I’ve been looking through my pictures from Floriade Expo 2022 and whittling them down to just the decent ones. It’s not something I enjoy, particularly at the start. The trouble is, I tend to be a bit excitable when faced with gardens and lots of flowers, and to take more pictures than is convenient afterwards. Continue reading “Bad Hair Day in the Garden”
Anatomy of Colour by Sarah Emily Porter
Art in the garden has freedoms and challenges. We have to expect nature to intervene: the elements will work upon the piece long after the artist has put down her tools. Â Continue reading “Anatomy of Colour by Sarah Emily Porter”
How To Make A City Garden In A Small Space
Want to make a, easily maintainable city garden? Just follow this plan, as illustrated above.
- Select your space. The heart of a medieval city is ideal (the more souls that can overlook the garden, the better), but almost any space will suffice.
- Create one or more organic shaped beds in the centre and another around the perimeter, leaving room for a sinuous, scrollable path (experts advise laying out the path first).
- Edge the beds in a stone coloured material, selecting a darker tile to define the perimeter border.
- Scatter shrubs, small, decorative conifers, grasses and herbaceous plants that can tolerate some neglect in the central beds. Keep it on the minimal side – you don’t want to crowd things.
- Artfully place decent-sized rocks in small groups or piles.
- Mulch with crushed slate.
- Add curved, benches that will invite passers-by to linger. Chocolate coloured metal ones will match those tiles around the outer borders.
- Fix trellises to the walls and encourage vines to soften them, creating the effect of a glade within a city (if you lack walls, add a fence or baffle first).
- If the same vines can be pruned low to provide ground cover for the perimeter beds, so much the better. If not, plant something green to do the job.
- Pave, staying true to the neutral, natural theme.
- In winter, tie the grasses up into neat bundles by wrapping a few of the long outer strands around the clump.
- Sit back and enjoy.
Continue reading “How To Make A City Garden In A Small Space”