First-time Gardener

If, when you are digging, you reach subsoil, stop! Do not incorporate subsoil into the topsoil. You will know you have reached subsoil not only with a change in colour, but also as this layer will be more densely packed than the topsoil. You will undoubtedly have worked hard to achieve your desired structure and quality of topsoil. It will not assist you to then integrate subsoil into this valuable mix.

KIM’S TIPS

 It is likely that most people will have a soil that is a mixture of two or more of the basic types described on the previous page.

 What I look for in a soil is a good open structure that is crumbly and with an evenly moist texture.

 Even if you don’t start with an ideal soil, it is possible to work towards a more ideal one with perseverance and, of course, a little general knowledge. So whatever type of soil you have it is good to know that you can improve on it.

 The properties and condition of soil are absolutely fundamental to the level of your success in the garden. Plants, like children, will respond well to good nourishment!

The pH value of your soil

Depending on what you intend to plant in the garden, it may be useful for you to know the pH of the soil. Some soils are naturally acid, and some soils are naturally alkaline. There are plants that will only grow in an acid soil and, conversely, there are plants that will only grow in an alkaline soil. However, this is looking at both extremes of a soil’s acidity or alkalinity. Local climate will give you a clue as to whether your soil is alkaline or acid. High rainfall areas often have acidic soils as the rain leaches out alkaline elements in the soil, whereas alkaline soils are typically found in low rainfall areas. Classic acid-loving plants include heather, camellia, rhododendron, pieris and hydrangea. Classic alkaline plants include lilac, clematis, wisteria, rosemary and ceanothus.

Soil can be tested to see how acid or alkaline it is. The test is known as a pH test. The pH value ranges on a scale of 1 to 14. A pH value of 1 is very acid and a pH value of 14 indicates that the soil is very alkaline. A value of 7 is regarded as neutral.

Testing your soil

If you wish or need to know the pH of your soil, you can buy a soil testing kit from your local gardening centre. They are simple and easy to use:

1 Mix a small amount of soil with a chemical solution in a test tube.

2 Shake the tube and the solution will change colour.

3 Match the resultant colour against a colour chart supplied in the kit. This will correspond to a pH value and tell you to what degree your soil is acid or alkaline. Neutral soil has a pH of 7; a lower number indicates an acidic soil and a higher number, an alkaline soil.

The best soil

It is generally accepted that a neutral to slightly acidic pH would be the most beneficial in order to grow the widest range of plants. So a pH value somewhere between 5 and 7 would be ideal.

Alkaline soils are a problem if you wish to grow rhododendrons and heathers as both of these species thrive in acidic soils. Alkaline soils are also problematic because of their high level of calcium. Calcium increases the rate of decomposition of organic material, making it necessary to add manure to the soil more often.

Rhododendrons are not difficult to grow, but they do require an acid soil to do well.

Lavender originates from the rocky terrain of the Mediterranean and manages well in dry, stony soil.

Improving and buying soil

The most important thing you can do to keep all the plants in your garden happy and healthy is to improve your garden soil. The best way to do this is to increase the amount of organic matter that it contains by adding your own garden compost or well-rotted farmyard or stable manure. This last needs to be at least a year old because fresh manure can actually kill plants.

Organic matter consists of the dead and decomposing remains of animal and plant life and gives better overall soil fertility. Among other things it provides nutrients for plants, improves drainage, and helps retain moisture in the soil. Garden compost, farm manure, leaf mould and spent mushroom compost, are just some of the more common sources of organic matter. Any of these are not only good for improving the soil, but they can be used as a mulch to conserve moisture and suppress weeds if spread generously across the surface of a bed. Over time, worms will incorporate the mulch into the soil below. Organic matter incorporated into clay soil in the autumn will open it out, allowing more freedom for the circulation of air and water, promoting healthy root growth. Digging organic matter into sandy soils in the autumn will improve water and nutrient retention by acting like a sponge. Incorporate it into the soil whenever possible. I also make good use of potting compost that has already been used for seasonal bedding plants, spreading it across the vegetable garden and lightly forking it in before sowing seeds.

