Climbing Plants

If you’ve got limited space and want some extra planting, have a piece of fence you’d like to cover, or a pergola that needs some interest and colour, then what you need is some climbers.

In smaller gardens you can add extra planting simply by putting up a bit of trellis and planting some climbing plants. It’s one of my favourite ways to add colour and texture to a garden without letting yourself in for loads of extra work. Also, climbers grow much quicker than shrubs, so will cover a fence, trellis, or pergola in a couple of years – some of the more vigorous ones can be up and over an arch in a single growing season.

So here are some of my suggestions:-

Climbing roses: don’t be scared of roses, they’re remarkably tough and some of the modern varieties are disease resistant, so no need for spraying. I love Crown Princess Margareta, a gorgeous gold rose that flowers its sock off and smells delicious. Other favourites include ‘A Shropshire Lad’ (peachy pink) and ‘Falstaff’ (rich, deep, velvety red) – both heavily scented and repeat flowering. All these roses are by David Austin – log onto their Web site and choose from their massive catalogue .

Clematis: so many different varieties to choose from and all flowering at different times of the year. There are some that will even flower in the depths of winter. I love Clematis alpina ‘Frances Rivis’ (blue flowers in early spring), Clematis ‘Vyvyan Pennell’ is my absolute favourite, it produces fabulous double lilac flowers in early summer, then single blooms later in the year. I choose clematis that complement the climbing roses and plant them together.

Jasmine: Trachelospermum jasminoides is a great plant - an evergreen that produces heavily scented white flowers during the summer. Another favourite is Jasminium ‘Fiona Sunrise’ - deciduous, but with stunning lime green foliage and scented white flowers in summer.

Honeysuckle: many different varieties that produce intensely fragrant flowers at different times of the year. I like Lonicera ‘Halliana’, Lonicera ‘Serontina’, and Lonicera ‘Dropmore Scarlet’.
For a shady wall or fence try Vitis coignetiae, a very vigorous, non fruiting vine with huge leaves that turn fabulous fiery colours in the autumn.

Ivies have a bit of a bad reputation for being invasive. For some evergreen colour try some of the smaller leaved varieties such Hedera helix ‘Glacier’ and Hedera helix ‘Goldchild’. They’re not quite so vigorous and you can keep them in check.

Actinidia kolomikta is a superb climber, quite vigorous and grown for its decorative leaves which have cream and pink tips.

Akebia quinata is also knows as the Chocolate Vine. It has purlish brown flowers with a Vanilla scent.

Solanum ‘Glasnevin’ is a blue flowered, vigorous climber and is related to the potato. Its can get a bit too enthusiastic, but just chop it back regularly to keep it in check.

Andy Goldsworthy

I love the work of British artist/sculptor Andy Goldsworthy - his work harnesses and celebrates nature and is beautiful and inspirational. Take a look at this Web link http://www.morning-earth.org/ARTISTNATURALISTS/AN_Goldsworthy.html and if you're not familiar with his work I guarantee you'll be a convert.

Case Study - Large Garden in Surrey - Update 7

The garden in Kenley, Surrey is really coming together now. Work on the left-hand terraces is completed – all the walls are constructed and faced with Purbeck stone and the black Limestone paving is laid. The corner terrace with the porthole in its rear wall and semi-circular raised bed is built. The lawn level patio is under construction and nearly complete.

The retaining wall in the lower garden level has been installed – the client opted for timber cribs as this was a less expensive and not as important to the overall look of the garden as it is not visible from the house and main garden. The bank leading down to this area will be stripped, re-graded and laid with new turf.

The newly designed rear wall of the garden is also nearly complete. This wall was not part of the original brief, but when the line of mature Cypress trees was removed it was decided not to re-instate them, but to keep the garden open. This left an old wall that needed re-building, so it was raised slightly to 450mm and faced with Purbeck stone. I also designed a semi-circular seat that is partly recessed into the wall. Either side of the seat two semi circular recesses curve back into the line of the wall and provide plinths which will house two antique statues. The existing pergola that runs along the top of this wall is being extended and given a coat of black paint.

We are just waiting for some of the structural work in the lower level to be completed then work can start on the terraces on the right hand side of the house leading up to the driveway.




