design ideas

Year-round colour in the garden Given a bit of planning, you can select that will help provide a progression of colour and interest right through the floriferous months of spring and summer and on into autumn and winter

Words Annie Guilfoyle

hen people say “…oh and of course its dark, velvety leaves, makes a very handsome my garden must have colour all year backdrop. Variegated leaves, although not to every- W round” what do they really mean? one’s taste, can be very uplifting on a grim winter’s Could it be a continual blaze of show-stopping day. Take Elaeagnus x ebbingei ‘Gilt Edge’, perfect for colour or maybe a gentle progression of soft pastel a gloomy corner of the garden where lesser shades? Colour theory alone is an enormous would struggle, its yellow leaf margins shine out subject and could easily fill an entire series. In this and demand attention. article I focus on how to analyse your own garden Annie Guilfoyle is Director of Garden Design at KLC and plan for a better spread of colour throughout Make it last School of Design. She is the year, extending the seasonal interest. Maintaining colour interest from May to August is also Garden Course relatively easy to achieve and many gardens look Coordinator at West Dean College and runs her own Think green their best during this period. But making an impact garden design studio. First we need to appreciate that green is a colour; from late summer through to the end of winter can so many people ignore this important fact. prove to be much more of a challenge. So it’s a good Remember the stunning garden that Tom Stuart- idea to focus on plants that have an extended flow- Smith designed for Laurent-Perrier at the Chelsea ering period, perennials such as Geranium Flower Show in 2008? It was predominantly green psilostemon and Astrantia major will happily flower with a delicate touch of white, deservedly winning for months on end from spring to late autumn. But a gold medal and best in show, thus demonstrating for the long winter stretch you could choose the power of green. Helleborus foetidus and Heuchera micrantha Leaves generally emerge before the flowers on ‘Obsidian’ to work their magic. Using coloured most plants and will tend to last long after the flowers stems and ornamental bark is another way of have faded, so it makes sense to take advantage of continuing colour through the winter. Trees the wonderful range of greens that are available. For such as Prunus serrula and Betula utilis var. example, Euphorbia polychroma heralds the spring jacquemontii are popular choices with their striking, 1 Good performers creating delightful mounds of vivid yellow-green. coloured bark. If you would like something a little Select hard-working perennials such as pseudodictamnus a tough, silvery-green more unusual then explore other Betula , Geranium psilostemon and Astrantia major ‘Ruby Wedding’ – they help to character provides excellent low-level structure. The such as ermanii with glorious cappuccino-coloured extend seasons with foliage that *Holds an Award grey-greens are so useful as they will happily sit bark fading to creamy-white. Select trees and appears in early spring and flowers of Garden Merit next to almost any other colour in the border. Then shrubs that have two or more seasons of interest, that last for ages. Both of these from the Royal there are the sombre dark-greens that add depth for instance Amelanchier lamarckii starts off in early Horticultural Society. plants tolerate light shade, † and richness to a garden. Shrubs such as Viburnum spring with soft pink buds, closely followed by Hardiness ratings brightening up the garden. given where available. rhytidophyllum, that so often get overlooked, with Continued on page 102 marianne majerus

98 design ideas

2 combinations 8 Texture and tone I use clematis a lot in my 2 3 A dry, shady border at West planting designs; they are so Dean Gardens in West Sussex useful for adding another is planted with a superb mix of season of interest to a tree or ground cover perennials. The . The lime green Robinia spotty-leaved Pulmonaria will pseudoacacia leaves are provide early spring interest perfectly contrasted by the and the heart-shaped burgundy flowers of the Epimedium will carry on Clematis ‘Étoile Violette’, offering through the long winter. late summer pizzazz. 9 Dark foliage 3 Touches of colour With so many heucheras This outdoor potting bench and available it can be a difficult sink has been enhanced by my choice but I come back to client’s homemade, mosaic this one time after time. splash back. Even the more Heuchera ‘Obsidian’ is one of utilitarian areas of a garden can the darkest, with stunning be brightened up, using purple-black leaves that often colourful materials such as persist through winter. For mosaic tiles, stone or glass. 4 5 sheer drama, underplant it with orange tulips. 4 Bright berries The winter garden does not 10 Evergreen interest have to be dull and drab. These It can be challenging to find a branches of Crataegus tough and interesting monogyna are covered with evergreen shrub for a dark and bright red berries and are gloomy corner of the garden. draped with the wonderful, fluffy Elaeagnus x ebbingei ‘Gilt Edge’ seed heads of Clematis vitalba. will happily take that spot and its variegated leaves brighten 5 Interesting bark up the darkest winter day. If you are going to plant a tree with decorative bark such as this Inspirational books Prunus serrula, make sure that it for further reading is positioned where it will catch 8 • Colour in the Garden by Val the winter sun and is easily Bourne (Merrell, £18.95) viewed from the house in winter. Ideas for each season. 6 7 9 10 • Colour in Your Garden by 6 Sensational shrubs Penelope Hobhouse One of my very favourite (Frances Lincoln, £19.99) shrubs, Itea ilicifolia has so An invaluable source. much to offer. An elegant, • The Gardening Year by evergreen wall shrub with Christopher Lloyd delicate greenish-white (Frances Lincoln, £18.99) racemes that can grow up Every gardener’s bible. y / alam ion; 10 john g lover ct to 40cm in length! • The Hillier Gardeners’ Guides – The Winter Garden by Jane 7 Green carpet Sterndale-Bennett Carex and Alchemilla mollis (David & Charles, £14.99) planted together are perfect Ideas for for winter interest. partners, brightening up a lightly • Successional Planting for orie c hu gg / t he g arden olle shaded area of the garden. Adventurous Gardeners by

