A few weeks ago I was talking about
certain aspects of garden design, specifically where to site your
house and what to do with regard to the positioning of windows, doors
and such. I received some correspondence from people moaning that it
was too late for all that in their case and what could they do to
sort out their existing gardens, as they were getting a little fed up
with them, especially over the last few years. And so, I've decided
to once more delve in to the world of garden design to offer more of
my opinions, if not necessarily advice. Mind you, if you’re lucky
then they might just overlap.
At the moment, I'm in the same position as a lot of the above mentioned people who
bought their homes 10 years ago or more. Yes lucky admittedly, but
also getting somewhat bored with their gardens and in need of a
redesign.
You see, we tend
to change the inside of our houses relatively often. New flooring
here, a fresh coat of paint there, declutter the living room, or put
up new blinds or curtains. It’s all constantly changing. Usually
people just layout their garden once, not long after they move in,
and apart from the odd bit of maintenance they tend to leave it to,
hopefully, age gracefully. Unfortunately gardens rarely do so. For
sure the plants get bigger, yes the lawn fills out (usually with
moss) and it all settles down, but whether you like it or not, it
gets a little tired and dated looking after a while.
That’s the
condition my own is in right now. You see I cut back everything a few
weeks back and, a bit like finally trimming that big shock of hair
that hides wrinkles and saggy skin, I can now see all the tired and
worn areas of the garden. The deck and pergola are creaky and
cracked, the railway sleepers are starting to rot and the plants,
well some of the plants look as if they need to be put out of their
misery sooner rather than later. They’ve out grown their space, they've lost their charm and many of them just don’t appeal to me
anymore. (And I dare say they don’t appeal to my patient neighbours
either as they creep over the wall and insinuate themselves into
their gardens.)
Some of this is
to do with boredom admittedly. No, not the plants getting bored
obviously, but me. (Although the Fatsia at the bottom of the garden
does seem to have gotten a little fidgety recently.) I’m tired of
looking at the same plants day after day, as they are just greenery
and never flower, which my other half constantly complains about
anyway. I used to like this these type of plants but recently I have
begun to prefer flowering ones a little more, so maybe she’s right.
(Now there’s a statement that you won’t hear every day!) Anyway,
for whatever reasons, I think I need a change of scenery, literally.
The first step
down this road is planning. I have some ideas on what I would like to
do, which I have gleaned from the many,
many gardening books that are scattered around the house. Most are on
garden design and to be honest, most I buy for the pictures or plans,
not the text. (A couple of years ago I was on holiday in Italy and
incensed and infuriated my better half by insisting on bringing back
six different gardening magazines even though they were all in
Italian, just for the pictures.) So at the moment I’m looking at
pictures, scribbling down ideas and bookmarking pages. Leave plenty
of time for research, and that’s the key. Think about what you want
from the garden, what your family needs from it, what items you want
to keep and, more importantly, what items you can dump. I know I will
keep some plants either for sentimental reasons - yes I’m a big
softy really - or because they give me some privacy in my
semi-detached world but many will have to go.
You also need to
think about when is the best time to do to certain tasks such as move
plants or sow new ones and that’s where you might need some
professional help, so ask someone in the know. In any case it’s
often good to get another opinion. Sometimes when you’re too close
to something you fail to see the obvious issues and changes that need
to be made. It’s good to get some independent advice on what to do
and how to go about it.
So if you’re
planning on some changes in your garden then these are the key things
to do at this stage.
- Look for ideas in books, on the Internet and in other gardens.
- Keep note of everything in a file
- Ask others for advice
- Take a critical look at what you have at the moment
- Be ruthless
Once you do all
this you are well on the way to that garden makeover you so
desperately want. All of this planning is so important and it’s
pointless to even take your spade out of the shed before you know
what you’re going to do with it.
After all, any eejit can dig a hole. It takes a very special one to
dig it in the right place.
(Originally Published October 2009)
Liam Kelly
