Tuesday 25 March 2008

Patio Gardens Spain


The very fact that the Mediterranean climate is so equable and agreeable means that land in the areas that enjoy it is highly priced. Few people, whether permanent residents or second-home owners, have pockets deep enough or areas large enough for extensive gardens. Together with the particular merits of enclosing space described in Courtyard Gardens, this fact makes the patio a highly attractive and practical proposition.

The patio has a very long history, dating back to Roman times when well-heeled citizens built their residences around a central atrium - an open court. The area might be graced by a central fountain, and was used as an extension of the house which gave onto it. Thus it would be used for relaxation or for taking meals in fine weather. The tradition was carried across Europe by Roman legionaires and found its way to Spain in the courtyards of the Arab conquerors from North Africa. Though the concepts were originally virtually identical, today the terms patio and courtyard are not synonymous.

Here we shall consider the patio principally as a paved area providing a formal or informal link with the house, and serving, in effect, as an 'outdoor living room'. In California the same purpose is likely to be served by a wooden deck.

Choosing your Patio site
if you are starting from scratch you may well have a choice of sites for a patio. However, quite apart from the fact that sitting it next to the house makes sense in terms of convenience and accessibility, this may well be the best spot in terms of land use. If you have engaged in any moderately extensive construction or reconstruction, the area immediately adjacent to the house is probably the one in which the builders dumped their waste. The soil will inevitably have been affected and it is far easier to pave over such an area than to attempt to improve it.

When choosing your site carefully consider how you will use your patio. Unless of course you just want to sunbathe and then a few pots dotted around the patio may be the ideal choice for you.

Large attractive containers with impressive sculptural plants - Chinese fan palms are delicious! (Livistona chinesis), a Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa) or a Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa), with its decorative and arresting leaves could form an exotic 'wall' of foliage. Alternatively - my favourtite - trellis or wattle fencing, supporting a vigourous, preferably deciduous, climber (such as Vitis vinifera - the grape vine) would give it a greater feeling of seclusion.

Perhaps you want to roof a section of your patio garden extending those days you can sit in the shade when the sun is beating down in the summer months or protect your plants in the winter months. The best permanent cover you can get is glass, but this is an expensive option and extremely heavy and would need strong support. Next best to glass is polycarbonate sheeting. It comes in varities of thickness and is very strong.

You are almost certainly going to be entertaining on your patio after dark and you must consider your lighting options (remembering the night skies and the astronomers!) The choice is enormous and we have already talked about lighting your garden - read our post about LED lights for the garden!

Monday 24 March 2008

Choosing Trees

Create a balance
Trees surrounding a country garden, give shelter and privacy. Choose your forms and colours with great care, mix evergreens and deciduous to give your garden balance.

Planting Trees
When you buy young trees you may need to support them, as they may bend out of shape in wind. Hammer a stake into the base of the planting hole before putting the tree in and tie the tree to your stake (avoid the roots!). When you come to fill the hole look for the soil mark on the base of the trunk and plant at the same depth as it was before transplanting.

Hedging
We all plant for screening or hedging at some point in the garden. Fast growing, upright trees are useful for the former, and those with a dense, twiggy habit are ideal. Try to be patient when planting for hedging purposes, we can be impatient and go for fast growing poplars or Leyland Cypress. Both of these can grow rapidly and take over the garden, shading your garden and your neighbours, robbing your other plants of moisture, nutrients and light! Therefore, you should be patient and stick to less agressive, slower growing alternatives. Hedges are often a useful backdrop against which borders and groups of containers can be displayed.

Yew (Taxus baccata) is slow growing but is ideal for sheltering other plants as it forms a thick, impenetrable hedge that does not require a huge amount of attention.

Trees and Shrubs for colour!
Trees that flower are very popular and understandly so - cherries and plums are amongst the most widely planted. Ornamental apples (Malus spp) and rowans and white beams (Sorbus spp) are well adored too - they have a dual season and flower in Spring and Autumn. Autumn colour is a good basis on which to select trees; after all, at its best it can rival flowers for sheer impact. You will do well to remember that good autumn colour largely depends on there being sharp frosts at the right time in autumn, so areas with mild climates rarely see a good show of colour. Many of the best trees are large but you can get smaller ones, such as Bonzai, Amelanchiers and several shrubs, like Euonymus alatus and species of rhus.

Foliage Colour:
For dramatic colour in autumn, Japanese maples are hard to beat, they have a beautiful filigree leaves which turn from tones of scarlett to burnt orange - lush!

Happy Easter Gardening

Happy Easter everyone and sorry that we have not been around, we took Easter off and had a party in the garden that we have been lovingly growing!

I hope you all had a good Easter and didn't eat too much chocolate - maybe you now need to get in your garden and get digging to burn it all off!

I thought that now would be a good time to list the activities in the garden that will burn some fat off (I need it!) - I have not done a huge amount of gardening over the past weeks because we were building a bar in the garden to throw the party that we had. I have planted some tomatoes, 2 palm tress and we have 2 big palm trees coming later in the week.

So, per hour when doing the following we burn:
Gardening / Planting - 250 Calories
Gardening / Hoeing - 350 Calories
Gardening / Digging - 500 Calories

It has been calculated that 1 pound of body fat is equal to 3500 calories. This means that in order to lose 1 pound we have to walk for about 12.5 hours. So don't expect fast weight loss and remember to eat sensibly.


