Get The Look: a garden of island

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Ideas for gorgeous gardens Get look the

Embrace a ‘borrowed view’ to help a garden to seem larger: here a boundary hedge is low enough to allow a majestic oak in a farmer’s field to appear in all its glory

A garden of island beds

Mix cultivated garden flowers dianthus and campanula with wildlife-friendly natives such as fox and cubs Pilosella aurantiaca and purple toadflax Linaria purpurea

An evolutionary approach has helped Susan and John Weston create a garden they are very proud of, says Sue Bradley

ISLAND beds have enabled Susan and John Weston to turn a sea of rough grass into a colourful and multi-textured garden. The couple, who live in a rural spot on the edge of the Staffordshire town of Eccleshall, didn’t have a masterplan when they set about transforming the virtually empty plot behind their home almost 30 years ago. Instead, they took their time and made their garden gradually, carving new beds into the grassy sward as and when they came across new and interesting plants and ideas they wanted to try. And while they’ve occasionally been able to draft in extra pairs of hands for special projects, such as the ponds their sons helped them to dig, generally their vibrant, multi-textured outside space is their own creation.

“We moved here around 40 years ago, when the garden was essentially a field with a couple of apple trees and a lilac,” Susan recalls. “The house was called ‘Birch Trees’, but there were no birch trees here when we moved in, although we did find a couple of birch stumps dotted around.

“The garden was just a field with a few apple trees ”

“For a long time we simply kept it tidy so that the children could kick a football around and only really started working on it about 28 years ago, after which it evolved rather than being planned.

“During that time we’ve picked up lots of ideas from visiting other gardens. Many have been open for the National Garden Scheme, for which we’re now the county organisers.”

Years in the making One of the early steps in the making of the garden was to find a selection of specimen trees and various shrubs that would add vertical height, colour and interest to the plot without obscuring the ‘borrowed’ view of the countryside beyond. The couple, who live around

Make room for vegetables: a well-kept kitchen garden provides plenty of produce and looks attractive, too

Pebbles and moss-covered stones surrounding a bubbler fountain look great with ferns and white rosebay willowherb Chamaenerion angustifolium ‘Album’

Ideas for gorgeous gardens Get look the

100 metres (328ft) above sea level, also had to be mindful of gardening within an exposed site, which means they’ve had to steer clear of plants requiring a more sheltered situation, including most acers. Their choice of trees included Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy, the purple leaves of which chime beautifully with a similarly coloured elder Sambucus nigra ‘Black Lace’ planted almost opposite.

Challenges with an exposed site They also discovered the snakebark maple Acer x conspicuum ‘Phoenix’, which is able to stand up to the vagaries of the weather while providing interesting bark and a range of stunning colours throughout the seasons, and various bamboos that create movement when the wind blows

Other features installed to add height to the garden include a number of archways, some of which are teamed with long borders of perennials to create a sense of contrasting ‘rooms’, and a decorative metal gazebo positioned over a potted plaited willow. Elsewhere there’s a stumpery, in which the Westons have married colourful perennials with attractive trunks and roots of felled trees, two ponds, a productive kitchen garden and a glasshouse containing a collection of alpine plants.

“I love the detail within alpines,” explains Susan. “Some are so small and dainty.” All in all, gardening has gradually become a big part of Susan and John’s lives. “It’s hard work but we enjoy it,” laughs John. Seek architectural plants to add extra interest to a pond. Here Darmera peltata offers a similar look to Gunnera manicata without taking up so much room

Separate ‘rooms’ create a mix of ambiences. Here an archway combines with a see-through border of shasta daisy, campanula and foxglove