If you are starting to tackle your garden for the first time, the more you can do to improve your soil before planting the better. I have seen newly planted shrubs in poor, unimproved soil that, after a couple of growing seasons, have hardly made any growth at all. In soil that has had plenty of organic matter to bulk it up, the same shrubs would be almost mature in the same time.

The soil in our garden was originally poor, dry and free draining; I have selected plants that are suitable for this type of soil but I also continually improve the soil.

It is hard work though! When you finally manage to persuade your local farmer or stable owner to deliver you a load of well-rotted manure you will suddenly realize that it’s heavy, and it takes a lot of effort to move it all around the garden! But once the job is done, you can sit back, safe in the knowledge that the worms will get to work on it, pulling it down into the soil, and eventually the organic mulch will add nutrients and structure to the soil.

KIM’S TIPS

 Plants are only as good as the soil that they grow in, so develop a regular habit of making your own compost, and enriching your soil with it whenever possible.

 If well-rotted manure isn’t available from a local farm, you can buy or order it at garden centres.

Buying top soil

If you are redesigning your garden, or if your existing soil is very poor, you may decide that you need to bring in some extra topsoil. The quality of topsoil for sale can vary a lot, so it’s always best to look at it before buying it. Ideally the soil should be dark – humus rich – crumbly and free from stones and perennial weeds. Also get some advice on how much you need for any particular space – a couple of tonnes may sound a lot, but when it is spread out it doesn’t go that far.

• If you need a lot of soil to increase ground levels in a garden area, an average quality of soil will be okay. You can then incorporate organic matter into the top layer to improve the quality further.

• If you just need a small amount of topsoil for a planting layer over existing poorer soil, it’s really best to buy a more expensive ‘screened’ grade of soil. Screened soil has been sieved to remove stones and also any rubbish and most weeds.

It is also worth contacting your local council as many of them now operate a composting scheme where garden waste, cardboard and other biodegradable materials are collected from designated household bins and are composted on a massive scale. The resulting compost produced from these recycled materials makes an excellent soil conditioner and can save the need for buying large quantities of topsoil – and help the environment at the same time.

Incorporating organic matter into soil greatly benefits the whole garden, not just raised vegetable beds.

Basic botany

Plants play the most important role in the cycle of life on our planet. Without plants, there would be no human or animal life on Earth. It is believed that millions of years ago, algae that grew in the planet’s seas somehow triggered the evolution of land living plants. These then in turn provided food for land-living animals as they evolved.

The oxygen we breathe also comes from plants as a byproduct of photosynthesis, which is the way a plant makes food for itself, and as part of this process plants also produce oxygen.

Leaves are the main food-making part of most plants. Chlorophyll is the green part of the leaves and captures energy from the sun. Using carbon dioxide and water, the leaves produce food in the form of sugars and starches, which provide the plant with energy to grow. Plants take in the carbon dioxide through tiny holes in their leaves, just like the pores in our skin, and oxygen is released as a by-product of photosynthesis through these tiny holes.

The plants also take in the water they need through their roots and lose water again through the tiny holes in their leaves. This process of taking in water and releasing it again is called transpiration.

For millions of years, the plants that existed on our planet were very simple in form and did not even produce what we think of as seeds. These early plants included tree ferns, horsetails, mosses and some conifers. They produced spores to reproduce, rather than flowers and seeds. Indeed, we still refer to them today as ‘non-flowering plants’.

Evolution eventually produced flowering plants that could spread themselves over greater distances by the dispersal of seeds. Through evolution, plants adapted to individual conditions, and it is estimated there are now over 260,000 species of plants identified.

Mosses and conifers were some of the earliest plants and so didn’t reproduce through flowers.

Evolution has created plants with specialist features such as hairs to protect the leaves from extremes of heat Some plants, such as cactus, have developed fleshy leaves to store water during periods of drought.

