Luke Judge

But as gardeners become more aware of this style and type of planting, no doubt it will find its way into many private gardens.

Where to use

The naturalistic style with extraordinary colour levels from may to November looks good in small or large spaces: against hard landscape elements such as paving and buildings, around the more relaxed periphery of the garden, or as a short or medium-term filler for gardeners who presently have scant resources, but want to achieve more complex concoctions in the long term.

The seed mix

The “magic formula”, the Steppe prairie sowing mix used at Wisley, consists of 26 different plants including agastache, aster, baptisia, phlox, penstemon and rudbeckias.

Instead of the usual eight or so herbaceous plants per square metre used in normal herbaceous border schemes it contains 50 to 100 plants per square metre.

This explains why there is little weeding needed – they can’t get in there. the plants have been chosen to provide a range of vivid colours and heights -some silphium species towering almost three metres. most are lower though – from ground level to 600mm. the sprinkling of taller plants have leafless stems to give an airy, transparent feel.

Not only do these predominantly drought-tolerant species appeal to us, but also wildlife: birds, bees, small mammals, frogs and toads, so they are alive with colour and action.

Method

If the perennial seed mix at Wisley tempts you and you have a suitable, well-drained, sunny spot, you could try to emulate it.

Step-by-step instructions and the seed mix (Hitchmough Design Mix A) can be obtained from Richard Oliver ().

Richard sells wholesale perennial seed through Jelitto Seeds. the price for 10g, which is enough for 10 square metres, is €43 (£36), but reduces dramatically with quantity.

Sowing your new area involves removing perennial weeds (a perennial weedkiller such as glyphosate is simplest) and then mulching the area with a depth of 50‑60mm of sharp sand.

Sow the seed (between October and the end of January) at 1g/square metre. as the seed volume is minuscule, mix it with sawdust (a carrier) first. then coarsely rake it in just to a depth of 20mm with a wood-peg landscape rake.

Finally, cover it with an open-weave jute erosion mat that has a mesh gap of about 20mm. This mat rots after a year or so, but it protects the seed bed from cats, squirrels and so forth and also helps the germination.

Initial watering is crucial for success. the sand must stay moist between March and may, so if there is little rain, a sprinkler will be needed every two days or whenever the surface sand feels dry.

The aim is to wet the sand, but not saturate the underlying soil. This involves giving 12mm at a time -use a tray and time how long this takes. Slug control may be needed too.

Maintenance

Apart from ensuring that dandelions or other weeds don’t take over before the ground is covered by established plants there is not much to do but enjoy.

The annual maintenance involves strimming down and removing the plants to within 25-50mm in late February. Weeding is hardest in the first season before the leaves cover the ground completely. After the first year most maintenance is restricted to winter as you can’t walk through the area easily in the growing season.

If you get an outbreak of bittercress or other noxious weed, run a flame gun over in late winter. This ”flash burning” also helps control slugs and snails and helps germination of the prairie plants you want.

Developing your own mixes

If you want to try seeding perennials en masse and you have different conditions from Wisley, such as slightly shady areas and damp soil, you can experiment.

Select a wide selection of perennials (Jelitto has hundreds) that flower at different times, like your conditions and reach a range of heights and then experiment with sowing rates and mixtures.

A possible disadvantage with this type of planting is, like a herbaceous border, it is not attractive from December until may.

More year-round interest can be achieved with structural planting in the form of trees, shrubs, box patterns and topiary. These provide a great foil for the looser, more ephemeral planting.

Other research

Massed perennial planting has also been researched at the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Germany. they have developed Perennemix, a series of recipes for different conditions and styles (see perennemix.de) “Flower Shade”, “Exotic Flower Steppe” and “Flower Wave Without Summer Mowing” are just some of the 10 or so mixes.

With this approach you use plants, 9cm pot size is recommended, and mix the species they have devised to create a tapestry of graduated height, structure, colour and texture that looks good even in winter as evergreens are used, too.

