vii: Sage Advice
Mind the gap
Callum Halstead Since coming to Cambo Gardens last summer, I have been working closely with our Head Gardener, Katherine Taylor, to improve the planting in various parts of the garden. Having spent a lot of time looking critically at the existing schemes, I have tried to make sense of what differentiates the successful and welldesigned areas from those that require more work. Of course, there is more than one way to design a garden, and different areas naturally have their strengths and weaknesses. However, there are a few key attributes that have helped the better designed parts of the garden stand out from the rest. The welldesigned areas have clearly discernible themes, and the plants complement oneanother, working harmoniously as an ensemble. In general, they are also more densely planted, and thus look full throughout the season— with at least one or two varieties either flowering, or putting on some other sort of display, at almost any given point throughout the year. In contrast, sparsely planted beds with too much soil on show often look quite underwhelming, and the bare soil tends to act as an open invitation for weeds to invade and gain a foothold— always guaranteed to take the edge off any display.
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It is sparse planting that I would like to address this month. As most of us add to our gardens bit by bit over time, rather than designing it all in one go, it’s very easy to end up with empty spaces in borders, where not a lot happens at certain times of the year. So, let’s cast a critical eye over what is going on at ground level, and think about enriching the planting in our borders, filling gaps, and getting more out of the space that we have available. When planting a border, we should be aiming to create a tapestry of plants that work together to cover most of the soil throughout the growing season. As each month goes by, different plants will take over from one another, each growing taller than the last, creating layers of vegetation. This type of planting is called ‘succession planting’ and, when successfully carried out, it results in displays that have a long season of interest, with the added bonus of being relatively low maintenance. Not only will the beds look full and beautiful, but by covering the soil with plants that you do want, you will be leaving very little room for those that you don’t want. This significantly reduces the amount of weeding that you will have to do, leaving you more time to enjoy the display as its crescendo builds.
