Hannah's Tips for Gardening In the North
03.05.2024 - 14:10
/ jparkers.co.uk
Even though our country is small, we have all kinds of climates just a short journey away from each other. Unfortunately, this can make gardening a bit of a guessing game, as some planting advice might not apply to your garden!
Planting can be particularly frustrating for beginner gardeners in the North of the UK. That’s why we’ve asked our RHS-certified gardening expert Hannah Rowson for her top tips for gardening in the North – one of the UK’s wettest and coldest areas of the country. What plants do you recommend for shaded gardens?
Pulmonaria, Brunnera, Hosta, Dicentra spectabilis, Aquilegia, Hellebores, Hydrangeas, Viburnums, and Pieris are all great plants to grow in shaded areas of the garden.
Is it possible to grow a garden in wet soil conditions?
Yes, you can grow a garden that has incredibly wet conditions — you just need to alter the type of plant that you would use. Some plants need a lot of drainage (think Mediterranean plants and alpines) whereas others can withstand quite boggy ground. Evergreens like Heathers (Ericas), gaultheria, Rhododendrons (the hippophaeoides type with small leaves), berberis and Magnolia grandiflora are all great for boggy areas.
Other shrubs like Hydrangea paniculata and macrophylla will also do well. Physocarpus and weigela will also handle wet soil. If you’re after a perennial, you can lean towards marginal plants such as irises, which can grow on the edge of ponds. Herbaceous perennials like hostas, astilbe, lobelia and Zantedeschia aethiopica can withstand wet conditions too. What plants do you recommend for Northern gardens that are more susceptible to late or early frosts?
There are plenty of plants that are frost-hardy and therefore perfect for northern gardens. The main thing