near a contrasting colour. Get creative and see what combinations work best. GET THE LOOK  Spring bulb special It’s time to look forward to the glory of some special spring flowers as we fill pots and flowerbeds with bulbs Kent & Stowe long-handled bulb planter £39.99 Stainless-steel planter with long handle and foot grip, marshalls garden.com. Clear bulb vase £9.40 Fluted glass vase with a leather strap, royaldesign.co.uk. Italian terracotta bulb bowl…

Evergreens are unsung heroes that tirelessly perform 24/7 as the skeleton of almost every garden: largely unnoticed, but utterly essential. Now, as deciduous plants shed their final leaves and we get ready to face the bleak midwinter, comes their chance to shine. Low winter light picks out lustrous leaves of many shapes and textures, in a multitude of greens plus a wonderfully diverse range of colours. Vibrant golds and yellow variegations bring sunshine to the gloomiest winter days; step up the tempo with warm reds and rusty oranges, go dark and sultry with purples and maroon or weave in softer threads of gleaming silver and subtle grey. You can bump up the ornamental value even further and pick out those evergreens that have the bonus of flowers, giving a double…

With winter almost upon us and garden visiting season drawing to a close, we can find ourselves reflecting on our horticultural adventures with a certain amount of longing. Part of the fun of getting out and about, is trying on someone else’s lifestyle for size – even if that size is much larger than our own, and when opportunity presents, it is only natural to indulge in a little up-scale fantasy, drifting across grand lawns, promenading along magnificent avenues or playing hide-and-seek among the looming topiary. But on returning home, the scenery can seem comparatively lacking in ambition and scale. But with a little planning and knowhow, it is possible to squeeze at least some of that great garden inspiration into a much smaller space. Team statement features such as…

“Miscanthus are robust grasses with real presence, which combine so well with many other plants and look good almost all year. While many splendid ornamental grasses offer a wealth of beautiful textures, colours and shapes, miscanthus stands head and shoulders above the competition, combining long-lasting structure and height along with grace and movement. These tough and hardy grasses form narrow, upright clumps of elegant foliage, which in summer erupt with slender stems topped by airy clouds of flowers that last for months. Then, although the growth dies and bleaches to biscuit-brown, plants keep their structure to remain shapely and architectural during winter, highlighting the changing weather from misted and spider-webbed to silvered with frost, or backlit by low winter sun. The genus comprises around 20 species that all originate from…

PLANT SPECIES TULIPS Unlike daffodils, which happily flower every spring, not all tulips come back year after year, particularly if you garden on heavy clay soil. ‘Ballerina’, ‘White Triumphator’ and ‘Queen of Night’ are a couple that reappear, although the flowers are usually smaller each year. For reliably perennial tulips it’s best to plant the species – Tulipa sylvestris, T. humilis, T. acuminata, T. whittallii and T. sprengeri. These tend to be dainty tulips perfect for alpine gardens or the front of a sunny border, or slightly taller ones that are great for naturalising. Now’s the time to plant them, as temperatures are marginally cooler. This helps to kill off soil-borne fungal diseases that can affect tulips. Dig a hole three times the depth of the bulb and add grit…