YOUR GARDEN IN SPRING

This year I think, more than ever, we have welcomed every leaf that has unfurled and every flower that has opened more intensely. Spring is always a time of joy in the garden and, if you put the effort in the autumn, there are some real delights to enjoy.

Every year, I promise myself that I will plant up tulips and spring flowering bulbs in the autumn and every year I don’t get ‘round to it’. Not this year! I had the time to plan what bulbs to buy and am now enjoying a feast of amazing tulips and daffodils. Always a delight, because I have invariably forgotten what I have planted so many months earlier.

Spring flowers are not all about tulips and daffodils though. As the evenings become longer the lilacs, peonies and Philadelphus (Mock Orange) start to bloom. Many of the spring plants have gorgeous perfume too. A couple of the best are the rampant climber Akebia quinata (Chocolate Vine), although it has more of a vanilla scent than chocolate I think, and the shrub Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’. Place these somewhere you sit, or by a front door, so you catch wafts of the delicious scent in the air.

Flowering trees are at their very best in the spring and one of the most eye catching is the glorious Magnolia. They come in a wide range of pinks to whites like the deep, rich purple of Magnolia Genie to the pure white of Magnolia x soulangeana ‘Alba Superba’. There is even a blue/green flower on the new Magnolia acuminate ‘Blue Baby’! These flowering trees are what we call in the design trade ‘feature plants’ and should be given space to enjoy them during their time of flowering glory.

Another favourite spring flowering plant is the Fritillaria meleagris (Snake’s Fritillary although it has a long list of other common names including Frog-cup and Drooping Lily). As a wildflower, although becoming very rare to see in the wild, it likes to grow in damp meadows. I grow mine in pots and place them on a table so I can see the gorgeous flowers close-up.

I have a ‘Spring Table’ where I gather together all my pots of spring flowering delights so they can be enjoyed. Only having a small garden, it can be hard to give over a section to just spring bulbs, so I grow in pots. You can sink pots of bulbs into the borders and, when you need to change over to summer flowers, lift them and let them die back in their pots. It is a great way to enjoy Muscari (Grape Hyacinth) without letting them loose in your garden, where they can take over!

Spring is a good time to stand back and look at your garden and work out how you want to use it in the coming summer months. It is the best time to move things around, sort out fencing and clean up paving. Maybe create a new area of paving or a ‘secret’ area with a fire-pit for summer evenings. Look at buying some solar powered festoon lights to make it a magical space. Keeping your outdoor space updated is very important and stops you becoming bored with it. Having spent some years living in South Africa, I became used to moving outdoors in the summer months there and spending more time in the garden than in the house!

At this time of year, my windowsills are packed with seed trays, as I start growing plants for the garden. I go for unusual tender plants such as Cobea scandens (Cup and Saucer vine), Rhodochiton ‘Purple Bells’ or Ipomoea lobata (Spanish Flag). These look so exotic growing up a trellis or fence and add some real interest to your summer garden. If you don’t want the bother of planting seeds, you can buy many of these as jumbo seedlings. Sarah Raven does a very extensive range of plugs to buy.

Spring is not just a precursor to summer, but a season to be enjoyed in its own right with loads of fabulous and colourful plants to enjoy. It just takes a bit of planning back in the cold months of winter to make it amazing. It is when we start looking forward to time in the garden over the warm summer days. This year, I have had more design enquiries than ever before in 20 years. People are obviously understanding the importance of a lovely space to be while we are in this new way of living.

If you would like some more advice on your own garden, please head to www.thegardensmith.co.uk and get in touch with Cathryn Smith.