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Planting
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| Free Advice - The Hot Border |
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Turning
up the heat of summer
Garden
designers draw their inspiration from a number of sources,
sometimes it’s the surrounding landscape, sometimes the
individual character of the person who owns the garden. Perhaps
the greatest inspiration however comes from Nature herself. |
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With
the summer well underway, how about experimenting with some daring
colour and setting your borders alight with flames of fiery reds, golds
and oranges. Put your
shades on and go wild with the dangerous side of the colour spectrum.
Throwing
in lots of colourful plants with garish colours is easy but getting
right takes practice. If
you’re a beginner to gardening, you can’t fail too easily with the
robust, fanned leaves of Phormium ‘Rainbow Queen’ with its striped
foliage of red, amber and subtle green.
It’s perfect for using as a focal point between other plants
which will come and go with the seasons.
Other
low maintenance plants include the larger smoke bush, Cotinus coggygria
‘Grace’ with deep burgundy leaves and whispery, soft flowers and the
cheerful Spiraea ‘Goldflame’, its new bracts burning through with
reds and oranges above gold foliage.
For
the more adventurous, try the bold tongues of Cannas, available in a
range of delicious fiery colours. Their
large leaves act as a wonderful backdrop to more delicate foliage plants
like the golden Carex elata ‘Aurea’. One classic favourite is the
stunning Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’, with works exceedingly well with a
few purple splashes like Verbena bonariensis.
Of
course, the excitement doesn’t have to end when the summer sun goes
down in autumn because then if you’ve planned right, the border
changes to show off one more glorious display as the smoke bush shifts
into its autumn tints and the Rudbeckia heads dry to a sculptural black.
Mind
you, if you’re more into literal fire than visual effects, you can
always settle for Dictamnus albus. In hot weather, it’s leaves produce
a volatile oil which can be set alight with a match!
Experiment
with your hot border and don’t be afraid to mix and match.
Try to contrast different foliage shapes and textures as well as
colours and you’ll soon be glowing with pride
BACK
to the advice point, please
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adam s bailey
BA Hons (Garden Design), MGLD
Unit 9, Home Farm, 3 Riverside, Eynsford, Kent, DA4 0AE
Garden design in Kent • East Sussex
• Essex • South East London
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Member of
The Guild of
Landscape Designers
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