Inspiring International Gardens

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I’m going to start this week’s blog post by shamelessly stealing someone else’s idea! My good friend Jenny Peterson did a great garden video showing highlights of her gardening year in 2010.  So, I thought I’d do a video of all the fantastic gardens I visited last year. Here it is… YouTube Preview Image If you’d like to know more about the gardens that are featured in the video please click on the following links:

Alhambra Palace garden Granada Spain

Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden

Burghley House Lincolnshire

Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, Cordoba, Spain

Coimbra Botanic Garden, Portugal

Parque de Maria Luisa, Sevilla, Spain

Jardines de las Reales Alcazares

Exciting News!

I’m interviewing internationally acclaimed, award-winning garden designer and author David Stevens tomorrow for the new podcast series. Do you have any questions on garden design that you’d like me to ask him? If so, please leave them in the comments below or send me an email from the contact page of this website.

More News!

I know, bumper packed news this week – the 5 Minute Plant Expert is now finished. In this mini-course you’ll learn all the tricks and shortcuts to becoming a ‘Plant Whisperer’ just by working through the simple mini-course for 5 minutes a day for 2 weeks!

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BIG ideas for roof gardens [part 2]

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In last week’s blog post we looked at how to tackle a tiny courtyard garden for reader Rachel Scott. This week we are going to look at the second part of Rachel’s question – what to do with a small roof terrace. Plus look out for the special announcement at the bottom of the page…

Most of the design tips below will also be applicable for small town gardens and walled courtyard gardens, not just roof terraces.

Photograph courtesy of Simon Leonard

Well, the first thing you need to think about with any roof terrace is the structural integrity. If you require permission to turn the space into a garden in the first place. We’ll assume all is fine on that front, in this instance.

How much weight can it hold?

The answer to that question dictates where you start. If there are no weight issues, you can use almost any building materials (it is sensible not to use excessively heavy materials) and build retaining walls with built in seats and planters. If there are weight concerns, then only place planters and other heavier objects in areas that are load bearing (usually the outer edges). Use lightweight materials. But before you do anything call out a structural engineer to advise you on what you can and can’t do.

How to use the space

As much I have have grown to hate the expression ‘outside room’, this is how you should think of a roof garden. Thinking of it as a room will help you utilise the space properly. In a tiny space like this one (3m x 2m), Rachel’s next job, once she has worked out what she can do weight wise, is to work out what space she needs to function in.

Like planning any other type of landscaped garden, you need to decide the use of the area. Are you going to have a seating area? How are you going to access it? Where is the best location to be in, or to avoid the sun? Once you’ve worked out what you want to do, you are halfway there. If you have a chair and table, set them up and see how much space you have left. If it’s not much, would it be better to build a planter with a seat built in to save on space?

You need to find the right balance between function and looks. Areas need a certain amount of empty space so that they don’t feel cluttered. This is critical to your success. ‘Less is more’, as they say (I vow one day to come up with an alternative phrase).

Use the walls

In any garden, the boundary can be used to your advantage. But in a tiny roof space, you must make the walls your best friend. If you have an interesting exterior wall, one that indents, is it possible to render and paint sections? Perhaps certain parts lend themselves to some outdoor art? Is it possible to attach a canopy on the wall to pull across on inclement weather days?

Get arty

Going back to the ‘outdoor room’ theme, dress the walls like you would for an interior but with about half to a third less stuff. If you are a clutter monkey, make that an two-thirds less! A carefuly positioned ornament or some candles on an exterior shelf blends the inside and outside spaces. Exterior art can be used effectively too. A fairly inexpensive way to create some outdoor art if you aren’t an artist is to get some Ikea canvases and paint them with exterior or yacht varnish, front and back, two to three coats. They won’t last forever but will add that finishing touch to your roof garden.

As well as thinking about how to use every bit of space from the floor to the walls. Also think about the views beyond. Frame the best parts of the view, disguise and hide the parts that don’t look good. If all the views are wonderful, you may still need a windbreak to make the sitting areas more comfortable. Screens like the one shown in the photo above work well or dense planting can sometimes be enough if the area is not overexposed.

Getting the right plants

Of course no garden would be truly complete without the plants. Think very carefully about what you put in; will it survive windier and colder conditions (if on an exposed terrace), for example? Pick plants that look good all year round and can cope with some neglect. By neglect I don’t mean to cast aspersions on your gardening skills or commitment. It’s just a fact that a plant grown in a pot suffers much quicker than one planted in the ground with more soil to support it.

