Day length is now beginning to increase and spring is not that far away. It is still quite cold, but this does not stop the many hardy early spring herbaceous perennials from putting on a brave face and brightening up these grey late winter days.
The old herbaceous border of Victorian and Edwardian England is now a thing of the past, although still practised in some gardens. The true herbaceous border involved lots of work and drudgery. The replanting, staking, tying, disbudding and dead-heading, coupled with the ‘popping in’ of pots of other plants to cheer up areas of the border in late summer, made for an immense amount of work. The result was indeed glowing for two or three months, but was poor most of the year.
It was William Robinson who called for an end to this “artificial gardening” – which a Mrs. Ruby Fleishmann described very aptly as “in-and-out gardening”. He called for the use of hardy perennials as bedding plants. Gertrude Jekyll carried on this crusade to reach the very height of gardening artistry.
Nowadays, gardeners rely heavily on perennial border plants as the backbone of most gardens. The true herbaceous border would not find much favour with today’s very busy gardener. Apart from all the backbreaking work, who wants to look at bare earth for the greater part of the year? In the middle of winter the herbaceous border was a bare and sorry sight, in complete hibernation until spring.
My own preference is for a mixed bed or border. Here can be grown shrubs and trees, giving shade and providing shape to the garden, together with perennials, bulbs and ground cover in its various forms. This modern method of gardening has been called gardening in four layers. Speaking personally, it is for me the most satisfying form of gardening. It also provides much more for local wildlife.
In winter, most gardens can look a bit bare. This season is without doubt the ‘acid test’ for most gardens. Good gardens are confident gardens, flaunting their good structure and bones. Planning for all year round interest can be difficult and no more so than in winter and early spring. With a little planning, colour and texture can be had even in the darkest days of winter. In today’s smaller gardens it is essential to grow a wide variety of shrubs. Height and solidity can be found amongst the larger shrubs, whilst smaller evergreen shrubs or plants provide colour and form in winter. I also like to leave much of the dead growth of the previous growing season intact, not only for wildlife, but also for the lovely tapestries that winter frost can bequeath on seed heads and stems alike.
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