Garden materials & magnolias
What’s coming up in the garden this week with Louisa Bell of City and Country Gardens
Design and construction
Building beauty
There are so many different materials available to use indoors, they are not subject to weather, dirt and the wear and tear of outdoor life; so light colours, soft fabrics and different flooring materials can look wonderful. Outdoors we have to stick to stone and hard landscaping but there are still some different and quite wonderful things available.
The usual materials for paving are different types and colours of manmade concrete, and limestone, sandstone and other natural stone elements like travertine and granite. These can also be cut in different ways with riven edges or diamond cut edges for a more modern finish with clean lines.
Some stone is still very expensive and quite difficult to work with and lay. I do think that inexpensive materials, combined with a few more expensive details, can look great. It’s a bit like buying an Ikea sofa in cream and then adding a really expensive throw and wonderful cushions that cost a fortune. It keeps the overall price of sofa and cushions down, but still looks the part. I like the outdoor furniture you can buy now – the ‘rattan style‘ sofas and armchairs. Instead of the cream cushions that come with this furniture, I have bought more expensive fabrics that are waterproof and outdoor proof with stripes or spots – it lifts the whole thing into another category.
I have enjoyed using glass in the garden and combining this with, again, a less expensive material. I have a supplier who makes recycled glass squares in any colour. They look like crushed glass and have some wonderful sparkly bits in them. I have used dark grey slate square tiles, and put in some random dark glass tiles. When the sun catches the black glass, they look spectacular. I have also used a pale mauve glass tile, put in at random again with other grey paving and surrounded by planting of lavender and rosemary in grey planters. This kind of thing works well in a small space – like a courtyard or roof terrace – or in a small designated space in a larger garden so you come across it – a bit like a special room in a house.
Glass can be under lit too. I’m not suggesting a John Travolta kind of set up, but a lighter coloured glass lit from underneath can look great in the right setting. I once made a brick pathway through a woodland; here and there I took out some of the bricks and replaced them with glass bricks that were lit underneath. This created a magical walkway through the trees that was wonderful during the day or night.
Sometimes an ordinary paved area can be broken up with cobbles in an area of low traffic, or paving can be omitted and water or lighting can take its place. As always it just takes a bit of imagination and some bravery on the part of the client to be different. Oh, and a bit of a budget too…
Plants
Magnificent magnolia
Oh, it‘s magnolia time. I know people complain about them because the flowers go brown, but that’s only because they’ve been planted in the wrong place.
Camellias and magnolias are the same. The beautiful flowers come out so early in the year that they can get frosted in the night. If the early sunlight lands on the frosted flowers, they thaw out too quickly and that’s what makes them turn brown. Leave them to thaw out slowly and wait for the sun to come around and shine on them later in the day and the flowers will be beautiful all the time. Just a little tip, in case you’re thinking of planting a magnolia; keep it away from an east facing position.
So now, go and see as many as you can. Visit all the gardens that have wonderful magnolia collections – Nymans at Handcross, Leonardslee at Lower Beeding or Borde Hill at Haywards Heath. My favourite is Albatross. There’s a tree at Lanhydrock in Cornwall that’s breathtaking. Bit of a way to go of course but it’s actually worth it!
Things to do
Think ahead
It takes me ages to get from the front door to the car at the moment. I have to stop and smell the Viburnum Burkwoodii that I planted right near the front door. It’s covered in buds and each one smells like a bunch of old fashioned pinks. When I planted the shrub, it was still quite small and it’s grown wonderfully in the last two years.
I also planted five roses to grow up trees and through the old scruffy hedge. Again, they were small when I put them in and they have never flowered but this year there are loads of buds all over them. All five are banksia roses, with no thorns. The flowers are tiny double scented pale yellow roses. Last week I ordered some David Austin roses for some clients. I couldn’t resist adding another couple for home and I planted them at the weekend, these Filipes Kiftsgate roses are huge, which could grow to eighty feet!
When I plant any plant – whether it be from a tiny seed or a well grown tree or shrub – I always think about the future. I think about its growth habit and eventual size. I think of the colour of the flowers and shape of the leaves. If people only considered that a small tree or shrub from the nursery is eventually going to grow to – perhaps – 30 feet tall, then we wouldn’t see so many houses overpowered by trees and blocking all the light. Read the label and if it says a size, take some time to work it out.
City & Country Gardens
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