Patio and terraces

Semi-Circular Seat



Timber Cribs

A Relaxing Bank Holiday Weekend

Whilst everyone else appears to have been rushing off to the coast this weekend, I awarded myself an extra long weekend and stayed at home. My idea of a relaxing break doesn’t involve sitting in traffic for several hours then squeezing onto a beach with hundreds of other people. My chosen method of chilling out is (I’m sure you can guess where I’m going with this) to spend time tootling around in my garden and on my allotment. Actually, there was less tootling and quite a lot of digging, weeding and planting.

On the allotment I dug over my tomato bed, yes I’m going to try some outdoor tomatoes again this year despite losing last the last two years’ crops to the dreaded tomato blight and swearing that I’d never do so again. I planted my three favourite varieties of tomato – Ferline (supposed to be blight resistant, but hasn’t worked so far), Sweet Olive (tiny plum tomatoes with a gorgeous flavour) and Marmande (a large, beefsteak tomato ideal for making sauces). I disinfected their canes with some dilute Jeyes fluid to ensure there were no blight spores on the canes from last year, gave them some manure and fish, blood and bone and crossed my fingers. They look bushy and healthy now, but its early days. I’m going to give them a spray with some copper sulphate in a couple of weeks just to give them the best possible chance of survival. I’m also growing all three varieties in my greenhouse just for backup, although outdoor tomatoes taste much nicer than ones grown in the greenhouse.

I also planted out my Gherkins – it’s the first time I’ve grown them, but my cucumbers are always a hit and I love pickled Gherkins so I decided to give them a try. One of the plants (which I raised in my greenhouse) already has some tiny fruits on it – very sweet! I planted two carrot varieties – Purple Haze (decorative and delicious) and Flyaway (carrot fly resistant) and just to be extra safe I planted a row of marigolds on either side of them to deter the carrot fly. I also planted a row of Parsnips – we don’t eat many Parsnips, but home grown ones are gorgeous. I planted two more rows of radishes and harvested my first bunch of both varieties – this year I’ve grown a round variety and also the French breakfast ones and they are fab!

In the front garden, I plugged some gaps in my herbaceous borders adding some Veronicastrum ‘Fascination’, Phlox ‘Velvet Flame’, and Aster frikartii ‘Monch’. I moved some Penstemmon ‘Raven’ which were in the way of my Paeonies, had a good old weed round and applied a top dressing of fish, blood and bone. In the back garden I planted some more Hemerocallis (purple and orange with a purple eye) in a space created by moving a Trachycarpus and had a sort out in the greenhouse. I potted up a new Acer and re-potted one that’s on my lower patio and not looking very happy. I put all my saved coffee grounds around my potted Hostas and it’s really done the trick – slugs 0, Linsey 1.

Forgot to take any pictures on the allotment, but here’s a photo looking up the garden and, yes, I am still waiting for the landscapers to come back and finish rendering the wall of my herb bed!

Loseley Park Spring Garden Show 2009

If you fancy getting out into the fresh air this weekend why not come and have a chat with me on my stand at the Loseley Park Spring Garden Show? Its a lovely show with lots of great ideas for your garden and its going to be a gorgeous sunny weekend.

Loseley Park is a beautiful stateley home near Guildford in Surrey, and holds a Spring and Summer garden show every year. This year there will also be one in the Autumn. The shows are smaller than other garden shows, but you will find everything you'd expect at a larger show, but one a smaller scale making it a less exhausting and expensive day out.

Click here for information about Loseley Park and directions on how to get there.

The show runs from Friday to Sunday, opening times are 10am to 5pm and its only £2.50 to get in.

See you there.

Linsey

My allotment shows signs of life

Finally, my Berkshire allotment is starting to take shape and the first shoots are poking their heads through the soil. I’ve been gradually digging in the winter mulch blanket, preparing and planting each section. So far I’ve put in spinach, chard, coriander, parsley, spring onions, radishes and beetroot. I’ve weeded around my raspberry canes and fruit bushes, and given them some Sulphate of Ammonia. This year it looks like there’s going to be a bumper crop of currants and gooseberries and I can’t wait.