So, perhaps the best way to eat chocolate is do gardening at the same time hehehe.

Get planting guys and girls!

Tuesday 4 March 2008

Natural planting in your garden

Natural Planting
A woodland edge provides the ideal habitat for shade-loving perennials, including geraniums, ferns and those foxgloves.


The next time you take a country walk, or go on holiday, look at the plants around you. Notice how those that grow in exposed places usually have tiny, closely packed leaves, how those in hot, dry areas have a tendency to grey foliage or succulent leaves, and how woodland plants are often evergreen or dormant in the summer.

All these are adaptations plants have evolved over millions of years to enable them to grow successfully in different environments. It makes sense to take advantage of this, and select plants for our gardens that are naturally adapted to our particular type of soil and climate, whatever it is.

Gardeners often complain of bad drainage, or of dry, or clay, or limestone soil. They never seem satisfied, and are prone to label anything that is not a perfect loam as a 'problem garden'. However, that fact is that nature has developed a wonderful and beautiful flora for every 'problem', at least those that are of natural origin.

A good start is to consider growing more wild plants native to your region. They are often very beautiful, but underrated for being wild, and at least they are perfectly adapted and will not have difficulty growing. If there are no local nurseries selling local wild plants, you can collect seed (but NEVER dig up the plants) and propogate them yourself.

Dry or Damp Shade?
A number of plants enjoy shady conditions, but some prefer it dry, others damp. The shade created by walls, for example, is often dry as a rain shadow area is formed as a result. Damp shade is likely in a naturally damp garden, overshadowed by a few large trees.

Plants for damp shade:
Brunnera macrophylla
Dicentra formosa
Geranium phaeum
Hosta sieboldiana
Pachysandra terminalis
Trillum spp

Plants for dry shade
Alchemilla conjuncta
Anemone nemorosa
Epimedium spp
Euphorbia Amygdaloides
Hedera spp
Lonicera
Pulmonaria
Symphytum

Choosing your garden plants


Plants for dry sun
Many grasses like dry, sunny conditions. Big, clump forming Miscanthus sinesis 'Variegatus' is a handsome architectural plant for a dry border.


Any garden benefits from having a good mixture of plants, both in terms of height and shape, and in the variety of foliage and flower form and colour. However, it is surprising how much diversity and interest you can create without flower colour.

Plants for shady parts of the garden will inevitably major on leaf form and shape; plants for full sun will have more flower power. Make sure that you choose those that do well for these differing situations, and look, too, at the soil conditions. Some plants prefer acid soil, others alkaline.

Rhododendrons and azaleas, for example, refuse to grow on alkaline soil but will quickly provide useful ground cover for large gardens on peaty soil.

Hopefully, the differing habitats in your garden will allow you to choose a variety of plants from dry-loving to damp-loving, sun-loving to shade-loving.

What grows best in the garden?

Before you select plants for your garden, it is advisable to learn as much as you can about the area in which you live, as this will determine what you can grow. A good way of finding out which plants will grow well is to visit local parks and gardens that are open to the public.

An area where everyone seems to have rhododendrons means that you can grow these acid-lovers, too, as well as azaleas, camellias and many more.

Keep a notebook handy to record plants that you like and that thrive in gardens with similar conditions to yours. It is a good way of building up your own body of knowledge. Once you have a clear idea of what the area can or cannot offer, you will be in a position to select plants that will succeed with little effort on your part.

Climate is the place to start. is your area one that regularly experiences cold winters or hot, dry summers? If it is, then the hardiness of plants or their drought tolerance are two important limiting factors.

Then there is the 'microclimate', which refers to factors that affect the overall climate on a small scale and of your garden in particular.

A wall or hedge that protects the garden from the prevailing wind may mean you are able to grow a range of more tender plants than anyone else in your neighbourhood ;)

On the other hand, being in an exposed position, or in a frost hollow, where cold, heavy or air gathers, can mean the opposite.

Sheltered Spots
If you are lucky enough to have a walled garden, you can grow more tender plants that require protection from cold winds. Your perennial borders will flower earlier than your neighbour's in these conditions!

Light is yet another very important factor. Is your garden shaded by trees, or is it on the sunless side of a hill or your house? If it is, then you will need to concentrate your efforts on growing shade-tolerant plants.

The soil is the other major player. Is it generally damp or even wet, or is it very free-draining and so liable to dry out in the summer? Is it fertile, or acid, or rich in lime? You may not require a soil-testing kit to find out - gardening neighbours may often supply the answers.

Plants for particular situations


To make a successful garden it is crucial to choose plants that are suitable for the prevailling conditions. All plants have preferences; moist or dry soils, acid or limey, warm climates or cold. Traditionally, gardeners have expended energy on making conditions suit particular plants, in places where they would naturally grow, by changing the nature of the soil or using copious quantities of water. However, water shortages, and the pollutant effects of chemicals have compelled people to think in terms of a more natural approach.

Instead of changing conditions to suit plants, today the trend is towards choosing plants to suit the place.

Sympathetic Planting
Damp areas of the garden, in particular water features, need to be planted sympathetically, Moisture-loving plants have large lush foliage at the expense of brilliant flower colour. Use features, such as little bridges, to create accents instead.