If you are confronted with a blank canvas of a garden or want to drastically change an existing garden and don’t know where to start then reading Matthew Wilson’s Making A Garden would be a good starting point.

The book sets out to talk the amateur gardener through the thought processes of designing a garden.  It considers all the usual areas such as soil, aspect, colour, garden style, light and texture.  The writing style is warm and friendly as if you are chatting with Matthew over a cup of tea and each subject is condensed into one or two pages and reads as a stand alone essay or article.  Definitely an easy book to dip in and out of.

To illustrate the topics in the first section of the book, ‘Thought Process’, brief cases studies have been included of many of the gardens featured in Landscape Man, the series Matthew recently hosted.  I felt that the case studies could have been expanded upon.  I would have liked to have seen some after photographs as well as the before photographs and sketches.

The second section, ‘Vision’, gives advice on considering space, focal points and journeys.  I was particularly interested in this section and quite taken with Matthew’s description of the typical garden as a ‘washing machine’ garden.  With a big hole of lawn in the middle and all the plants flung to the edges.  This describes my front garden which I know I need to sort out and having read the book my mind has started to ponder various schemes  for it.  Who knows maybe I will redesign it completely instead of taking my usual haphazard letting it evolve approach which has obviously failed this time.

The final  section, ‘Realisation’, is made up of a number of sketches of various gardens that Matthew has  worked on with information on how problems and difficulties were addressed.   Each garden has a planting plan along side demonstrating how plants can be combined together to create an effect.  I felt that as the book was aimed, in my opinion, at amateur gardeners  then it would have been helpful to illustrate more of the plants in the plans with photographs to help the reader imagine the overall effect. This last section also provides advice on whether to do the work yourself or employ a designer, how to draw out plans simply and how to break down the project into achievable chunks.

There is a lot of sound and sensible advice in Making A Garden.  This isn’t a ‘how to’ book in the sense that it gives instructions on making a pond, building a wall, laying a patio.  This is a ‘how to’ book that makes you sit down and think about what it is you want to achieve: do you really need to gut the whole garden or are there some plants you could keep; if you dig up those large plants it may let in more light but could also mean your neighbour is looking into your garden (something I discovered the hard way); where is the best place to site the patio?.  If you take the time to ponder, consider and aspire you should hopefully avoid the mistakes that are illustrated in some of the gardens featured in the book and end up with a garden that does everything you want and is wonderful to be in.

Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of this book by Quadrille

Well if I’m honest I do get particularly excited at the potential that comes with each small packet of seeds.  In this day and age with soaring costs and tightening budgets there aren’t many things you can buy for a couple of pounds with the potential to provide so much enjoyment.

I find that I am constantly learning as I garden and understanding more and more how plants grow and what they need to grow well.  I understand  now that some seeds need cold to break seed dormancy; some need their seed coats broken, maybe by a light sanding; some need to be sown while fresh and some need light to germinate whilst others need darkness. Learning these lessons has improved my propagation skills and I no longer cautiously choose only the seed marked as ‘easy’ to try.

And for me that what it’s all about – trying and seeing what happens.  I do like a challenge.  So this year’s challenge is to try some more troublesome seeds such as strelitzia reginae.  These apparently need to be subjected to smoke in order to prompt germination and I have bought some from Fine Bush People in South Africa which comes complete with a smoke primer.  This is a slice of paper which is soaked with various things that simulate the chemical reaction the seed would experience if exposed to fire and smoke in the wild.  I love the seeds they are so cute with their orange fluffy heads.

Whilst I was wandering around Fine Bush’s website I decided to give their Healing Start Pack a go.  This contains seeds for aloe ferox, cotyledon orbiculata, geranium incanum, bulbine frutescens, leonotis leonurus.  What has impressed me so far with the seeds from Fine Bush is the information pack that comes with the seeds.  In the healing pack there is information about how to use each plant for medicinal reasons – something that really interests me.

And how did I end up on Fine Bush’s website.  It was all because I had some seeds for romneya coulteri and my research told me that they benefitted from smoke for germination.  It was surprisingly difficult to find smoke primers and in fact the only ones I found were from South Africa.  I don’t know if these will work for my romneya coulteri as they are from the US and therefore the smoke that would improve their germination rates derives from different plants to those growing in South Africa.  Never the mind we shall see what happens.  I intend to try half the seeds with the smoke primer and half without just to see how important it is.  The other downside of buying seeds from South Africa was that my credit card company thought my card had been stolen and put a freeze on it until I explained my seed addiction to them!

Sadly, despite my enthusiasm I have to wait a while for temperatures to warm up a bit before I start my sowing experiment.

It’s hard to believe I have had the allotment for just over a year, it seems to much longer but at the same time it seems only yesterday that I stood looking at a rectangle of plough field.

