Want a pretty garden? Make time for design

A growing concern

By Jonathan Van Wiltenburg

The other day I came across a newly planted garden area that was undoubtedly one of the worst planted up garden areas I have witnessed in a long time. I actually got out of the car and took photos because I thought it was so bad. Everything was just wrong about it.

The plant selection was horrible and incongruent. The rocks had been placed and looked as if a prehistoric beast had just gently laid 30 eggs upon take off. I could tell that in a few years from now this garden was going to be terrible. And it all cost money, and a lot of it too. Whoever came up the idea surely had good intentions but whoo-ee they were way off.

With spring around the corner and the prospect of new gardens being planted, I thought I would throw out a few very general pointers that may get people thinking before they push in a few plants this season.

1. Pick a theme

One of the best ways to create a framework to start your design is to pick a theme. This will give you the glue that will hold the design together. Possible themes could be: fragrance, native, woodland, drought tolerance, butterfly, Mediterranean, edible, tropical, evergreen, colour, etc. Whatever your choice of theme, be sure it works in your space and use it to narrow down your plant selection. It will help immensely to avoid picking plants that do not suit one another.

2. Right plant, right place.

This is the mantra of many good gardeners. When you’re picking your plant stock, be sure your space has the proper conditions for each desired species. A properly considered planting will take into account factors like exposure, soil conditions, moisture availability, moisture needs, plant size (both in short term and long term), and of course, maintenance. It is important to set yourself up for success. You want your garden to be a pleasure to be in and a joy to maintain.

3. 3-5-7’s

Always plant in groups of three, five, or seven. Low even planting numbers provide too much balance and make it look unnatural.

4. No straight lines.

Unless you are planting a hedge, do not plant in a straight line. Always stagger your plantings. In nature plants grow randomly, so our aim is to mimic that. Even just staggering them a bit will make it look more natural.

5. Use rocks, but use them well.

As with plants, the idea with rock placements is they should look natural. Avoid placing the rocks in regular intervals. Rather, place them in varying groups maybe one there, two together over there, three clumped over here etc. It is nice when making groups of rocks to take the time to fit the geometry of the rocks together. Also to keep things looking natural it is a good idea to place the rocks so they are sitting the way gravity would have them. For example if you have a big flatter rock it would sit on the flat side, not standing straight up. Lastly it is nice when the rocks are dug into the ground a bit. Aim for at least four inches. It gives the impression that they were always there.

MARCH GARDENING TASKS

Sort through the old seed storage box and purge the packets that are not viable.

Construct a seed-sowing schedule, or find one online. Sketch out your garden plot and plan your rotations.

In order to cut down on weeding and watering, secure and apply garden mulch. It is money well spent. A 3”-4” topdressing will be plenty to smother the weeds and provide moisture retention. My rule of thumb is that 1 yard (9 wheelbarrows) of material will cover just over 100 square feet if you spread it 3 inches thick.

Tune-up all your hand tools, and machines. This includes sharpening, cleaning, and oiling. Pitch the gardening tools that don’t work for you.

Start sowing some seed. Indoors, sow your heat lovers: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant ... the sooner the better! Outdoors, if the soil is warm-ish consider sowing some early greens, peas, spinach, summer cabbages, parsnips, carrots, beets, potatoes, and chard, etc.

Split up some of your early flowering spring bulbs and plants to spread them around the garden. Plants to split include primulas, snowdrops, and crocuses.

If you’re planning to plant bare root plants, now is the time. This includes fruit trees, roses and other ornamental specimens. This is a much more cost effective way to go.

Prune your shrub roses. Remember roses appreciate a fairly hard pruning rather than a soft pruning. Also try to prune to an outward facing bud to ensure appropriate growth.

Weed the garden. Get out there before they get away on you. Even if you can give it only a quick hoe it will be better than nothing.

Jot down some larger garden projects that you would like to see done this year. Commit to tackling at least one of them.