Introduction

Gardening is one of the best and most fulfilling activities on earth, but it can sometimes seem complicated and confusing. The answers to problems can usually be found in books, but big fat gardening books can be rather daunting. Where do you start? How can you find just the information you want without wading through lots of stuff that is not appropriate to your particular problem? Well, a good index is helpful, but sometimes a smaller book devoted to one particular subject fits the bill better – especially if it is reasonably priced and if you have a small garden where you might not be able to fit in everything suggested in a larger volume.

The How to Garden books aim to fill that gap – even if sometimes it may be only a small one. They are clearly set out and written, I hope, in a straightforward, easy-to-understand style. I don’t see any point in making gardening complicated, when much of it is based on common sense and observation. (All the key techniques are explained and illustrated, and I’ve included plenty of tips and tricks of the trade.)

There are suggestions on the best plants and the best varieties to grow in particular situations and for a particular effect. I’ve tried to keep the information crisp and to the point so that you can find what you need quickly and easily and then put your new-found knowledge into practice. Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with the Latin names of plants. They are there to make sure you can find the plant as it will be labelled in the nursery or garden centre, but where appropriate I have included common names, too. Forgetting a plant’s name need not stand in your way when it comes to being able to grow it.

Above all, the How to Garden books are designed to fill you with passion and enthusiasm for your garden and all that its creation and care entails, from designing and planting it to maintaining it and enjoying it. For more than fifty years gardening has been my passion, and that initial enthusiasm for watching plants grow, for trying something new and for just being outside pottering has never faded. If anything I am keener on gardening now than I ever was and get more satisfaction from my plants every day. It’s not that I am simply a romantic, but rather that I have learned to look for the good in gardens and in plants, and there is lots to be found. Oh, there are times when I fail – when my plants don’t grow as well as they should and I need to try harder. But where would I rather be on a sunny day? Nowhere!

The How to Garden handbooks will, I hope, allow some of that enthusiasm – childish though it may be – to rub off on you, and the information they contain will, I hope, make you a better gardener, as well as opening your eyes to the magic of plants and flowers.

Introducing garden design

Do you ever look at a garden and wonder what it is that makes it successful? It’s easy to think it just evolved, as if by magic – the owner has ‘green fingers’, the site is idyllic, the birds sing there … That may be partly true, but for a garden to work as a whole, there has to be more to it. Every site has its limitations – awkward shape, poor soil, shady aspect – but a good garden will have disguised or overcome these. The plants will be well suited to the situation and someone will have thought about how they would change with time, and how to get the best from them. In short, the garden will have been designed. If it doesn’t appear that way, then it’s a real success.

Why design matters

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Garden design has long been considered a luxury. The grand gardens of the past had designers: if you asked a dozen people to name one famous garden designer, the name Capability Brown would be sure to come up. He has a lot to answer for. Garden design was for the wealthy, with rolling acres to transform, not for the ordinary gardener.

We’ve come a long way since then, but even now there’s a feeling that garden design is some kind of extravagance, an optional extra. Most people have relatively small gardens, and plots are getting smaller. So why, and how, is design relevant or necessary?

Design is about making the best use of the space you have; it’s about practicalities and problem-solving. Of course, it’s also about producing something that looks pleasing, but, like a building, a successful garden must suit its site and work well for the people who use it. Even the most basic garden will benefit from these design considerations – particularly smaller gardens, where every inch counts. Then there’s the question of the garden feeling comfortable and right for you.

Creating a place

Designing a garden involves creating a place. It should be an agreeable place to be, and an interesting space to explore. This will mean different things to different people, but whatever your preferences and tastes, the first step in making a satisfying garden is to create good lines and proportions when you plan it. Understanding how to use shapes, lines and proportions effectively is a fundamental design skill. Another important piece of equipment in the designer’s toolbox is an awareness of colour, light and shade – how they work, and how to manipulate them to get the effects you want. A knowledge of plants, their preferences, their behaviour and how to combine them to best effect, is hugely valuable when it comes to finding the right ones for your particular site and situation. So, whether your garden is dry, shady, damp, windy or just plain difficult, don’t try to fight it. Keep it simple, work with nature, trust your instincts and begin to transform your space.

Design principles

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The last thing anyone wants when they’re full of enthusiasm for making a new garden is to be bombarded with a lot of rules. But garden design is about planning spaces, and it has long been accepted that certain basic principles apply to the spaces we find workable, satisfying and ‘right’. If you can keep these ideas in your mind (and to many people with design flair they will be second nature), then you’re more likely to end up with a garden you like and enjoy living with.