This “Dolly Mixture” effect, where you mix ratios of specific plants according to instructions, takes the heartache out of juxtaposing certain plants, admonishing thugs and coaxing recessives that can frustrate gardeners with more conventional border planting. It is like following a recipe and you can increase quantities to fit any space.

Removing perennial weeds first and mulching are as key as setting the oven at the correct temperature. Bulbs are involved for spring colour, too.

At Sheffield University they are now trying mixes tailor-made for our climate and no doubt this strategy will find a place in gardens here. And at Sparsholt College, Rosie Yeomans is planting a Perennemix border in our Gardeners’ Question Time garden, so we will keep you posted.

Buy perennials from gardenshop.telegraph.co.uk

handbooks Annuals herbaceous border, private gardens, scant resources, sprinkling, square metre, tolerant species

For the longest time, tall plants have been relegated to the back of the garden, up against a fence or off to a corner, shunted aside like that 6-foot seventh-grader who was always in the last row for class photos.

But a flower bed of 4-, 5- or 6-foot plants can be functional and rewarding — and quite an attention-getter as well.

“One of my friends calls them 55-mile-an-hour plants,” says Justin W. Hancock, a Better Homes and Gardens garden editor since 2003 and now the senior garden editor for the magazine’s Web site (bhg.com). “They catch your attention even when you’re flying down the highway at 55 miles an hour.”

Hancock says that some gardeners can be intimidated by tall plants, assuming there’s extra work involved because they all need to be staked. That may be true for some varieties, such as delphiniums, but not others, such as sunflowers and cannas.

“Another thing I like about them is privacy,” Hancock says. “They’re a great way to screen views, especially if you live in some of these suburban areas where your neighbors’ deck is 10 feet from yours. You don’t have room for a hedge. You don’t want to put in a fence. But some of these taller perennials will give you nice coverage over the summer season and into the fall.”

Even if a gardener does think big, finding the right tall plants can be a challenge. “I think (interest) is diminishing,” Hancock says. “It’s so much easier to ship compact plants. Put them on the

truck, they’re damaged less. So more and more plant breeders are trying to get their plants smaller and smaller.”

Still, there are enough large flowers available to put on a flashy show (and many even grow better from seed, making them a great value too). Here are a few:

· Boltonia: This underused North American native, a member of the aster family, looks a lot like an aster, with white or pink flowers. It can grow, shrublike, to 6 feet. “It puts on a huge show in the late summer, fall,” Hancock says. “It’s the aster on steroids.” Full sun.

· Butterfly bush: A butterfly bush can grow to 5 or 6 feet — 7 in a good season. They attract butterflies and other insects as well as hummingbirds, drawn to their pink, white, purple or blue flowers. Full sun.

· Canna: Big leaves and boldly colored flowers (red, orange, yellow or pink) add drama to a garden. “It’s not hard to get them to grow to 5, 6, 7 or 8 feet,” Hancock says. “The tallest one is C. ‘Musafolia,’ and that can get to 12 feet in a season if it’s happy, in a warm, moist spot.” These are tropical plants, so gardeners in the Midwest will have to dig and store the rhizomes in a cool, dry place, or simply treat them like annuals. Full sun.

· Cleome: Also known as spider flowers, these annuals grow up to 6 feet tall and have distinctive pink, white or purple flowers. They’re easy to grow from seed. “They look so much like fireworks to me,” Hancock says. “Why wouldn’t you want to grow it? They’re wonderful in attracting hummingbird moths. And they give off a really nice fragrance at night.” Full sun.

· Cosmos: This delicate-looking flower with its fernlike leaves is tough as nails and easy to grow from seed. Their lacy look makes them great filler plants too. Cosmos need full sun, but will thrive in ordinary soil. Butterflies and bees love them. Sensation is just one of the taller varieties, topping out at 4 feet.

· Delphinium: A summer garden staple, they grow to 6 feet and have beautiful blooms that attract butterflies. Hancock calls them “probably the most majestic, eye-catching of the big perennials.” He also says they’re one of the fussiest. “Delphiniums like really rich soil to produce those good-size blooms, but the plants themselves are often short-lived.” Full sun to partial shade.