I haven’t been to the plot since just after Christmas for a number of reasons out of my control and I have been getting anxious to get back into the swing of it.  There is an element of guilt as I still have one large bed (the grassy looking area in the photo below) that hasn’t been completely dug over and is still virgin field (or weeds!!).  I am going to plant the potatoes in this bed so I need to get a move on and clear it.

The top photo is from the central site path looking up my plot.  I am a little disappointed with the Spring Cabbages in the first bed as they just aren’t hearting up and I have no idea why.  I am trying to avoid netting/fleecing as I have already experienced one dead grass snake quite in netting and I hate the look of all the fleece but I suspect I may be giving in to enviro-mesh this year.  I have been using garlic spray to try to deter the cabbage white butterflies and slugs from my cabbages.  It seems to have worked quite well although you could tell when I hadn’t been spraying for a while as the number of caterpillars increased.  The smell of garlic is also meant to deter rabbits which has been a problem on the site. In fact I discovered during my brief visit around Christmas that something, more than likely a rabbit, had enjoyed a real feast of one of my January King cabbages.

I was quite pleased today that the site wasn’t in too bad a shape.  There is some weeding (apart from the dreaded bed) to do but nothing too major and some couch grass which needs removing.  There are signs of the rhubarb re-sprouting which is good as last year we had to be very good and not harvest any while the plants established.  I have moved all the fruit bushes round and they are now planted down one side of the plot as the start of a wind break.  I will be adding some more as the other beds are cleared of crops.  I now have a small raised bed adjacent to the compost bin and this will be used for salads this year.

Today I just pottered mainly as my back was aching from too much decorating the day before and because I had the prospect of more painting when I got home.  I had to pull the remainder of my cauliflowers up as the heads had gone brown despite me tieing the leaves round them.  I suspect I may have tied the leaves up too late.  I planted some comfrey plants which I am relocating from the garden and I started to tidy up the strawberry plants which look so messy in the photo above.

I do find it very therapeutic being at the plot.  As you can see the site is surrounded by open fields.  There are sometimes some horses in the field on the other side of the site but generally apart from the odd dog walker it is very quiet.  I generally go early Sunday and rarely see anyone else, though I did notice in the summer there were a few more people.  As soon as the evenings get a little bit lighter I shall start visiting a couple of days a week on my way home from work.  I find that  I can do quite a bit in half an hour if I go with a set objective in mind.

Plans for 2012

So what do I have planned for 2012?  Well the biggest lesson I have learnt is not to invest time, effort and money in growing crops unless I have already tried them and know I like them.  I bought quite a few Jerusalem Artichoke plants last spring and to be honest I’m not that keen.  I am going to give them one more go next weekend but unless the next recipe is a winner I shall be offering the roots to my fellow plot holders.

I was also very disappointed in the  squash I grew.  Now I have eaten squash before and enjoyed it roasted and I am hoping that it may be the variety I grew this year that was the problem.  I just didn’t like them roasted or in soup.  I am going to try again this year with a different variety and only one plant which I am thinking of growing in the top of the compost heap.

I am really pleased with the Carvelo Nero Kale and will definitely be growing more of that this year.  I have planted more garlic than last year in the hope of making them last longer – I have just used the last of my crop harvested in August.  I am also growing more onions and shallots.  I am going to try some new crops, which I know I like, such as celery  and celeriac but also, against my new rule, Globe Artichoke mainly as I have the seeds and think they look fab. I have some Cardoon seeds but I’m not sure whether to bother or not.  I do think they look attractive and they are too dominant a plant to place in my garden but would I eat the blanched leaves – I’m not sure.  You don’t see them in the shops and I know some people would argue that is exactly why I should grow them but I have a suspicion that the reason that some edibles aren’t that available  is because we just don’t like them that much.  After all tastes change and our tastes are very different to our predecessors.

I shan’t be growing sunflowers this year as the site is so windy and I got quite dis-spirited last year  cutting off snapped flower stems every time I visited.  I will be growing sweet peas again as they worked very well, much better than in my garden soil and I have some poached egg plants to plant out as edging  and to bring in beneficial insects.

The other lesson I learnt fairly early on at my plot is to pick any crops I want early on in my visit.  The walk back to the car park (at the tree line in the top of the photo below) is quite a way and when it is raining heavily you just have to run.  We aren’t currently allowed sheds so there is  no  shelter apart from car.

So that is the plot at the start of the 2012.  I shall be doing an update on the 5th (hopefully) each month.  If you have an allotment or veg bed and want to join in please do.