These tried and tested principles of design relate to proportion, scale, movement and flow, unity, rhythm and balance. They aren’t clear-cut, and often overlap. Perhaps the best way to use them is as a check-list when you are evaluating layout possibilities in the early stages. Obviously, they will have to work alongside many other considerations such as practical constraints and your personal tastes, preferences and budget.

Proportion

Echoing the proportions of your house in the garden’s layout often works very well, giving house and garden a sense of belonging to each other. For example, you might use the width of a gable or the footprint of a hexagonal conservatory as a guide to the size and shape of an adjacent terrace or lawn.

Think, too, about the proportions of the different areas and the various features in your garden in relation to each other. A simplified version of the well-known ‘golden ratio’ – a mathematical and artistic theory used since classical times – can be a useful rule of thumb. Two lines in a certain proportion to each other – roughly speaking, one-third to two-thirds – will tend to give a pleasing effect. Try this ‘rule of thirds’ when deciding how to divide a space or position an entrance, and keep it in mind when planning the ratio of planting to open space – 1:2, or half as much planted area as open space, will often work out well.

You may be stuck with a plot whose proportions instinctively feel all wrong, but there’s no need to despair – there are all sorts of design tricks you can use to help correct this (see here).

Scale

People are probably the most important element in the scale equation: a garden feels better as a space if it is on a human scale. Big, open exterior spaces don’t feel comfortable or secure to sit in, so smaller areas must be defined within them. Paths and steps need to be a good width – more roomy than their indoor equivalents. Pergolas and arches must be high and spacious enough not to feel oppressive.

Choose plants that are in scale with the spaces they are growing in. A tree at the top of a slope will tend to dwarf everything. Tall perennials won’t work in a narrow border, nor tiny plants at the foot of a high wall.

Movement and flow

This is all about giving an incentive to explore. Particular paving patterns, such as brick paving laid lengthways along a path, seem to propel you along to the next part of the garden. Carefully chosen focal points invite you to walk a bit further. A pool of sunlight beyond a patch of shade is always enticing, while a path disappearing round a bend makes you want to know what lies beyond. A shady pergola can create a sense of mystery, arousing curiosity. Avoid ‘dead ends’, which discourage any sense of movement.

Unity

A sense of unity helps prevent your garden from being a haphazard jumble of the things you happen to want or need in it. Elements that give unity to a design include a theme or a style: if the house is contemporary, with clean lines and strong shapes, then carrying this style consistently through into the garden will make it all hang together. As a rule of thumb, formal areas tend to work best nearer the house, informal areas farther away from it. Restraint in your use of materials, shapes and colours can also help to unify a space. Using too many different materials, or a random mix of colours, will have the opposite effect.

Rhythm

Rhythm in garden design, just as in music, usually entails repetition of a pattern or motif. Repeating a particular plant grouping, or having two or more similar arches, steps, planted pots or other such features at intervals along a path, gives coherence and leads the eye on through the garden.

Balance

Try to avoid a lopsided effect – the feeling that one side of the garden is dominant as you walk through it. Tall plants, major groups of plants, and focal points should be evenly distributed to right and left so that both sides look equally important. When planning your planting, take care not to have all the evergreens on one side, or the garden will look unbalanced in winter.

The site – what have you got?

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A garden is rarely an entirely blank canvas. There are usually existing features, and attributes such as climate, aspect, topography and soil need to be considered at the planning stage. However beautiful your design may be in your mind’s eye, the reality will be a disappointment if you ignore these ‘givens’. Remember – creating a successful garden is as much about problem solving as it is about artistic vision.

A professional garden designer would carry out a thorough site analysis to investigate and record all the factors above. You may not want to consult a professional, but you should take the time to stand and stare, so you are fully aware of what your garden does. Do overhanging trees cut out light and rainfall? Does the soil become bone dry the moment the sun warms it up in spring? Are there any persistent damp spots? Where are the sunny places, at different times of day – in winter as well as in summer? The answers to questions like these are often your most useful guide in planning a workable layout. They are also invaluable in helping you achieve one of the most important goals in gardening: choosing the right plants for the right places.

Plot size

The design of your garden will be dictated by the size of the plot, so make a record of its dimensions at an early stage. An empty plot always appears bigger than it really is, and it’s easy to think you can fit in more than it will easily accommodate, resulting in a garden that seems overcrowded. With a few rough measurements in front of you it’s much easier to be realistic from the outset about what you can include.

