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Garden Appraisals

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Are you happy with your garden? If so, you are one of the privileged few. Most good gardens are never quite static. Late summer is a good time to run the recent gardening season back through your mind.

Which plants exceeded your expectations? Which failed miserably? Did you have any pleasant surprises? Or did you have more than your fair share of disappointments? More importantly, what new skills and knowledge have you learned and taken on board over the last few months?

Whatever your experiences, the weather will have been central to the performance of your plants. Plants used to growing in zones 8 or 9 will not take kindly to being asked to put on a stiff upper lip in zones 4 or 5. But we all from time to time try to experiment by growing plants that we have been told are far too tender, despite the dire warnings from all sides. No harm in that, amateur gardeners all over the world have been doing it for years.

Occasionally, we find one that proves the experts wrong. One famous example is Camellias. Originating from eastern Asia, C. japonica was growing in England as early as 1739 in a stove house in Essex. By 1788, it was found to be hardy enough to stand the winter outdoors.

The most common mistakes in most garden planting in my experience and one I plead guilty to, is perhaps over-planting or more commonly, growing plants in the wrong soil, aspect or conditions. Those of us with smaller gardens, where space is definitely at a premium are the ones who try to push the boundaries relentlessly. Trying to grow something of almost everything is nice idea, but it seldom works, as I know to my cost. That said, we all have problem areas of the garden, which however hard we try, never quite come to life in the way we had hoped.

In my own case, I have several ongoing problem areas, which continue to haunt me. My garden I suppose is around twenty years old now and what I inherited all those years ago bears no relation to the garden I know manage.

I could gladly throttle the person who’s bright idea it was to create a ‘rock garden’ using a base of clinker or burnt coals. Having decided early on to dispense with this hideous rockery, I tried as best I could to improve the soil and planted a mixture of shrubs and herbaceous plants. I have planted several honeysuckle in this area in the attempt to get just one established, but each one seemed to get instant depression.

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