Gardening Tips

Check out this riot of colour effect with the taller Californian Poppies with their hot colours of red, orange, hot pinks and yellows tempered by the cool blues (love in the mist) and with white speckled through it. Not everyone will like it. For some they will say it’s way too gaudy and lacks order. Others will marvel at the spectacle and take it for what it is - an expression of wild rebellion and all in all a happy cheerful display of flowers ripe for the picking. There should be space in everyone’s world to entertain a walk on the wildside once in a while.

I thought this was a different but novel way of displaying bulbs with a layering effect where drifts of similar bulbs are planted in lines give a staggered effect. Interesting if only because it breaks garden design rules of having taller plants in the background and shorter plants in the foreground. Naturally unless you have garden space to spare, this type of effect isn’t going to have the oomph that you will get with meadow-fulls of these luscious offerings.

See plant offerings in the online plant nursery

Have you ever considered putting in a miniature garden. This example is from Canberra Australia’s Cockington Green. It’s enchanting both for adults and children alike. Model train lines run through a whole gardenscape resplendent with conifers and bonsai type plants clipped and pruned to look like real trees, bushes. Little cottages sprinkled across lawn and it brings back memories of nursery rhymes and folklore. There’s something very special about miniature gardens. Perhaps it’s all that hard work that’s put into it, or perhaps it’s a chance to look into a world in miniature where things are what they are supposed to be - innocent, unspoiled.

Note the use of slow growing small leafed plants and trees - your hydrangeas simply will not do in this garden setting!

Certainly it’s not for people who want a low maintenance garden but all that hard work is worth it - after all a garden is for ALL to enjoy and setting one up just like this would ensure that you will get all the accolades and is rewarding work indeed!

Now I must admit that I’m rather partial to blue flowers and none more so than Dutch irises. There’s something about their tall stately stature and the glorious blue with the faint hint of yellow that just begs attention. If you are planning a bulb display, consider planting them in huge drifts for massed effect. Whilst yes, your garden would look rather bare after they are past their peak display times, during their peak you’d be blessed with this carpet of blue to adorn your garden beds! Just glorious! Also note the undertones of white - combinations of blue and white are easy winners in any landscaping stakes - classic cool colors that mellow the landscape.

There is nothing more stunning than azaleas and rhododendrons in full bloom where the glorious flower petals engulf the whole plant to reveal a riot of colour. Planting azaleas in great drifts under deciduous trees is a sight to behold come spring. Unfortunately for me, my azaleas seem to suffer badly from petal blight which is an unsightly fungal disease which takes hold when the weather is too damp and the flower display is ruined by the ugly brown spotting of the flower petals resulting in brown mush in a few days. I’ve thought about spraying with a fungicide but I loathe spraying with chemicals with a vengence and therefore try to halt the process by picking off spotted petals as fast as they appear and then bagging the lot to be dumped in the waste bin. These petals don’t go into my compost because I don’t want to spread it any further than it should. My compost heap doesn’t get hot enough to destroy these fungal spores and to use the compost later with my other plants would be to spread the dreaded disease further afield. Just a nice rule of thumb to remember that any diseased plant, cutting or prunings shouldn’t ever be put into your garden compost - bag ‘em and trash ‘em.