Green Fingers: Size can matter in most gardens
A garden oasis in a small space.
Gardens of any size can bring its own set of problems or opportunities. The trick is, if you wish to maximise your space for whatever reason, then a little planning before action will go a long way to achieving your aims.
The whole concept of having the right design and plants for different sized gardens brings to mind the old fairy tale of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” and I might categorise our gardens into the different sections and suggest how to go about implementing and designing your available area.
Large gardens would tend to be mostly in the country and, while the large space initially is a welcome asset, quite often the prospect of ongoing maintenance becomes a chore unless dealt with in a sensible manner.
Internally, the areas can be sub-divided into sections for a particular use, such as the front from the house to the road being mostly visual, while the secluded and private areas are to the side or rear. Use larger growing trees and shrubs to landscape throughout and space them well enough apart as, within a few years they will have all grown together satisfactorily.
Gardens of a modest size occur in the country and in some urban areas. Sometimes solid walls are built, especially where it abounds adjoining properties. Walls eliminate the need for hedges although some people do plant them anyway but I think there are better ways to treat these areas and one is to plant wall shrubs and climbers and front them with a planted bed using a mixture of large to medium growing trees and shrubs.
It is a good idea to plant trees far enough away from adjoining properties so that your branches do not overhang into their space, and avoid climbers and wall shrubs that might climb over the wall and invade other people’s garden.
The gardens in housing estates are much smaller and likely to become even smaller as the planning authorities have completed a huge about turn in relation to housing densities. Almost overnight, developers whose plans complied with regulations were sent back to the drawing board to increase the housing density.
Be that as it may, we now have a situation where it will be difficult to create a small garden as there will be other factors competing for the limited space, such as a garden shed, playhouse and a place for bins.
What is happening now is that small gardens are close to being as good or bad as apartments with little scope to have a garden. In all these cases it is not impossible but more tricky to create some green oasis and it is more important than ever to get it right. For this, do get some of the advice that is freely available before you begin the project.
Don't forget to deadhead! ‘Deadheading’ is where you remove faded flowers from your summer bedding plants and herbaceous perennials in order to encourage more flowers and prolong the flowering season.
If you have any queries or comments you are welcome to share them with me on 051-384273 or orchardstowngardencentre@hotmail.com and if of general interest I will include it in a future newsletter.