Hopefully that has given Rachel some ideas for her Sydney roof terrace and you as well for your garden.

How to Create Your Dream Garden…

If you’ve ever felt frustrated at trying to create a wonderful looking garden and want to know the secret to it then take a look at the Great Garden Formula Course. Grab your copy now at the great introductory price. Click image or link below for further details.

http://www.courses.successfulgardendesign.com/create-a-great-garden/

Future blog posts

So what areas of your garden/landscape are you struggling with? If you’d like some advice, leave a comment in the box below and you may just see a blog post written about it in the near future!




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Inspirational Gardens and the People Behind Them [part 1]

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We are getting back to gardens this week after the frivolity of last week’s Honest Scrap Award. This is the first of a new monthly-ish feature on inspirational gardens. I’ve chosen this first one to get the ball rolling, then all subsequent gardens are chosen by the person I’ve interviewed, which should, I hope, make for an interesting journey for us all.

Veddw House Garden copyright Charles Hawes

Garden Design Elements

My inaugural Inspirational Garden is Veddw House Garden in Monmouthshire, South Wales. The garden has been created by Anne Wareham and her husband Charles Hawes. Anne is a garden writer for newspapers and magazines. She is also a garden consultant and is involved with ThinkinGardens, for people who want more than gardening from their garden. Charles is a professional photographer and has very kindly allowed me to use his photographs of Veddw House Garden for this article.

I’ve only recently discovered Veddw House Garden (shame on me – I should never have cancelled my Gardens Illustrated subscription!). I’ve been really impressed by the creative and clever layout of the garden. It is obvious how much energy and thought has gone into it. What impresses me most about this garden is its creators; neither Anne or Charles are professionally trained garden designers. They have created this garden from scratch. Anne started it with a spade in her hand. It’s a two-acre garden. That’s quite an undertaking for anyone.

Veddw House Garden copyright Charles Hawes

Where Do You Start To Create A Garden Like This?

I asked Anne where and how she got started on this amazing garden. She told me the first thing she did was to clear it. The overgrown trees and shrubs were removed and this enabled Anne to see the garden properly. Most people are too afraid to take things out and totally start again but for Anne this was a necessity not an option.

Having a two-acre garden to develop from scratch is a big challenge and a scary one at that. I was very curious as to how Anne went about transforming her garden, when, in her words, she knew absolutely nothing about creating a garden. She did something that is obvious, yet so few people do it…

You Can Do What Anne Has Done Too

She studied gardens, in depth. Anne went to every garden centre, nursery and open garden she could. She read books, magazines and totally immersed herself in all things garden. She asked a lot of questions. Most people tend to do some of those things but not all. Anne stuck at it until she understood what makes a good garden. It’s not about what plants you use. It comes down to what shapes you create before you add the plants.

Veddw House Garden copyright Charles Hawes

A Curious Design Method…

I wanted to know about Anne’s design process. Does she sit down with a sheet of paper and plan it or could she see it in her mind? I was expecting her to say she could just see it all in her mind but that couldn’t be further from it. Anne is like many people, myself included early on in my design career, she can’t visualise how things will look. If you’ve read the blog post I did a while back on visualising your garden, you’ll know that it’s not as important a skill as you would think.

Anne’s design method is born out of her curiosity; she will think of two or three different things and wonder how they would look if she puts them together. So the only way to satisfy her curiosity is to actually go and do it.

The Problem With Focusing On Plants

Iris sibirica Veddw copyright Charles Hawes

Anne is passionate about good structure in gardens (and I mean REALLY passionate about it). One of her pet hates is how easily seduced people are by plants. Too much focus on plants and the garden becomes an incoherent mess. As a nation we are plant obsessed and it is all too often to our detriment. Mention your plant collection to Anne at your peril!

An Inexperienced Gardener

Before Veddw, Anne’s experience of gardens was limited to a small London garden and before that a tub of herbs she’d grown from seeds on the flat roof of her flat! So if you were thinking that it’s impossible to create a great garden without a lot of garden experience, you’d be wrong. Anne and Charles started the garden in 1987. They’ve developed it one section at a time. A garden like Veddw doesn’t happen over night, it evolves over time.

View across grasses copyright Charles Hawes

Anne’s Top Tips:

If you are starting a new garden, mulch as much as you can to keep the weeds down. Think about structure in your garden and read, read, read everything you can on gardens. You must educate yourself as much as possible. Her last tip is to go with the lie of the land, especially if you have countryside views. It’s important your garden sits well in its surroundings.

