Alison Marsden, Gardening by Design

Site

The rear garden of a traditional, 3-storey brick family house. The garden faces south and enjoys full sun for most of the day. An old brick wall approximately 8ft high runs the length of the west boundary. The east boundary has a 5ft fence in good condition with hedge cover above this in the neighbouring garden. There is a quantity of paving around the mature lime tree at the end of the garden that may have been the base of an outbuilding. The soil is a fine loam that seems to have a clay base, making it slightly alkaline and with a tendency to set hard in dry weather and become sticky in winter. The soil needs to be dug over before the winter and the nutrient content and water-holding capability improved.

The basic division of the garden into patio, lawn and borders meets the family’s requirement and the fruit trees will be incorporated into the new design but there are a number of mature shrubs and perennials that will not be retained.

Requirements

Soft fruit bushes and more apple/pear trees

Plenty of room for salad leaves & herbs

Outline Plan

This will be a productive as well as an ornamental garden. The outline plan is to clear most of the circular bed beyond the arch and use this space primarily for growing soft fruit, another fan trained fruit tree and a variety of salad leaves. These will be interplanted with flowering plants to increase the decorative value in the tradition of a cottage garden. Cultivated varieties of wild flowers such as scabious, cornflowers and Achillea (yarrow) will look more natural and suit this area better than the bolder plants to be found in the herbaceous border. The remaining space will accommodate leafy herbs requiring a rich soil, plenty of moisture and partial shade.

Structural changes

The wooden ‘arch’ at the waist of the lawn is a good idea as the transition point between the ornamental and productive areas. It is also wide enough to allow two people to walk through together and allow unobstructed lawn mowing. However the current arch is too insubstantial for the proportions of the garden. A great range of pre-formed arches and pergolas is available in both metal and wood and the style of the house and garden suggest a fairly rustic structure. The outline plan shows space for a 6ft square pergola to walk through, separating the two parts of the garden. If this is considered too bulky then perhaps an archway of woven hazel or willow, or even growing willow, at least a foot wide. Timber posts are needed to a height of 4-5 feet to hold wires for the fan trained fruit trees on either side, but full height posts could form part of the new structure. The current posts need to be resunk either in concrete or metal spikes to prevent rotting. An additional post is needed in front of the fence to provide stronger support for the wires.

If non-clinging climbers are to clothe the old brick wall and a new fan fruit tree is to be planted, then horizontal wires must be strung along the length of the wall at heights 2 feet apart. Galvanised wires are attached to vine eyes fixed into the wall and stretched tight. The shininess soon dulls and plants rapidly obscure the wires.