Stupidly when I took these photos last weekend I didn’t take one of the exterior so you could see it in situ and it is dark when I go to and from work so I will have to try to describe it to you.  My greenhouse is probably the smallest you can get and stand in comfortably.  Its 6ft wide by 4ft deep, made of aluminium and I have had it about 5 years.  Being small it doesn’t have any vents which is annoying but on the plus side it is situated on the patio a step from the kitchen door as this is one of the few flat places in the garden.   Whilst I covert an old-fashioned part brick greenhouse with fancy twiddly bits, vents and lots more space I have had to settle for what space and the budget would allow – after all I had been waiting 10 years already.

Being me I did a lot of research before I got my greenhouse about how to get the most from it.  I didn’t want it to be one of those greenhouses that was only used for tomatoes in the summer and to overwinter a few tenders in the winter and ending up with loads of rubbish dumped in it.  Having waited so long I was determined to maximise the potential and to indulge my passion for growing plants from seed.  I started off with a bench on one side and space on the other for tomato plants. However after a couple of years I concluded that I needed more bench space and decided to sacrifice the space for tomatoes which was only used for 3-4 months a year.

So my 2009 Christmas presents were another rack and a potting bench.  I have one bench which has two layers of slatted shelves and one bench which has two shelves with gravel trays.  I am really pleased I went for the gravel trays as they have proved to be excellent for propagation.  The gravel retains the moisture and helps prevent the seed trays etc drying out too quickly.  They also help to keep the humidity levels up. Plus when I want to grow tomato plants I can remove the gravel trays and use the shelf framework to support the tomato plants.  I have also invested in a heated propagating tray which fits in one of the gravel trays and again this has proved to be a good investment and improved germination rates of tender plants.

The potting bench fits neatly in the gap between the two racking units leaving me just enough to stand and work.  I also found the potting bench better than the racks as it is higher and I was getting terrible back ache from bending over a low unit pricking out.

At this time of the year, as you can see, the greenhouse is pretty full of various plants overwintering.  However I have more or less cleared the gravel trays and prepared them ready for the seed sowing extravaganza to start.  There are already a couple of seed trays and these are hardy annuals which I wanted to get going ahead of other seeds in an attempt to manage space.  With a small greenhouse like mine the most important thing is space management and planning; luckily I seem to have a mind which works well in this regard although there are times when I can’t actually get in the greenhouse without first removing plants.

At the moment the floor  is full but that’s because I keep watering cans in there so the water warms up before I use it. I also have a  small electric heater which is on a thermostat – with the greenhouse being so close to the house it was easy to run power out to it which is a real boon.  I am now considering getting some battery operated lights to put in it so I can work further into the evening.  I keep the greenhouse frost-free during the winter and it seems to work for the sort of plants I over winter.

I anticipate that this coming year will see  the greenhouse being used to its maximum as I have lots of seeds on order both vegetable and ornamental.  But it is the perennial ornamentals I will really be concentrating on with a view to my plans to  sell plants in the future.  I have even, in a moment of adventure, bought some seeds from South Africa some of which need smoke primers to get them to germinate which I think is quite exciting but then thats me!!

Another update will appear in February

How different it is 12 months later.  Today I spotted my first snowdrops almost in flower.   There has been lots on twitter and the blogasphere about snowdrops opening early and I was beginning to wonder if mine were going to flower but I needn’t have worried here they are on time, even a little early.  There aren’t as many showing as I would expect but I did move a lot of snowdrops last spring so I am hoping they are just delayed a little.

The winter jasmine is still flowering its socks off.  I am really pleased as it had a very thorough prune in the summer and is probably only a third of its former self but I think there are more flowers in relation to stems than there was before.

This Vinca (major I think) creeps under the fence from next door.  It is a very welcome addition at this time of year and I have learnt that the flowers appear on the new shoots not the long sinuous ones so I am trying to cut it back to have more young fresh green growth and flowers.

The primulas are starting to flowering.  I love primulas and will be adding to them this year.  Also hoping they might become one of the key plants in my planned online shop if I get my act together.

A pretty Primula denticulata already flowering.  I grew these from seed a few years back and they are bulking up nicely now.  Maybe they will be bulky enough for me to divide soon.

The Cyclamen hederifolium is still flowering – its been flowering for a couple of months now.  When the flowers first appeared there were no leaves but now the leaves are appearing and I think they are lovely, such a nice shape and a welcome change the rounded indoor cyclamen leaves.  As I bought this as a large corm I have never seen it in leaf so this is quite exciting – well sort off.  Also I like the way the plant has decided to grow through the branches that edge the bed – I couldn’t have done better if I had tried.

