Planning a Rock Garden
A rockery is exactly that—an area of rocks built to resemble a small-scale mountain. Rock plants or alpines are planted in pockets of soil and between cracks. The rockery doesn’t have to be high, although height allows you to use larger rocks. Use soil that is free of perennial weeds to make the mound, since once weed roots become established under large rocks they are difficult to eradicate.
Planning a rockery
- Restrict the planting areas to pockets of weed-free soil among the rocks.
- Soil should be free draining.
- Mulch the soil surface with a 2-inch layer of clean, coarse grit for drainage and as a weed control. This will also help keep the collars of the alpine plants dry and prevent rotting.
- Choose plants that are not aggressive or prone to smothering neighboring alpines.
- Stick to one type of rock, making sure that the strata (lines) of sandstone or similar lie in the same direction.
- Lay each piece of rock on a firm base to prevent movement.
Planning a Wildflower Garden
If you have room for an unmown area at the bottom of the garden, a well-established wildflower meadow is a thing of rare beauty. From spring until autumn it is a palette of ever-changing flower color. And it doesn’t have to be an entire field-almost any small patch that you mow only once or twice a year can produce good-quality, well-behaved wildflowers such as cornflowers, native daffodils, cowslips, and ox-eye daisies. An impoverished soil with no added fertilizer will result in a wide range of wildflowers becoming naturalized.
Having said that, a wildflower garden does need considerable attention unless you are going to allow it to become really wild, if you see what I mean! Refrain from cutting the herbage until the flowers have set seed. Then leave the hay for a few days and, if the weather is dry, toss it on site to make sure the seed is dispersed before adding it in thin layers to the compost heap. Many of the annual flowers that set seed will germinate the following spring and continue the cycle.
Planning a Woodland Garden
A woodland garden needn’t be on a grand scale. It may be no more than an extension to a perimeter planting of quick-growing trees and shrubs designed to screen the garden and offer protection from strong, cold blasts. Add to your tree-planting list a selection of interesting deciduous and evergreen species with coloured bark (birch), shaped foliage (maple), (lowers (Hawthorn), or fruit (crabapple). Under the tree canopy, it will be possible to grow shade-loving plants such as camellias and azaleas. The rampant, climbing, highly fragrant wild woodbine, otherwise known as honeysuckle, is another woodlander.
Low-growing plants for the woodland floor include a range of early spring bulbs. There are English bluebells, wood anemones, and winter aconites, all of which love a shaded, weed-free floor littered with a mulch of leaf mould. A small area of woodland can be made to seem larger by meandering the path through the planting and doubling back to give the impression of a walk through a larger area. In the early years, it will be necessary to deal with weeds by mulching, chemicals, or hand weeding. Eventually, as the canopy of leaves shuts out light, the ground will become weed free. Laying a deep mulch of bark or wood chippings will help beat the weeds and provide a forest-like feel. Small trees will become established and grow more quickly than expensive, large trees. As the trees grow, trim off the lower branches for better access.
Planning a woodland garden
- Plant climbers to scramble through the canopy. Honeysuckle, climbing roses, and clematis should all succeed in these conditions.
- Plant spring bulbs that will die down before the soil becomes dry in summer.
- Avoid fast-growing conifers such as the Leyland cypress.
- Use vermin guards for a few years to stop local small mammals eating your young trees.
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