Understanding a Garden

Walking into a new garden brings with it a lot of excitement, but also apprehension and anticipation. As a horticulturist, all your senses are alert and focussed. Entering for the first time, you’re hit by an initial impression, a feeling that maybe you’ve discovered a hidden gem, a new project or a renovation and regeneration exercise.

Unearthing its past

Many questions run through your mind. What period does the property date from? Does the garden give an impression of formality with a great deal of structure, or maybe it incorporates significant soft planting generating a relaxed feel? Are there any focal points, specimen plants, structures that clearly stand out or pathways attracting you through to areas of the garden not immediately obvious? What is the quantity, quality, variety and colour palette of plants currently present? Has it been professionally designed or created ad hoc producing an anarchic collection of borders, built over time?

Understanding the present

Meeting and considering the wishes of the stakeholder or custodian of the garden or estate is as important as the space you have been asked to assess and consult on. Do they want the borders standing to attention? Do they want more of a relaxed and natural composition or are they just finding all the associated effort of maintaining the existing beauty more of a noose around their necks?

Exploring its needs

There are many environmental factors that need to be taken into account. The garden’s aspect and location geographically. For example, is it within a designated area of outstanding natural beauty which may impose restrictions on a garden’s development or simply by the seaside, in an urban situation, open countryside or in a woodland setting? Then there is the significant question of the soil type: sand, clay, silt or beautiful loam, all of which may dictate how ambitious any future enhancement can be.

Reading the signs

The weeds in the ground are a good indicator of the fertility and structure of the soil. For example, nettles grow in fertile soil, creeping buttercup indicate damp soil, while an abundance of perennial weeds might suggest irregular maintenance and management.

Have the borders been cultivated or been left to their own devices? Are there any plants in the garden to assist with identifying the PH of the soil? Pink Hydrangea flowers are a good indicator that the soil is alkaline and if the flowers are blue then the soil is more acidic.

A garden detective

Whilst exploring billowing herbaceous or structured shrub borders the senses do some detective work. Do the plants appear strong? Are the leaves a nice size and shape, a healthy colour and is there any indication that pests are weakening them? Are the flowers a desired size, in abundance or sparse? Are the assortment of plants and trees looking healthy or unwell? Are the plants appropriate for the situation or has the planting area been manipulated for the plants to flourish? Does the garden work?

Prescribing simple remedies

A final and crucial consideration has to be whether the garden is ecologically robust. Will it be necessary to improve and encourage biodiversity by recreating natural habitat? For example, this can include simply placing brash piles within corners of the garden, composting, sustainable planting schemes, or on a larger scale if appropriate, creating a meadow area, pond or planting a mixed hedgerow.

In my 20 years’ experience in horticulture, many gardens have looked beautiful on initial observation but behind the scenes there are problems and issues that sometimes may not initially be obvious. An example of this is a common question asked by owners. Why does their tree, shrub or rose in a pot not flower and why hasn’t it grown much? On inspection they have usually been planted in multipurpose compost and never been fed. If our species were put in a situation where our environment was not conducive to growing and never fed, we would also appear malnourished and lethargic.

Planning the future

A skilled horticulturalist will read the garden’s health and will have a three-year pruning, feeding, prevention of pest and disease programme in their head. They will also be able to plan enhancements to a garden appropriate to conditions and season. This will be an approach that many amateur and leisure gardeners are unfamiliar with.

But whenever I visit a new garden, the principal question I want to address is how can we nurture this garden to bloom and grow to its full potential?

So, the next time you visit a garden I hope you will start to look at it a different way, using your own detective skills, learning, questioning and even experimenting in a quest to bring out its best.

Tanya Wallis is a highly experienced professional horticulturist and Gardens Manager at Lady Penelope Gardens. They specialise in fine, traditional horticulture and consultancy for country gardens and estates, with a passion for garden development and ecological design.