· Hollyhock: Tall, colorful and old-fashioned, they need sun and moisture and will grow to 6 feet or more. Many varieties die off after two years, “but happily they often self-seed, so you plant the seeds once and let the seeds on the plants drop, and you’ll never have to plant them again. You see old farmsteads that have been abandoned for 20 years that still have stands of hollyhocks.”

· Joe-Pye weed: Another native perennial, it does well (7 feet) in moist soil and has a flat top clustered with flowers. “It’s an A-plus plant for attracting butterflies,” says Hancock. Full sun but can tolerate some light shade.

· Sunflower: If you want them really tall, buy one of the older varieties. “Breeders have really been working on compact varieties with all of those colors,” Hancock says. “Some of the newer ones have great branching, so you can get a dozen flowers per plant instead of just the one big one on top.” Still, what’s more impressive than a 10- or 15-foot-tall plant with a basketball-size flower on top? Some of the taller varieties: American Giant Hybrid, Mammoth and Skyscraper. Full sun.

· Zinnia: Keeping with recent trends, these popular annuals have been downsized in a search for compact, more disease-resistant varieties. But the 4-footers still have a lot to offer: They’re easy to grow from seed, are colorful and keep producing till frost. Taller varieties include State Fair, California Giant, My Lucky Ladies and Big Red.

Growing and learning

Many of these flowers are sold at garden centers and nurseries as seedlings and seeds. Websites to visit include Burpee (burpee.com), Ferry-Morse Seed Co. (ferry-morse.com), Park Seed (parkseed.com), White Flower Farm (whiteflowerfarm.com) and Hirt’s Gardens (hirts.com). These retail sites offer growing tips, too.

For additional gardening information, visit the websites of the National Gardening Association (garden.org) and The Gardener’s Network (gardenersnet.com).

handbooks Annuals boltonia, gardener, hancock, perennials, suburban areas, underused

You are never too old to stop gardening or to young to start. One easy and fun way to watch your kids while you garden is to let them garden too. Gardening for kids can be a wonderful experience, and sometimes little hands can be a big help. Children enjoy watching something that they have planted and tended grow.

With the vast array of gardening tools available just for kids, why not take a section of your garden or make a small 3′x3′ space ( just big enough ) and give your child their own garden to plant.

Depending on what he/she likes and wants to plant vegetables or flowers, start with seeds or bulbs and let them watch as their plants develop and grow into something very different from what they planted.

A small 3′x3′ garden will probably work best for a child since it won’t require any digging or soil amendments. If you haven’t dug out an area simply put down heavy plastic or newspapers (to help keep out weeds), wet it down, then fill the bed with new soil. Buy organic soil that is rich and black and if you need to add a little peat moss or compost to it, stay away from soils that have chemical fertilizers or pesticides added to them.

When it’s decided whether to plant pretty flowers or their favorite vegetables, let them decide, they will be more apt to take care of their garden, and then you are ready to begin.

Start with seeds, being sure to soak them at least ½ hour before planting, if your child has decided on flowers, help them choose flowers that will be easy to grow such as Sunflowers, Marigolds, Petunias, Zinnias or Nasturtiums all of which grow very well from seed and of course seedling from your local garden center that are ready to plant is much easier and already look pretty.

Remember to check the labels for planting instructions as for full sun, shade, or partial sun. Teach them how to spread mulch and water properly and if they enjoy summer gardening, getting them to plant bulbs in the fall for a nice spring garden should be easy. If they enjoy it buy a few tulips, daffodils, snowdrops or crocuses bulbs for a bright spring garden after a cold winter.

Remember a Good Start when they are Planted Young will Grow You a GOOD GARDENER

handbooks Annuals little hands, peat moss, sunflowers, weeds

If you purchase a house you need to have an exquisite backyard where children can play and you can sit again and unwind. A backyard is one place where we really feel we are one with Nature and benefit from the small pleasures of life. However without potted crops and flowers, a home garden is incomplete. Before you select the crops to develop in your home garden, walk across the neighborhood and be aware of what sorts of crops are being planted. That’ll offer you an concept of what grows properly in your area.

