Borders & Beds

When you imagine a quintessential English garden it is the 'Cottage' style that springs to mind - that informal mix of best loved plants including favourites such as delphiniums, hollyhocks, roses, and sweet peas. Perennials, annuals and even odd vegetables have a place in the Cottage garden so use every scrap of space to indulge yourself as the herbaceous border is the best space for going a bit mad with your artistic license!

Although the plants mainly used are the hardy type, the term ‘herbaceous border’ is used in a much broader sense than it used to be, it’s not unusual to find a few decent-sized shrubs and annuals in there as well. The size of the border depends entirely on the size of your garden, obviously. But if you make rough draft on paper, you will have a good idea of layout and how many different kinds of plants you can fit in.

Herbaceous plants are only split up and re-planted once every three to four years, the soil shouldn’t be disturbed too much in that time, so make sure it’s in good condition right from the start.

Dig it over thoroughly before planting anything, and work in as much compost or rotten manure as possible, also work in a good complete fertilizer if you can. Be really zealous about removing perennial weeds - if you give them an inch they will take over and they are difficult to remove once you have a good carpet of plants in the border.

Late March to somewhere around mid-April will be the best planting time for most hardy plants, but some prefer the autumn, check out favoured planting times and seasons before you get cracking.

Generally speaking, the shortest plants are placed near the front, and the tallest at the back of the border, but play about for an interesting mix. Also pick your colours carefully, it is a good idea to plant the cooler blues, pinks and whites towards one end of the border - and the hotter reds, yellows and oranges towards the other. Put plants that enjoy similar growing conditions together as it will be easier to give them booster feeds of nutrients if required.

Place late-flowering plants in front of early ones to hide them when they’re a bit stringy, you can include annuals in the original planting plan or use them as fillers if planting casualties are sustained.

Taller plants such as delphiniums will need to be protected from wind and rain damage so rig up some good support in advance, these can be home-made using canes or stout twigs or purchased ready made from garden centres.

Water the plant well prior to planting. Dig the hole slightly larger than the root ball of the plant and add some organic matter to the bottom. Place the plant in the ground and fill in with soil firming with your hands as your go. Finally, tread down the soil around the plant to eliminate any air pockets and water in well.

To ensure a succession of decent blooms, get rid of the faded flowers pronto and gradually cut back the early-flowering plants. If watering is needed water well, light watering will do more harm than good, as it encourages the roots to form near the surface.

Don't be tempted to cut down all the top growth of plants as soon as the last flowers have died off, it’s a good idea to leave the dry stems alone until the turn of the year, as they help protect the plant’s vulnerable crowns from frost damage.

If possible, old borders should be given a yearly makeover with organic material; or at the very least work in fertilizer at about 4oz. to the square yard, around March or April. Traditionally borders were left alone to establish a dense planting.

In later years some of your herbaceous babies may need thinning to avoid overcrowding.

Do this as soon as the shoots are big enough to handle, removing any weak and weedy shoots as you go.

After three or four years, when your plants are ready for division. This is a great time to get the soil in really juicy shape again; dig it over and add some well-decayed manure or compost, plus fertilizer.

Bedding Plants

A wide range of colourful bedding plants can be raised from seed or purchased from a nursery. These are usually annuals or half-hardy perrennials and likely to be damaged by the first real frost of the season.

Prepare the beds as for the herbaceous border and work the surface to a fine granual consistency.

Remove your young plants from the seed box or container carefully - first tap the box to loosen the soil.

Use a small trowel to gently divide up and lift out the individual plants, retaining as much soil around the roots as possible.

Place the plant in a prepared hole and fill in with soil. firm in the soil around the plant and water in.

To ensure that you get a good succession of blooms remove the dead heads on plants as they finish flowering.