I planted the radishes and beetroot under some mesh tunnels to prevent them being destroyed as they emerge by greedy pigeons. I noticed over the weekend that the slugs have been nibbling the first leaves – time for some beer traps I think. I’m going to put mesh tunnels over the spinach and chard this weekend to make sure the pigeons don’t get to them before I do – this also helps to keep the flea beetle off the spinach and rocket.

Over the Easter weekend I planted my broad bean plants which I’d been nurturing in the greenhouse for a few weeks. I always bring on my broad beans in the greenhouse – I find I can keep an eye on them and ensure that I get sufficient plants to give me a large crop. I love new broad beans. Some people pick them too late by which time they are tough and bitter. I pick them early and make a lovely warm salad. I cook the beans and cover with a simple dressing of olive oil, lemon juice and garlic. Then I add some fried pancetta cubes, sun dried tomatoes and some soft goat’s cheese which melts into the dish. Serve with some crusty bread for a tasty supper dish. I always grow some green and some red broad beans – I don’t know which I prefer for taste, but it looks very pretty in the serving dish!


Pigeon protected radishes and beetroot



Broad Beans

Case Study - Large Garden in Surrey - Update 6

The garden is really beginning to take shape now. All the retaining walls on the left-hand side of the garden have been faced with selected, random Purbeck stone. The alcoves in the conservatory terrace wall have had LEDs fitted so that when the lanterns aren’t lit they can still be illuminated - each alcove has a polished steel back plate to reflect the light.

The black Limestone paving has been laid on the upper terraces and the steps are almost complete. Because the paving oversails the walls and is visible from the lower garden it is really helping to define the curves and steps that give this garden its unique identity. The lower corner terrace is almost paved and should be complete by the time of my site visit next week. This will mean that the whole left-hand side of the garden is pretty much complete and you will begin to see how the finished garden will look.

There is what I have described as a porthole, but which others are referring to as a moon gate in the corner terrace wall. It is not, strictly speaking a moon gate as it’s not intended, nor is it large enough to give access to the area behind the wall. It’s purpose is to give a view on a new tree and planting behind the wall. Whatever you choose to call it it’s looking great and the contractors have done a splendid job – constructing a circle from blocks and stone is not a simple task and was made more difficult by the fact that the top of the porthole stands proud of the wall.

I have also designed some additional parts of the garden which were not included in the original project scope. We removed a line of Cypress trees that formed a screen around 10 metres tall sitting behind a low retaining wall. The client originally felt that they would like to replace this screen as soon as possible and so I obtained some prices for mature Yew and Bay hedging. However, once the trees were gone the client realised they were not needed for privacy and that the garden was more open and lighter without them, and they have not been replaced. So, I have re-designed the retaining wall that formed the raised bed in which the trees were planted. This wall will be raised to 450mm and faced with the Purbeck stone to tie in with the rest of the garden. There will be a semi-circular seat cut into the wall and two alcoves for displaying some rather lovely antique sculpture which needed a home.

Another area that has been designed is a lower level of the garden which forms a transition space between the middle level of the garden and main lawn area to the tennis court that forms the lowest level. The retaining wall that supports this part of the garden, consisting of some large lumps of stone mortared into place was falling down and considered to be unsafe. We consulted the structural engineer and started going through the options. Problems that needed to be overcome apart from providing a safe structural wall include difficult access, the clients’ wish to avoid pouring even more concrete if at all possible and keep costs down to a minimum. A proprietary system which requires very little excavation and no poured concrete has been chosen and the walls will be faced with planted, timber cribs. I have re-designed an area that sits on top of this new retaining wall which is a steep bank down from the upper garden with a set of steps at its centre and a flat area at the base. We are raising the base of the bank so that it forms a narrow raised bed, then retaining the rest of the bank with the stone reclaimed when demolishing the existing lower retaining wall to make a rock garden.

I also designed the shape of the new retaining wall as a flowing 'S' shaped curve that allows access to a previously dead area of the garden and ties in with the curves and terraces used elsewhere in the scheme. I'm off on site next Wednesday to mark out this curve with the main contractor - I may live to regret using so many freehand curves!