Gardening with nature

Gardens should incorporate plants native to the locality and not use too many alien species

JORDAN’S Cereals’ wildlife garden, which was created by renowed garden designer, Selina Botham, won the People’s Choice Award at the recent RHS Hampton Court Flower Show.

The RHS say the garden encourages visitors to bring a little of the British countryside into their own homes through layers of soft, naturalistic planting.

“Taller planting, and benches sculpted from straw bales, create a sense of enclosure and a place to pause and contemplate the sensory delights of this soft, colourful garden.

“Visitors can spot foraging opportunities within the garden, and there are opportunities to taste some edible flowers and leaves.”

And the sublime creation of Selina Botham did do that — bring some of the British countryside inside the garden. So, too, in our own gardens at home — where we don’t need to have the rarest, most prized specimen for the space to work — our gardens should also be of the area. They should tie in with the surrounding countryside and not scream at it with alien species and plants or be arranged in neat rows maintained by constant spraying,.

That’s not to say that we all should create wild replicas of hedgerows and ditches, but to include native and local plants where possible. Our gardens will look the better and thrive.

How many people planted the now despised xCupressocyparis leylandii, better known as a Leyland Palm? It was an alien species that destroyed many gardens, as did Grisellinea from New Zealand, which has been over-planted in the last 40 years.

Native species are thankfully being used notto replace these two unwanted interloopers and local councils are insisting on planning applications that native hedgerows are used. And in terms of the garden, its far better to learn from what is around us. As a student, I learned about ‘indicator plants’. These are helpful when determining soil pH andwhich plants will grow in a particular area. Hydrangeas, in blue or pink, are great indicators of acidity or alkalinity, and can determine which other plants would suit the site.

I would use indicator plants for more than just soil pH. For example, when choosing plants for a coastal site, my first rule of thumb is not the text book, but rather what plants are thriving (or, maybe we’d have to be happy with surviving, depending on the severity of the exposure), in the area already.

In a rural settings, it’s important that the garden moulds itself into the greater landscape. In the suburbs, we can be a bit bolder, as these are contrived and the gardens can be less natural.

Bringing the countryside into your garden is important visually, but also helps with the overall natural order, providing a food source and a place of refuge for wildlife.

These are the reasons for creating a garden like this, and remember that a show garden is all about that,just show.

This garden did not win the People’s Choice Award because of what it represented. No, it won because it looked beautiful. It is a calm, relaxing garden with excellent use of plants, such as the bright-coloured Achilleas, Antirrinhums, Geraniums and Hemerocallis, mixed expertly with ornamental grasses, Stipas and Carexes.

It’s easy to see what we like about flowering plants. Their colour, form, size and number all give reasons for admiration. The grasses bring so much more to the planting combinations, a softness and movement that can’t be achieved by any other type of plant.

The effect is a garden that blended beautifully into the surrounding countryside, leaving the visitor unsure where the ‘garden’ ended and the countryside began.

It’s important this garden won, because while everyone is concerned, to a greater or lesser degree, with the plight of our bees and other wildlife species, we still want our gardens to be a place of beauty and an area to enjoy, to relax and unwind.

Well, designer Selina Bothamhas surpassed expectations in illustrating with this garden that achieving both is entirely and delightfully possible.