Planning Your Garden Structure

One of the first things to think of when planning your garden is the skeleton or structure.  First, think about the feel you want for your garden whether tropical, contemporary, cottage, wildlife friendly,  or formal. Next, here are a few more things to consider before getting to the garden centre and filling up that trolley.

Here are some basics we need to remember when purchasing plants:

The size of the garden and the plants. The plants need to be in proportion to one another and the surrounding space. A large tree in a small garden does not work while a small tree will be lost in a large space. Various sized plants provide the brain with more information adding interest.

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Keep in mind evergreen plants keep colour and wildlife in your garden throughout the year. It’s necessary to note which plants are evergreen so there is a balance during the winter. The most important colour in your garden is GREEN! Try to see the various shades and hues present before adding more. Are there light greens, or blue-greens etc.? What about the hardscaping? Does the gravel hold a pink or golden hue? What trees or neighboring walls are visible outside your garden?

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The shape of the garden and plant shapes are aspects that can help decisions. For a formal garden, balanced symmetry and geometric structures point easily to bold, clear shapes like topiary box balls or pyramids.

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Texture is important, especially in more tropical looking gardens. Nandina domestica offers layered, varied coloured pinnate leaves with panicled flowers. Fatsia or Rodgersia with their large leaves make a bold statement smaller leaves such as Tamarisk, Heather or Thyme promote a calm space.

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Here a few structural plant choices for various garden styles:

Wildlife – Mahonia aquifolium, Hawthorns, Holly, Buddleja

Mediterranean – Olive Trees, Rosemary, Lavender

Contemporary – repeated plantings of most anything, bamboos, Dicksonias, standards of Laurus nobilis, Phormium, specimen trees, grasses

Formal – pleached trees, box hedging and topiary, roses

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Here are a few evergreen structure suggestions to consider:

Acacia dealbata, Agave americana, Arbutus unedo, Astelia, Beschorneria, Cordyline,Dicksonia, Eucalyptus, Fatsia, Mahonia, Myrtus, Nandina, Olea, Phormium, Phyllostachys, Pseudopanax, Quercus ilex, and Yucca.

I hope this gets you thinking about how to plan your garden!

Our next blog will discuss planning for colour year round.

See you at the Garden Pavilion soon 🙂

Mary, Horticulturalist at Powerscourt Garden Pavilion.

Best Trees for your Garden

This week we have a fantastic guest blog article on trees from Ena Ronayne. A horticulturalist and teacher, she is an avid promoter of all things horticultural in Ireland and beyond. Read on…

“It’s official, Winter 2013/2014 was the wettest on record with winds well above average.  High winds and weakened roots systems from excessive rain brought down some of our oldest and much loved trees.  Storm Darwin blew down up to 7.5 million trees.  All good reasons to plant trees.

Weather is an issue for any tree especially those you’re intent on planting in the future.  According to Forestry Focus, “the changes in climate that Ireland will experience are still speculative but scientists have predicted that we will experience warmer drier summers in the south and east; while the country will experience wetter winters and more intense storms with higher wind speeds”.  Worth noting when purchasing plants!

More often than not people are afraid to plant ‘big’ trees.  Primarily due to misguided assumptions about plants. When working with and investing in nature it is really a question of ‘Right Plant, Right Place’.  Perhaps such trees are best kept for demesnes where they can soar upwards whilst their roots penetrate the ground below.  The trees at Powerscourt have been planted over the past two centuries and there are now over 250 varieties for you to discover.

Planting trees mitigates flood risk, diminishes erosion and enhances biodiversity.  If the latter is to be achieved, natives should be planted.  Indigenous trees tend to harbour far more wildlife than exotics and could be a last refuge for some of our declining insects.  Our Irish native trees help shelter our homes from prevailing winds, enhance the character of our rural landscape, and as they are usually ‘field grown’ they’re available for purchase at a fraction of the cost of an exotic container-grown tree.

Plant silver birch Betula pendula or downy birch Betula pubescens, instead of paper birch Betula papyrifera, a non-native from North America.  Plant en masse, so you can enjoy their chalky stems.  Plant native alder Alnus glutinosa rather than Italian alder Alnus cordata.  Plant Rowan Sorbus aucuparia or Whitebeam Sorbus aria instead of an exotic member of the same genus.  One of my favourite natives is our spindle Euonymus europaeus.  A fast-growing, vigorous native small tree it has unusual bright pink and orange berries in autumn, combined with excellent red autumn colour, a superb plant for a hedgerow.

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However, exotics do have a role to play.  Planting them alongside our natives ensures less chance of stock death through disease.  As well as that, non-natives are better equipped to deal with pollution.  London Plane Platanus × acerifolia is the most famous example of this and is an extremely resilient plant coping with levels of pollution that would kill most other trees. It’s fruit also attract birds.

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Sometimes space is limited!  Maybe your garden is just too narrow for a native species to prosper.  The maidenhair tree Gingko biloba has a particularly slim profile.  It’s small leaves are wind resistant and the plant is also extremely drought tolerant.  Added to this it’s ability to withstand pollution has made it a valuable avenue and specimen tree in industrial cities.  If like me you have a small courtyard with little or no privacy and therefore require fast growing trees, steer clear of notorious fast-growers such as eucalyptus, willow and poplar.  They will  provide privacy but grow at such an alarming rate that the cost of tree surgery will quickly outway any privacy debate.  Robinia pseudocacia on the other hand is an airy tree that is a quick grower.  However, as it composed of thin, brittle branches that somehow break off during a gust of wind, it might be best avoided.  Alternatively keep it in check by pruning and maintaining as a shrub.

Rowans are fast-growing but stay compact, and birches are also rapid growers.  One of my all time favourites and one which I have growing in a raised bed is the foxglove tree, Paulownia  tomentosa.  A ‘must have’ plant if you are keen on foliage and architectural detail.  This vigorous deciduous grower is manageable if coppiced annually.  Flowers are sacrificed but big, felty leaves up to 60cm across are produced instead.

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An old proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second-best time is now.”  Planting a tree that is almost certainly going to outlive you is a humbling experience so choose the variety carefully.

‘Til next time – why not plant a tree of your own this bank holiday weekend, a perfect way of getting closer to nature!”

Ena Ronayne

Thanks Ena!

About Ena Ronayne: Based in South Co Dublin Ena Ronayne, horticulturist / teacher is an avid promoter of all things horticultural in Ireland and beyond. She can help you design, build, plant or maintain any growing space whether for vegetables or ornamentals. For more information email enaronayne@gmail.com or telephone +353868259166