Small gardens, particularly in built-up areas, tend to be overlooked on two or three sides by other properties. This means you often have little privacy and too much shade. Award-winning garden designer Kate Gould reveals how to make the most of a teeny outdoor space.Adjacent trees and overgrown shrubs can have invasive roots that in time render even the best laid paving uneven, so defining the extent of hard landscaping in the garden in relation to the surrounding planting is very important. Some shrubs with extremely fleshy and juicy fruit can permanently stain natural stone and Laurel, in particular, with its blue-black fruit causes violent purple marks on paving. An area of loose aggregate or dense shrub planting under something like this would be worth considering. Silver Birch are amazing options and have merit in small gardens, retained in planters of similar size, helping to create a natural barrier and enhancing your privacy. Choosing furniture and creating attractive storage outside can contribute hugely towards making your garden a truly unique space and one that lends itself to use all year round. Although a high maintenance piece, in small gardens mirrored surfaces are hugely beneficial in bouncing light round the garden and making the space feel far larger than it actually is.
Terraces with outdoor sofas and generous dining tables look fabulous when they are dressed with cushions, lit with candles and filled with friends and family. Kate Gould is an award winning garden designer with more than a decade’s hands-on experience transforming gardens of all sizes. A regular exhibitor at the Chelsea Flower Show, Kate’s work can be viewed at www.kategouldgardens.com
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Kate Gould is an award winning garden designer who specialises in transforming gardens of all sizes. Here she tells us how important it is to prepare even the tiniest garden for Winter.When I think of a winter garden I think of evergreen structure and seed heads dusted with frost backed by a clear crystal blue sky. But, our winters are now so unpredictable in the UK that we cannot guarantee those crisp cold sunny mornings that warrant planting a garden solely for its winter seed heads. Over the years many plants with winter structure have crept into the planting palette, but my garden errs on the damp side in places and plants that should look good during the winter in a ‘crispy dead’ sort of way look ‘soggy dead’ instead. So, this year I've hardened my heart. I'm going to cut it all down before the cold really sets in, feed it and mulch it with well rotted manure to prepare it for next summer. I will miss the golden buff Miscanthus and Hydrangea and I will leave some of the berried plants for the birds. It will look ever so bare over the winter, but I can cope with that if I know the garden is getting ready for next year under its blanket of ‘black gold’. Normally I leave everything standing to protect the crowns of the plants and don’t cut it down until the middle of January, but a 5cm mulch of organic matter will give the same effect and if I can get it on the ground while the soil is still warm then all the better. This practice is also useful if you have a garden with plants that are generous with their seeds (Verbena, Lythrum, Althaea and Papaver to name a few). A thick mulch helps quash unwanted seedlings next year. The same goes for tender plants or those with fleshy stems; Zantadeschia Aethiopica, Gunnera and Rheum especially benefit from a mulch and a layer of straw and manure to keep the worst of the winter wet away from them as well as keeping the surrounding soil from freezing too hard. As with all mulch, keep it away from the stems of the plant to avoid rotting them. If you garden in a Mediterranean way with gravel and scree then adding more gravel to the garden gives the same effect as an organic mulch. It won't feed the plants, but most of these plants are happy on a lean diet and don’t require the boost. There are also some tough pruning jobs to tackle in my garden and a fifteen year old Amelanchier ‘Obelisk’ that has looked decidedly unwell for most of this year will probably have to be removed. It was rocked heavily by a gust of wind in the spring and is really beginning to lean over. This will leave a gap but that isn’t a problem per se; the only problem is deciding what new plant to put there to replace it.
My well-crafted scheme has slowly diluted itself over the years and would benefit from lifting, dividing and re-planting. This year I am going to be ruthless and tackle it head on; no lame excuses (well that’s the plan anyway!). Other jobs that you might like to tackle before and during the winter: · Tie in climbing plants to make sure they are secure and the wind doesn’t damage them, this is especially important for climbing roses. · Rake up fallen leaves and compost to provide an organic mulch next year. Leafmould is a great soil improver. Discover how to make it at RHS. · Clean your pots. It isn’t the most pleasurable of jobs but will help to keeps pests and diseases at bay next year. · Plan for next year, whether it’s a landscaping project, vegetable garden or simply a new herbaceous planting plan inspired by a seed catalogue. · Provide food for birds in your garden and keep doing so until the weather warms up. You can find out more at RSPB. Kate Gould is an award winning garden designer with more than a decade’s hands-on experience transforming gardens of all sizes. A regular exhibitor at the Chelsea Flower Show, Kate’s work can be viewed at www.kategouldgardens.com |
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