Underplant this with summer y le; 9 t Christopher Lloyd (BBC, £25) bulbs to really add a zing Create little bit of Great Dixter to the combination. at home. hols; 6 florapix / alam y 3 c live ni hols; 6 florapix 5 &7 marianne majerus; 2, 4, 8 annie g uilfo

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11 Grey-green Know your greens Ballota pseudodictamnus has a 11 12 Here is a list of plants that soft, velvety texture that belies offer a variety of green tones. how tough it really is. This Dark greens sturdy evergreen offers • Magnolia grandiflora structure all year round; the ‘Blanchard’ USDA 6a-10b† gentle shade of grey blends • Pileostegia viburnoides AGM* happily with any colour and it RHS H4, USDA 8a-10b works well in dry conditions. • Ruscus aculeatus 12 Winter cheer RHS H4, USDA 7a-9b • Viburnum rhytidophyllum This is the plant that you RHS H4, USDA 5a-8b should reach for when you need something that is not too Silver greens large, will happily grow in dry • Astelia chathamica AGM shade and provide delicate, USDA 8b-11 winter interest. Don’t let the • Elaeagnus x ebbingei name (stinking hellebore) put RHS H4, USDA 7a-10b you off, just call it Helleborus • Hippophae rhamnoides AGM foetidus and enjoy! RHS H4, USDA 3a-7b • Sorbus aria ‘Lutescens’ AGM starry-white flowers and finally ruby-red fruits factors in your garden. This may narrow down 13 Soothing green RHS H4, USDA 5a-9b Tom Stuart-Smith’s gold- with orange-red autumn leaves. Viburnum the choices but does help you to choose the medal-winning garden for opulus is an excellent shrub for providing plants that will thrive. Starting with the soil, Variegated Laurent-Perrier at Chelsea early summer flowers followed by richly find out whether it is clay, loam, sand or chalk. • Azara microphylla ‘Variegata’ Flower Show in 2008 was a coloured autumn foliage. Salix and Cornus The structure, texture and pH of the soil are RHS H3, USDA 8b-11 celebration of texture and form, are wonderfully tough shrubs, and if cut back extremely important and will influence how • Fatsia japonica ‘Variegata’ AGM demonstrating how to use hard the new growth provides vivid, winter it holds water, nutrients and minerals. Think RHS H3, USDA 8a-10a green and white to create a colour that can work so well when surrounded about the aspect and local climate; consider the • Hakonechloa macra garden that soothes the soul. by a carpet of spring bulbs such as Galanthus. areas of light and shade, which could differ ‘Alboaurea’ AGM RHS H4 Be clever with climbers – for example grow a significantly from area to area within one garden. • Hosta ‘Golden Tiara’ AGM 14 Bulbs beyond late summer-flowering Clematis viticella ‘Polish Once you know all this information you can then RHS H4, USDA 3a-9a spring Spirit’ through an early flowering shrub such as select the appropriate plants. • Pleioblastus viridistriatus AGM Nectaroscordum siculum is a Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’. This adds a whole The next thing to do is make a list all of RHS H4, USDA 7a-11 particularly beautiful bulb. new dimension to the shrub once it has finished the existing plants in the garden that you intend Yellow greens Grow them up through a carpet flowering. For covering fences and walls, if you to keep. Divide them up into monthly columns 13 • Carex elata ‘Aurea’ AGM of ground cover to inject a choose your clematis carefully it is possible to according to their colour attributes (use a spread RHS H4, USDA 6a-9b splash of late spring colour, and have colour every single month. sheet if you are so inclined). Don’t just focus on • Caryopteris x clandonensis enjoy watching them unfold. Use bulbs to inject shots of colour throughout flowers but consider leaves, fruit, stems and bark! 14 15 ‘Worcester Gold’ AGM 15 Contrasting foliage the year; don’t just save them for late winter or It should then be easy to identify when and where RHS H4, USDA 5a-9b

spring. They are ideal where space is really tight; the colour interest dwindles during the year, and y le • Gleditsia triacanthos I spotted this dramatic colour try planting Allium hollandicum ‘Purple now you can plan your new plant list. ‘Sunburst’ AGM combination at the RHS Sensation’ among low-growing perennials to There are other ways of introducing colour • Philadelphus coronarius Gardens at Wisley. The inky- add floating globes of colour in early summer. into the garden in addition to plants. There is a ‘Aureus’ AGM

black Ophiopogon planiscapus annie g uilfo , 13-15 RHS H4, USDA 5a-9a ‘Nigrescens’ contrasts The later-flowering Allium sphaerocephalon huge range of hard landscaping materials to • Sambucus nigra ‘Aurea’ AGM perfectly with the lime green benefits from being grown up through a wiry choose from. You can paint the walls and fences, RHS H4 Hakonechloa macra. Similar in shrub with its bobbing, burgundy flowers or add decorative features into the garden such as resembling oversized bees. mosaic, art and sculpture. Using materials or form but strikingly different in White greens

paint can be a very effective way of giving the / alam y t in hu g hes-jones colour, it leaps out from a • Astrantia major subsp. shady border to surprise you. Plan ahead garden a consistent backdrop or brightening involucrata ‘Shaggy’ AGM , 12 mar Careful planning is essential before ordering and up a dull space. Working with colour is great RHS H4, USA 5a-9b planting. Remember the mantra ‘right plant, right fun and everyone will have their personal • Eryngium giganteum AGM place’. Which basically means you should only colour preferences, so it’s important to keep RHS H4 select plants that will suit your site and conditions. a focus on what you like. • Itea ilicifolia AGM First you need to consider all the horticultural NEXT month Be inspired! RHS H3, USDA 4a-9b 11 niall m c diarmid / alam y

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