Setting

The best gardens are those that sit well in their surroundings. This applies not only to big plots in the country, with a backdrop of woodland or rolling hills, but also to smaller, urban gardens, which might take their cue from the Victorian terraced house or contemporary studio to which they belong. Make notes and take photographs of the views from your garden – the aspects that will need screening, as well as those that could be adopted into your scheme. Also note the style of adjacent buildings, their materials, and details, which could perhaps be echoed in your design.

Shape

The shape of a plot can be deceptive. Unless your garden is a simple rectangle it may be worth doing a bit of basic surveying (see here) to get a reasonably accurate idea on paper of the shape you are dealing with. In the case of bigger plots, large-scale Ordnance Survey maps may help. These are available online, for a fee, or you can consult them in some public libraries (scales 1:1250 or 1:2500 are the best). Remember, though, that these larger-scale maps are not always up to date, so boundaries may have changed. Aerial photographs can be useful, too. Again, your local library or public record office may be able to help. Some parts of the country are also covered by large-scale satellite photography, accessible online via Google Earth.

As well as recording the actual shape of the plot, note down and perhaps photograph any areas that feel awkward, cramped, inaccessible or generally difficult. They will need special treatment in your planning.

Topography

A flat, level site is a mixed blessing – it is easier to survey, but harder to make into an interesting three-dimensional garden. A sloping site entails more work if you need to make terraces or steps (see here), but it can lend character to a garden, offering effortless changes of eye-level as well as contrasting views of the immediate landscape when going along the same path in different directions.

Aspect and orientation

These will be key factors in your design. Use a compass to find north, and record where the sun falls at different times of day, ideally in both summer and in winter. This will help you plan seating areas, and it will be a valuable guide for siting new trees and other tall features where they won’t cast unwanted shade. Equally important, knowing which areas are sunny or shady is essential when it comes to choosing plants. Note the different types of shade, such as gloomy areas beneath deciduous trees where there will be more light in winter when the trees are bare, but where the soil is also likely to be dry and poor. On the north side of a building, or beneath evergreens, there may well be year-round shade. Earmark any protected, ‘sun-trap’ areas as possible locations for plants (and people!) that love to bask. Wind direction will also be a factor, determining whether you will need to create shelter in certain areas (see also here).

Climate and microclimate

Different gardens – or even parts of the same garden – have their own climatic conditions, a fact that is largely the result of aspect and orientation. Other factors, such as the surrounding topography, play their part too. For example, ‘frost pockets’ are particular areas that seem especially prone to frost, possibly due to some obstruction that prevents cold air from draining away down a slope. It may not be possible to ‘cure’ a frost pocket, but if you have identified it at least you’ll know not to put vulnerable plants there. The same applies to damp spots, or places where buildings cause wind turbulence. The most successful planning and planting will take factors like these into account at an early stage.

Drainage

You’ll probably be only too familiar with how your garden behaves in very wet weather. If drainage is poor, note where the worst places are, and consider installing land drains if the problem is really severe (see here). Terracing slopes to make level, absorbent surfaces will help solve any problems there may be with excessive water run-off (see here).

Soil

The type of soil you have is critical in choosing the right plants. The most important thing to find out is whether your soil drains freely (more likely on sand or chalk) or retains moisture (probably on clay). Whether the soil is acid or alkaline makes a big difference to certain plants. Many rhododendrons and camellias, and some heathers, magnolias and other popular shrubs and trees, dislike alkaline soil. Other plants – clematis, pinks and many shrubby herbs – just love it. Improving the soil in a general way is always worthwhile, but with extreme soil types it is usually best to choose plants that suit the soil you have, rather than trying to change the character of your soil radically to suit the plants.

Observation is a good rough guide to basic soil type. Notice how the soil behaves, whether existing plants (including weeds) grow well in it, and what it looks and feels like in different weather conditions. Can you dig after heavy rain without soil sticking to everything? Do puddles hang around for days? Do you tend to lose plants through summer drought or winter waterlogging? Which plants appear to grow well in neighbouring gardens?

Greater precision than this may not be necessary, and more scientific soil testing is often less helpful than you might think because soil can vary quite a lot in different parts of a garden. For example, chalky soils sometimes have a ‘clay cap’ which makes the ground heavy and sticky in places, while acid soil can become more alkaline near buildings and paving, where there may be old mortar rubble. However, if you want to know the precise pH of your soil, testing kits are widely available.