There is now an incredible variety within the plant kingdom, from plants such as tiny alpines to the world’s tallest living tree, a ‘coast redwood’ tree in California, which is over 112m (367ft) tall. The climate of different world regions also determines what types of plants can flourish there. Plants have adapted themselves gradually to enormous differences of climate and growing conditions throughout the world. It is not enough to just survive in some extreme conditions: plants need to flourish and propagate themselves too.

In regions of very low rainfall, plants like the cactus have developed water-storing tissue in their leaves and stems. Mediterranean plants have adapted to their environment by developing hairy or furry and also narrow or silvery leaves to protect themselves from extreme heat and drying winds and also to reduce transpiration as much as possible. Garden plants such as rock rose (Cistus), rosemary (Rosmarinus), lavender (Lavandula) and sage (Salvia) all come from this region, so they are perfect plants for a hot, exposed area in the garden. For shady, damp conditions, look for large, dark green leaves, such as hostas, which have adapted to maximize the amount of light that is received.

Pollination and seed production

Although plants have developed many ingenious ways of reproducing themselves, the most common is through cross pollination. This is where pollen from one plant is transferred to another to fertilize it. Most plants have flowers with the male and female parts present in each flower. However, they still need to be cross-pollinated with another flower. Many plants rely on insects, such as bees or butterflies, to transfer the pollen from one flower to another. Pollen is a useful source of protein for some insects, such as bees.

Insects are attracted to the flower by scent, colour and nectar. They are not deliberately pollinating flowers, but they are usually feeding on sugary liquid nectar produced by the flowers when the pollen is rubbed off the body of the insect. They carry pollen from flower to flower, while collecting nectar and pollen for themselves. After pollination, the plant produces a seed, which mostly grows protected inside the plant.

It’s not always insects that pollinate the flowers. Plants may use the wind, birds or even bats as pollinators. With wind-pollinated plants – such as grasses, cereals and some trees – the flowers are very simple, with no bright colours or pleasant scent as they don’t need to attract the insects. These plants have both male and female reproductive parts and they make a lot of pollen.

The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum produces seeds that result in many self-sown seedlings.

Low-allergen plants

Alchemilla mollis (lady’s mantle)

Amelanchier lamarckii (snowy mespilus)

Anemone × hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’ (Japanese anemone)

Cistus × hybridus

Cotinus coggygria (smoke bush)

Forsythia × intermedia

Hydrangea anomola subsp. petiolaris (climbing hydrangea)

Prunus × subhirtella (Higan cherry)

Stachys byzantina (lamb’s ears)

KIM’S TIPS

 There are 10 million people in Britain who suffer from hay fever or have asthma, both of which are triggered off mostly by pollen. This can occur in spring, summer or autumn and makes the lives of sufferers unbearable.

 Grass pollen is one of the main culprits, so if you suffer, you should definitely think of eliminating lawns and replacing them with hard landscaping such as bricks, setts, gravel and decking as well as planting a selection of low-allergen plants.

 Many hedges too can produce pollen and should be replaced with low-allergen climbers or shrubs (see left).

Latin names

It can be very confusing when you first go to your local garden centre and are faced with long, difficult to pronounce Latin botanical names. However, they are used for good reason. Botanical Latin is like an international language used worldwide by botanists and plant enthusiasts. The method of naming was standardized by an eighteenth-century plant collector called Linnaeus.

While one plant may have several common names, it will only ever have one Latin name, which will also be the same worldwide. It helps if you can get to grips with some Latin names, as it avoids confusion when buying plants, or finding out more about particular plants.

The olive tree, Olea europaea. Quite often the species name refers to where the plant has originated. In the case of the olive tree, it’s clearly Europe.

Understanding Latin plant names

All plants are classified into family groups, which have:

• Family name, referred to as genus (or genera if plural), the Latin word for ‘family’.

• Species name: Within a family group of plants there will be differences in the plants, and these are the different species. This is the second part of a botanical name and it is called the specific name.

So, if I was a plant, my name would be Wilde kim! The first part of my name indicating my family, and the second part me as an individual.

