Oliver Borrow: Indian Summer
Garden designer Oliver Borrow on enjoying your outside space throughout autumn
The summer party season may be coming to an end, but there are still lots of opportunities to enjoy your outside space. The autumn colour this year is promising to be stunning with a hot summer and some autumn rain to stop the leaves falling early. Where better to experience it than out in the comfort of your own garden in the golden evening light?
Planting for this time of year is not as simple as going down to your local garden centre and picking out what is looking at its best (although that can be fun).
Plants need to be carefully selected so as to provide interest throughout the year and incorporate autumn colour. This can be achieved through brilliant reds and yellows in the foliage, flowers on late flowering plants, or even through architectural seed heads, which look beautiful in the soft autumn light.
Lighting can help turn a nice garden into a fabulous garden and means that as the sun sets, you don’t need to be going in. It can help create different moods and feelings in the space as well as a touch of opulence – such as the use of the chandelier (pictured, one of the gardens from this year’s Hampton Court Flower Show).
It is also important to have the right seating and entertainment area. Placing the seating is important and it need not always be right by the house. Identifying key points such as what you want to use the garden for and when you want to use it needs to be combined with an understanding of the space such as where the areas of sun and shade are. This will ensure that you get the most use from your garden, adding an extra ‘room’ to your home.
If you would like a designer to help you get the most from your outside space and ensure you can use and enjoy it throughout the coming months as well as the rest of the year then call Oliver on 07773 764 212.