When planning your backyard, be aware of the bloom time of the flowers. Planting perennials with completely different bloom times close to one another will insure a backyard that has blooms all season long. Remember also to plan for the height of the crops, putting the taller ones in the back.

Dangerous conditions or unsuitable vitamins can keep flowers from growing well and may even kill them. Areas that don’t drain properly or where water pools after rain needs to be averted when planting. A soil with a pH vary of 6.0 to 7.4 is finest for many annuals. Earlier than you start work with your backyard beds, take a look at the pH with a home soil check kit and add lime sulfur as required to put the pH in its correct range. After the pH is in the correct vary, spread 2 to 3 inches of compost, and cultivate it not less than 8 to 12 inches deep.

Annuals in your perennial garden are one thing to think about! Annuals provide you with season long coloration, easy propagation, they’re cost efficient, and provide first season interest. If you happen to’re simply beginning a perennial garden annuals are a fantastic option to fill in gaps. I keep in mind my first garden. I bought a couple of vegetation pondering “That is gonna be great!” Just a few weeks later I realized this wasn’t true. I needed a whole lot extra plants and so they cost a bunch! I opted for some annuals and I had a very pretty backyard by the seasons end. Annuals can definitely assist to fill in a backyard while you await perennials to mature.

You need to choose healthy vegetation if you’ve determined to grow annuals this year. Many people choose to develop their annuals from seed. Others select to purchase their vegetation from inexperienced houses. While both ways are acceptable, all the time bear in mind; You need to select rigorously in the event you’re shopping for from a green house. Normally, backyard facilities are comfortable to share their information about soil, daylight, water, and wind shielding necessities for every plant with their customers.

Deep inexperienced plants needs to be sought out; spindly plants in cell-packs have been stored there too lengthy and needs to be avoided. It is also smart to verify for indicators of disease by inspecting the leaves and stems and eradicating the plants from their pots to check the roots. Roots should seem firm and white, and comprise no spirals or kinks.

When planting flowers, it is very important bear in mind to follow the directions on the tag for the plant. All the time buy vegetation that may thrive in the conditions during which you intend to grow them. A plant that loves solar is not going to do well in a shady area and you will only be dissatisfied with the results.

Spring bulbs work effectively in a perennial garden. They’re the primary to bloom and when they finish a few of your perennials are starting to bloom and others are filling in and hiding the quickly to be dormant foliage of your bulbs. This is a nice way to prolong the color in your backyard nicely into the summer blooming season.

Summer bulbs such as Dahlias are an incredible chose to fill in areas that need color after the early perennials have finished. Remember the fact that most summer bulbs will have to be dug up and stored over the winter. The good news is that you may redesign your backyard by rearranging these bulbs the following year.

Randomized bulbs look stunning in any setting. After the bulbs bloom the foliage will die right down to make room for later growing crops, due to this fact, you possibly can interplant bulbs with different sorts of vegetation for a carefree and delightful garden. For this pure look you would prepare your bulbs randomly. So by tossing them and planting them where they land, with small changes for spacing, your garden can have a much more pure look than when you organize them.

For those who want crops that will do effectively growing in opposition to a wall there are various decisions including clematis, wisteria, climbing hydrangea, golden hop and star jasmine. Clematis is a range that produces purple/blue bell formed flowers and fern like plant life. Wisteria is a hardy climbing plant that boasts lilac coloured flowers that grow in the shape of beans. My private favorite climbing vegetation are the star jasmine, which produces leather-based like, dark green leaves and delightful white blooms that have an unmatched, ample perfume.

Planting wild flowers in your garden, or simply scattering wild flower seeds round an space of your yard are both methods to reap the benefits of Mom Nature’s treasured gifts. Wild flowers are carefree, colorful, and tend to attract bees, butterflies and birds. So planting wild flowers not only gives you an easy maintenance flower garden… it additionally promises to be a continuing supply of interesting activity throughout the year.

Follow these simple bits of advice and keep your backyard in superb bloom all summer long.

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handbooks Annuals dangerous conditions, home soil, perennial garden