I was wasting time on the computer the other day because house painters have invaded my outdoor space. Most of the garden is under siege and won’t be available for serious work until the painters leave. I am happy about the fresh paint, but dread putting everything back together.
What is the best way for a gardener to waste time on the computer? Looking at gardens, of course. I amused myself by reading a description of a garden renovation at a historic property called Parham House in West Sussex, England. The pictures of the finished landscape show a symphony in blues, purples and whites. As the ladders clanged on the side of my house, I drooled with envy.
The Parham renovation started with a mature garden that had done what mature gardens always do—gotten a little out of hand. It still looked wonderful, but vigorous perennials had expanded beyond their allotted spaces and were crowding out weaker plants. Blue-flowered varieties, which predominated in the original design, had either reverted to the less desirable colors of the ancestor plants from which they were bred, or produced self-down offspring that were not always blue. Bindweed or Convolvulus arvensis, that noxious garden invader of the morning glory family, had elbowed its way into the beds and taken hold. Since established bindweed is nearly impossible to get rid of, radical remedies were in order.
So Parham’s professional gardeners did something that most of us would be afraid to undertake. Separating the garden into quadrants, they dug out everything from the first and second quadrants except for a few mature trees and shrubs. The newly-dug plants went on a big
pile that was promptly burned to ashes to eradicated bindweed and other weed seeds. With plant disposal/destruction taken care of, the gardeners brought in heavy equipment to dig up the two quadrants to eliminate any leftover bindweed or invasive species. Once the big dig was over, the ground was left to lie fallow for several weeks, so that any untoward sprouts could be eradicated.
Even before the scorched earth treatment began, the gardeners had gone to the property’s owners with a bucket full of mixed blue, purple and white flowers to get approval for the new color scheme and plant selections. The owners gave the thumbs up, and when the quadrants were ready, the gardeners started replanting.
Of all the ideas in the article—throwing out a whole border’s worth of plants, not to mention clearing weeds by burning, massive earth turning, and fallow periods—the one I like the best involved the bucket of flowers. Imagine approaching an outdoor planting scheme by doing what you probably do when you want a beautiful indoor arrangement–filling a container with the colors and flower types that you like best. It is a good way to start, but takes a bit more thought on the part of the average gardener than the article suggests.
Judging by the photos, the renovated beds at Parham are mostly sunny, maximizing the number of flowering plant choices. The soil is extremely good, especially after being amended during the renovation process. It’s likely that a stick planted in such a situation which take root and flourish immediately.
Home gardeners may not be so lucky. We can all amend our soil, but most of us cannot chop down trees to provide a completely sunny situation. Plant choices should be about what you love, but reality should enter the decision-making process as well. If you are planning a small or large garden renovation, be realistic about the conditions on your own property. There is nothing worse than watching a well-loved species or variety fail miserably because it is in the wrong place.
The Parham beds, which are open to the public several days a week, went from blank canvas to blooming splendor in an amazing two months. This was because the new plants arrived in two-liter pots, well on the way to maturity. Three weeks after the perennials were installed, the gardeners filled in the gaps with annuals in the same shades of blue, purple and white. Presumably all of this was done in the late spring and the weather cooperated to speed both annuals and perennials on the way to glory.
Would most of us take these kinds of radical steps with our home gardens? Probably not, but there are certainly times and places when a thorough overhaul is very necessary. In my own garden, I have decided to take a hard look at the beautiful but voracious Shasta daisies, which are encroaching on their neighbors and depriving of them of light and nourishment. Once bloom time is over and the painters departed, some of the daisies will have to go. There won’t be a bonfire, but the light of inspiration provided by the Parham garden article may mean that a few of my gardening friends will suddenly find themselves blessed with bountiful pots of freshly dug Shastas.
For more on Parham House and its gardens, go to https://www.parhaminsussex.co.uk/the-gardens/