Existing plants

When taking over an existing garden, it is certainly worth saving any decent plants, especially mature trees and shrubs, that are already growing and can be renovated. Even if they would not be your first choice, they will prevent a feeling of bareness in the new garden and give it a sense of maturity from the outset. Make a list of the trees and shrubs you think may be worth preserving. This will also help you to reduce your plant bill.

Existing buildings and hard landscaping

Think about what you could do with existing garden buildings, fencing and other hard landscape structures: could they be restored, or just given a coat of paint, to make them useful in a new scheme? You may be able to save on costs by reusing existing paving, either in situ – perhaps with a new edging, different detailing or a change of emphasis – or elsewhere in the garden. Recycled paving slabs or shingle can be useful for making hard paths in a kitchen garden, or around a greenhouse, shed or compost area. Consider all the possibilities before you decide to scrap any of the structures or materials you have on the site.

Make a note of any eyesores that need to be disguised or concealed, such as an oil tank or a neighbour’s shed. There are ways to screen them. (See here for ideas.)

Underground services

It is vital to establish the location and depth of any pipework or cabling that crosses the site so that you can work round it, if possible. Relocating services can be a costly operation, and with careful planning you can usually avoid it. Recently installed electricity cables, water mains and other services should have been laid to a statutory safe depth and be suitably protected, so they may not cause problems, but it’s a good idea to find out where you may need to take special care when digging – inadvertent damage could have expensive consequences. With newer properties, you may be able to get hold of the architect’s plan of the site showing the routes of services. Otherwise, the location of inspection covers and visible pipes and cables may offer clues.

On a sloping site you’ll need at least some areas of level ground. Creating these is likely to involve an expensive upheaval, but take heart. Imaginatively planned changes of level will not only make your garden more practical, but will give you a much more interesting space. You can turn the slope to advantage and use terraces, banks and steps to divide the space in ways that will be useful, pleasing to look at and tailor-made to your own needs.

Terracing

This involves moving earth to create level areas, each contained on the downhill side by a retaining wall or bank. It is a major undertaking, and for anything more ambitious than simple terracing of a shallow slope you should definitely get professional advice from a landscape architect or a building contractor. A retaining wall, especially if it is more than 1m (40in) high, has to bear a considerable load and must be properly reinforced. It’s important to get the drainage right, too, or water may build up behind the wall in wet weather, putting more pressure on the structure and even risking collapse.

Nevertheless, terracing can be a really worthwhile solution that makes the most of limited space and helps connect a house with its garden. Often a low retaining wall is all that’s needed. It doesn’t have to be straight: a curve may suit the site, and you can soften the line with planting or break it up with steps, seating or a water feature. If your house is at the top of the slope, terraces will present the garden to the house, but should your house be at the bottom, you may be better off working with the slope, rather than looking at a series of brick ‘risers’ like a flight of steps.

Banks

A bank is easier to construct than a retaining wall, but takes up more space. It’s advisable to make the bank no steeper than 1 in 2 (30 degrees), so for a bank 1m high you need a 2m horizontal space. Banks steeper than this will be difficult to maintain or mow, and the steeper the bank the more likely it is that soil will creep gradually downhill.

Banks can be either grassed over or planted. If you decide on grass, include some dwarf bulbs – a flowery bank is a cheering sight in spring. If you would prefer a covering of plants, make sure some of your choices are perennials with fibrous, mat-forming root systems, such as Alchemilla mollis, Geranium macrorrhizum, Heuchera or Tellima grandiflora, to help hold the soil in place. You can also plant some low, spreading shrubs, perhaps Cotoneaster dammeri or Lonicera pileata, or creepers such as periwinkles and variegated ivies. Ground-cover planting keeps maintenance low, and rain won’t wash loose earth down the slope when you disturb the soil by clearing or weeding.

Steps

Steps are often needed to link different levels, and there are so many attractive ways to build them it’s a pity not to make them a focal feature. Spend a bit of time considering the options, both formal and informal, and the choice of materials. And don’t forget safety considerations too. (See also here.)

Ramps

A ramp has to slope more gently than steps so it takes up more space, but it may be a better option in terms of access with a mower or wheelbarrow, or for anyone with limited mobility. The width of the ramp will depend on its intended use. The ramp could be L-shaped, or it could consist of two parallel runs with a ‘landing’ half-way, like a hairpin bend. It may be built alongside steps. Remember to use a textured surface, as a smooth one can be slippery when wet. Try a bonded aggregate, rough-textured bricks or setts, or ridged paving slabs.