Just as I was pleased to see the first snowdrops appear I was equally thrilled to smell the flowers of the Sarcococca confusa (Sweet Box).  At first I wasn’t sure where the smell was coming from especially as it was dark at the time.  But this morning my suspicions were confirmed and it was the Sarcococca.  I have had the plant a couple of years and like so many plants in my garden it was very small, and therefore cheap, when I bought it.  This is the first year it has had more than a handful of flowers and therefore scent.  It has put on so much growth in the last year that I have cut a small bunch of stems and the flowers are making the living room quite heady with their scent.Finally there are Hellebores nearly ready to flower – as you can see it has been pretty frosty.  Hopefully next month’s GBBD post will have lots of Hellebores featured.

Also lurking in the garden but beginning to go over are flowers of Mahonia, Abelia and Ceanothus.

For more GBBD posts visit May Dream Gardens

Claude Lorrain painted in the 17th century in Italy.  He is known for his romantic landscapes which were the inspiration behind many of the great landscape gardens of this time such as Stowe.  Lorrain’s approach was to create landscapes built up of various images from his sketch  books but he would often incorporate important buildings that were nowhere near each other into the same painting.

We found the exhibition quite interesting especially the sketches as they had a certain immediacy to them that the contrived landscapes don’t. Lorrain’s style isn’t really my cup of tea, recently I have been quite interested in the Pre-Raphaelite movement although on this visit I was rather taken with some of Frederick Lord Leighton’s landscapes.  Unlike Lorrain’s landscapes they are of actual places and have a wonderful relaxed although immediate feel to them.  However, as I am about to embark on a landscape history course it was interesting to see Lorrain’s paintings.

Aside from the exhibition I was particularly taken with this Japanese vase elsewhere in the museum.  It was dated circa 1920 and I felt that it  had quite an art nouveau feel about it despite originating from Japan.  It shows just how small the world was becoming even then with fashion spreading across the world.

Sheridan Theatre, Oxford

We spent the rest of the day exploring some of the sights of Oxford University.  Despite having been to Oxford on a number of occasions I have never had time to have a good look around so this was a real treat.  It was even better as it was out of term time and also not really a very popular tourist visiting time so the roads away from the High Street were quite quiet.

Most of the Colleges were open so you could have a look around the quads but we decided to give this a miss particularly as we are getting a little chilly.  However, I am sure that on a lovely summers day they look amazing.

I particularly liked the quiet corners, like the one above, where you discovered the back, and just as beautiful, side of the well-known buildings.

Bodleian Library

My son was really taken with the architecture of the Bodleian Library.  He thought that the walls looked like rows of books though I doubt this was the thinking behind its original design.

Bridge of Sighs, Oxford

It is a wonderful city with grand buildings all within a short walk from each other and transcending such a wide period of history.  As my son said if you were a student of architecture this was an excellent place to visit.

We finished the day with a quick mooch around the Botanic Gardens.  Obviously  not much to see at this time of year but a couple of the glasshouses were open but I will leave that for another post.

All in all we had a fun mother/son day and are making plans for another trip somewhere the next time he is home.  It is so nice that both my sons are now of an age where I can have interesting adult outings with them.

I was most taken aback yesterday to see a flower on Anemone Wild Swan.  This is the first flower the plant has produced and I felt quite confused as I thought it was a summer flowering plant.  Maybe not – maybe I was muddled, as is often the case, and it was a spring-flowering plant.  So this morning whilst nursing a rotten cold I did a bit of research.

Anemone Wild Swan was a new introduction in 2011 by Elizabeth MacGregor Nursery.  It was first shown at the Chelsea Flower Show in May where it was awarded Plant of the Year.  Now I’m not someone who has to have the latest thing but I do rather like Anemones and I seem to be acquiring more and more, a bit like my growing collection of Primulas, so when I saw it for sale on Elizabeth MacGregor’s wonderful stand at the Tatton Flower Show last July I decided to throw caution to the wind and splash out the £8 for a plant.  This is far more than I normally pay for a perennial!

Checking on Elizabeth’s website this morning I see that it should start flowering in June, although further south possibly from May.  I  can only assume that I have a rogue flower which has been confused by our ridiculously mild weather.  We have had only one frost so far this year whereas last year we had weeks of freezing weather and snow.

You can see from the bottom two photos the display I am hoping for.  The top photo is the lone premature bloom.

My Anemone Wild Swan is planted in the new woodland border on the edge where it will get some dappled shade.  This border is primarily planted for spring interest with a Witch Hazel as the centre piece, Erythronium, and dwarf Narcissus amongst other things.  However as I didn’t want this area to be without interest the rest of the year there are also ferns and Solomons  Seal and I will be adding more as I see how it develops.  The Anemone Wild Swan was bought to give summer interest so we shall see how it does but it was nice for it to  show willing to early on.

You can buy Anemone Wild Swan from Elizabeth MacGregor Nursery by mail order and I understand from her website that it is being slowly released to garden centres etc so it should  become more wildly available in the near future.

Click on any of the links  to find  out more about the plant and its growing habits