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30.11.2023 - 08:11 / houseandgarden.co.uk
Clare Foster's own front garden in Berkshire, with loose planting anchored around clipped spheres of silvery Teucrium fruticans
Front gardens are often overlooked, covered in tarmac for cars or swathed in paving for minimal maintenance. Yet these small spaces provide invaluable potential for extra planting, particularly in towns and cities, helping to reduce pollution, increase biodiversity and provide habitats for wildlife. The most important first step in any front garden is to ensure that your hard surfaces are permeable. Flooding is becoming an increasing problem as weather events become more extreme with global warming, and rainwater needs somewhere to go, so the more permeable surfaces and flower beds you can have in your garden the better. Plan a gravel driveway that you can soften round the edges with self-seeding plants such as poppies, fennel or valerian, or choose permeable block paving from a company such as Marshalls with space for flower beds all around. Any area of mixed planting will also improve the soil underneath, acting like a sponge to soak up run-off after heavy rain.
In terms of planting, choose tough, low maintenance plants that will give as much seasonal interest as possible. Plan a simple layout to give continuity, starting with structural shrubs. Frame a path or front door with yew spheres or a low hedge of lavender, and then infill with colourful seasonal planting: tulips and honesty for spring, geums and salvias for summer, and Japanese anemones for autumn. Add a low-growing grass such as Stipa tenuissima or Anemanthele lessoniana, and a climbing wisteria (or Hydrangea petiolaris for a north-facing facade), and you already have a scheme that will transform the front of your house.
Designer James
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Tips for Growing Strawberry Geraniums Outdoors
Sabrina Farber sent in today’s photos:
From delicate wrist blooms to bold shoulder statements, these Best Chrysanthemum Tattoo Designs are more than just art. Read on and find out fantastic inks you can get on your skin if you’re a fan of mums.
As well as being that haloed place where one can enjoy a bit of peace and quiet and a hot soak, the bathroom is also one of the best rooms to grow house plants. Its high humidity is a haven for a lot of indoor plants because so many of them hail from tropical or subtropical forests. There they flourish in the consistently damp, warm air and the light that pours in between the trees. These plants will feel right at home in bathrooms, shower rooms, and kitchens, if provided with the indirect light and average-to-warm temperature that most of them crave.
Dramatic and elegant, amaryllis (Hippeastrum) are bulbous indoor plants that cheer us through the coldest months. The huge flowers bloom atop tall, sturdy stems, opening like colourful trumpets, as if about to blast away the winter blues with a clarion call.
The colours of autumn are so evocative. Russet, ochre and translucent crimson can look magnificent against a clear blue sky – or more importantly they can light up a dull grey day, catching the eye and cheering the heart. It is fascinating to know a little about the science behind the colour change in the second half of the year, as explained by Chris Clennett at Kew: ‘Trees, like most plants, use chlorophyll to photosynthesise…In autumn, trees that lose their leaves for winter go through a process to shut down photosynthesis and reclaim as many valuable chemicals as possible. Chlorophyll is constantly breaking down and being replaced through the summer, but the process slows down in autumn. This reveals all those other chemicals that were hidden by the presence of the dominant green chlorophyll…yellow flavonols, orange carotenoids and red to purple anthocyanins.’
Using a grow light to start seeds or grow houseplants, microgreens, and herbs inside your home is an efficient way to promote healthy plant growth. LED grow lights have become the standard for indoor gardeners for their energy efficiency and long life. Yet with so many options available you might be wondering how to choose the best LED grow lights. Over the years I’ve used many LED light systems to grow all types of indoor plants. Below I share my top choices for LED spotlights, tabletop models, and multi-tier grow stands. Keep reading to learn more.
There are a bazillion bigleaf hydrangeas out there. So when a new one comes out, it really needs to stand out from the crowd. Meet Eclipse® bigleaf hydrangea—a unique selection with dark purple leaves that hold their color throughout the gardening season. In summer the dramatic foliage is accompanied by striking cranberry blooms with white centers.
While some may be familiar with Japanese sacred lily (Rohdea japonica, Zones 6–10), Rohdea pachynema is an uncommon species that is indeed a Rohdea less traveled. Found only in the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, it is an intriguing member of the Asparagaceae family that is slowly becoming more available to gardeners. It was formerly known as Campylandra sinensis or C. pachynema, but recent DNA work has moved it into the genus Rohdea, whose name commemorates German botanist Michael Rohde. We can find no documented common name for this species, so we have dubbed it “yellow thread rohdea” since pachynema means “thick thread” (referring to the colored central stripe on the leaves).
Would you like to maximise your cantaloupe harvest? This list of good companion plants for cantaloupe will help you give your plants the best chance of thriving and fruiting.
Japanese holly fern