Visit This Great Garden

I do hope that if you are ever in South Wales, you will go and see Veddw House Garden for yourself. It’s open to the public on Sunday’s from 2-5pm June-August. And whilst you are visiting you may as well take a look at some other wonderful Welsh gardens. There is a fabulous book available (which features Veddw among others) called Discovering Welsh Gardens by Stephen Anderton, photographs by Charles Hawes.

I’d like to thank Anne for taking the time for the interview, especially as she’s facing a deadline for her new book ‘The Bad-Tempered Gardener’ for Frances Lincoln, which should be available early next year. If you’d like to know more about Anne, I would recommend you follow her on Twitter @bulchey – if there is a lively debate about gardens, she’ll be there…

Veddw House Garden Copyright Charles Hawes

Your turn?

If you can get a good understanding of how garden design works, then creating your own fabulous garden is definitely achievable. I hope seeing Charles and Anne’s garden has inspired you to tackle your own garden in a creative and thought provoking way. Gardens can be so much more than just a place to put the shed, you don’t need to be an expert to do it but you do need knowledge.

I’ve certainly been inspired by my conversation with Anne. Veddw House Garden is proof that if you put your mind to it, you can create something amazing with your garden. In fact she’s inspired me to take action to help people do just that. I’ll write more about the idea our conversation sparked in the next blog post…

Want Some Free Advice?

In the meantime, if you haven’t already, why not get yourself a copy of the FREE guide on how to avoid the biggest garden design mistakes. When you sign up for that you will also get the weekly blog post direct to your inbox; so you won’t miss any important information. I won’t spam you- I don’t have time to! And I certainly won’t pass your email address to anyone that does.


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Ideas for your garden – gallery 3 Modern Contemporary Gardens

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In last week’s ideas for your garden gallery we featured a selection of more traditional styles of garden with a heavy emphasis on plants.

This week’s gallery, the last in this series, is the complete opposite of last week’s style of garden and focuses primarily on modern contemporary styles. These types of garden tend to have more focus on design and use of hard landscaping materials so may not be to everyone’s tastes but I hope you still get some inspiration even if you want a more traditional style of garden.

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Want to Know the Surprising Secret to Creating a Great Looking Garden?

Watch this free garden video tutorial (be warned the content may upset some people!)

A Little Bit Of Planning Goes A Long Way…

I’ve called this gallery advanced because a lot more time and skill goes into creating this style of garden. In part because the focus is on the hard landscaping materials. This means that the design shape is much more noticeable. In traditional style gardens you can hide a multitude of sins with a good planting scheme but with slightly less focus on plants, that is harder to do!

Gardening Blasphemy!

In case anyone is reading ‘less focus on plants’ to mean that plants are not important – don’t! Using fewer plants means that their selection is even more vital. Any planting scheme needs a lot of thought put into it but in my opinion, even more is required when planting areas are small. The less plants you have, the more each plant needs to ‘give’ to the space it’s in.

Next Week Could be a Shock to the System…

I’ll be going back to my normal blog where I actually write posts and don’t rely on moving images to keep you entertained! For those of you who prefer to watch rather than read, don’t worry, there will be more garden design video tutorials and garden galleries coming along in due course.

Oh and Talking of Good Blogs!

If you haven’t already discovered Jenny Peterson’s blog - DO go and check it out this week. Yours truly is in her brand new Gardener of the Month feature and before you ask – no I didn’t pay her to write this (though I half feel I should have!).

 

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Garden Ideas Gallery – Landscape Garden Pictures [part 1]

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Looking for ideas for your garden?

As promised last week, here is the first of three portfolios of finished gardens. I’ve labelled this one beginner level because most of the gardens featured are comprised of relatively simple geometric shapes. These are the easiest to design with and therefore a good place to start if you are new to designing your garden.

Simple doesn’t mean boring!

Creating a simple circle, oval or rectangular shape to your lawn can totally transform your garden, as you will see from the examples shown in the garden gallery.

YouTube Preview Image

In next week’s blog post the intermediate level gardens will be featured. These are a little more involved with shape and levels.

If you’d like to receive the FREE report on how to avoid BIG mistakes in your garden, please enter your email address in the box below (don’t worry you won’t be spammed!). You’ll be emailed great garden design tips each month.

 

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