We love showing you how to make over your garden. The transformation is always incredible, and it’s great to see people finally enjoying it.
But I know the prospect of a revamp without a team of experts can seem daunting, so I’ll show you the insider secrets to get the look at home. It really is doable.
And I’m not just saying that – I really do want you to Love Your Garden!
Potager veg garden
Potager is a traditional French kitchen garden that mixed veg, fruit and ornamental flowers in the same beds. It’s a great way to jazz up a veg plot and harmonise it with your other garden beds.
Start with espaliered fruit trees at the back – apple and pear thrive in Britain. Espaliered trees are high-yield because they have so many fruiting side branches, so they give loads of fruit without taking up too much space.
Then in the beds below we mixed rhubarb, beans, chard and lettuce with flowering plants like cosmos, alliums, lavender and calendula. Check the spacing for each veg crop to make sure it has room to grow into.
A circular herb wheel is a great addition to a veg plot
These were traditionally planted in old cartwheels laid on the soil, though ours was on a bigger scale. Again we added blooms like sunflowers and nasturtiums for extra colour.
Try a mix of chives, sage, basil, rosemary, lemon thyme and French tarragon. We also added Pineapple mint, but you have to keep an eye on mint plants because they spread quickly!
For the circular paving, use small carpet stones to get a round look, and add a central focal point like our mosaic. Arches or wooden wigwams covered in climbers will add height to such a low-growing feature.
If you want to cover a new fence, or just try something other than an evergreen hedge, use flowering shrubs! The key is to use varieties that flower at different times mixed in with evergreens. Shrubs that produce berries are great for winter colour too.
We used Lilac, Osmanthus, Ceanothus, Escallonia and Viburnum opulus. If you want a long hedge, repeat the shrubs for more cohesion. Prune them just after flowering for the best regrowth.
Mexican feather grass is football-proof and has great texture and movement
I always think footballs come with a homing device for prize blooms! Embrace the danger with tough plants that will survive the occasional crushing, or that respond well to hard pruning when bits get broken off.
We used Mexican feather grass (Stipa tennuissima) and Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata) throughout the garden. Box, lavender, Alchemilla, Choysia ternata and Salvia ‘Ostfriesland’ are also fantastic options. Good shrubs include lilac, Cotoneaster and Euonymous.
We’ve been looking at using F Words as a guide to easy garden design and renovation. We’ve already looked at getting great flooring and fencing, so now let’s see what we can do with garden features.
F is for Features
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Concrete blocks make eyecatching features in the Help for Heroes Chelsea garden
Garden features are larger, eye-catching items in the garden. Basically anything that’s not a floor, fence or plant! Some features are actually fixtures that you may want to disguise, while others add interest and focal points.
Plus there are often fixtures and big items in your garden that become ‘features’ for the wrong reasons! I split them into three categories:
Stuck with!
This could be a garage, ugly views, a coal bunker, neighbours overlooking the garden. Anything you can’t change.
Shift it!
Kids’ swings and slide, the garden shed, washing line, last year’s old barbeque. Stuff you need to keep, but which doesn’t need to be in the centre of your lawn.
Skip it!
Scruffy bird table, rotting old bench, shrubs way past their best, old pots and containers with dead summer plants in, natty dog chews on the lawn. Removable stuff you don’t need.
What to do now
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Grow clematis through trellis
Simple – if you’re stuck with it, hide it! Rapid-growing climbers will do the job. Try Clematis montana or Hedera canariensis ivy. Fallopia baldschuanica, or Russian vine, grows incredibly quickly, so you will need to keep an eye on it!
To hide ugly views or nosey neighbours, try the three Ts – trees, trellis, trailing plants. Use canopy trees which offer a lot of greenery high up but don’t take up too much ground space.
For objects in the ‘shift it’ category, just move them out of sight, or at least out of the main view into your garden. Cover sheds with plants, climbers and a green roof. Put away any toys and the barbeque when you’re not using them.
Anything else needs to go in the skip. Remove all feelings of attachment or any other history connected with these items – just throw them away!
Remove the ugly areas and you’ve made a big start to having a better-looking garden.
Create new features
After you have solved the unsightly problems, add in some new features. Something that makes you want to go out and see it whenever you look out of the kitchen window. It does not need to be palatial or spectacular, but something personal that draws you outside and brings the garden to life.
Everyone’s tastes are different. I have a koi pond. It’s a raised pond where I sit and feed the fish while enjoying a beer at the end of the day.
Gazebo
Gazebos are both practical and ornamental. They feel decadent, and you can find spectacular designs to embellish your garden. They provide shade and shelter for you to host a garden soiree or just sit and enjoy your favourite book.
Stone
Stone features instantly bring a classical feel to any garden. Anything from a rockery to a bird bath makes a great garden feature. For more of a statement, try busts and statues.
Water
There’s nothing like the sound of trickling water to soothe your mind after a stressful day. For many gardeners, the water feature is their favourite spot. You can try anything from a rain chain to a full-sized fountain!
Stainless steel
This is a great rust-proof metal that is used in imaginative ways to bring a contemporary touch. Steel sculptures are a modern twist on the obelisk, and their reflective surface makes your garden look bigger!
Plant foliage
And why not try foliage in addition to flowers? Try using the intricate colours and patterns of leaves to complement your feature. My favourites are the marbling effect of Heucheras, the striping effect on Carex and the silver vein patterns in outdoor cyclamens.
So there you have it – use the F Words guide to break your garden into three parts for easy renovation and design!