So the olive tree is Olea europaea. Olea is the family name, or genus, and europaea the specific or species name. Sometimes a slight difference is discovered within a species and it is given an extra name to denote this. For instance, a variety of olive tree that had larger fruits and smaller stones was named ‘El Greco’, so its full botanical name is Olea europaea ‘El Greco’. It is normal for Latin names to be written in italics, and any ‘extra names’ to be put into single quotation marks at the end.

Part 2

PLANNING YOUR GARDEN

When I first started gardening I remember feeling totally overwhelmed with the whole subject, yet at the same time I thought that slowly but surely it would start to make sense if I just had a go. I’ve since realized that although a positive approach is always the best one – after all, gardening is an intrinsically optimistic pursuit – you do have to have a plan. A good, well-researched approach will help you to create a garden that reflects your requirements and tastes, and you’ll soon discover, as I did, that planning a garden is as exciting as making one.

Assessing your requirements

At first, the thought of tackling your garden properly may seem a daunting task, but this is where careful and considered planning comes in. Rather than rushing to sort out a small area of garden, and then deciding which bit to do next, it is much better to make one overall plan for the whole garden. After making a complete garden plan you can then gradually work through elements of it in your own time, and in a methodical way. This approach will also allow you to implement your garden design in separate stages. Not least, it will allow you to implement each stage as your budget allows. You can then plan for the expenditure required and fit your garden projects to your budget. Even if you only have a small budget available, there are still changes and improvements that you can make to any space.

Enhance what you already have

First, have a good look at your garden and decide what works, what you like that is already there and what you may be unhappy with.

Overgrown areas: Depending on the variety, many overgrown trees or shrubs may be partially cut back and rejuvenated, retaining some height, maturity and privacy. Quite often wall shrubs and climbers may get out of control and fall out from the wall; cutting them back and tying them in is the answer here (see here). Large shrubs may have sprawled across a lawn and need removing or cutting back, too, and large trees could have their lower branches removed to allow more light and air into the garden; this is one job for a qualified expert.

Hard landscaping: As hard landscaping is expensive, it’s worth looking at any existing paving to see if it could be retained. Old paving slabs may be pressure washed to make them look like new again, repointing can make a great difference, too. Paved areas could also have their shape changed by removing some slabs (for instance, taking out the corner slabs from a square or rectangular shape), perhaps replacing them with plants. Scrape away old, dirty gravel and replace it with new. If you have a large expanse of gravel or chippings, try planting evergreen shrubs or grasses to break up the expanse.

Old fences: Old fences can sometimes be repaired, saving further expense, although old fence panels are best replaced. Fence panels are often made from poor quality, thin timber strips and just don’t last that long. Carefully remove them leaving the posts, which, if still stable, can carry a new closeboard style fence. Closeboard, or featheredge fencing, outlasts fence panels by years and creates a fence that I find more attractive, more robust and secure, and much easier to maintain than panels. A closeboard fence is also easy and simple to construct even if you only have basic DIY skills (see here).

If you have a border that contains some mature shrubs, they can be cut back and rejuvenated if you want to keep them. It wouldn’t take long to get these shrubs back into shape, giving a much more coherent feel to the whole aspect.

Developing your ideas

If you have a generous budget to spend, you may wish at this stage to consider employing some professional help and advice. A good garden designer will be able to plan your garden to fit your needs, and money spent on this initially may save you making an expensive mistake in the future. Try to get a recommendation for a good garden designer from a friend or neighbour. Word of mouth based on personal experience is so much more useful than simply picking a business card pinned to the garden centre noticeboard.

Costs can be minimized if you wish to engage the garden designer for an advisory visit only. But always be sure that you ask for an explanation of costs and that you know what to expect from any visit that may occur afterwards.

Choosing a garden style

Just as your own home will have a style of interior decoration, so your garden should have a particular style too. The look of a garden is partly influenced by where you live and the range of plants that will flourish in your climate. In England, a cottage garden style is very popular, whereas in Northern Australia obviously a tropical garden is more appropriate – but that’s not to say you can’t create a ‘tropical’ garden in a temperate climate or achieve a cottage garden style in Australia.

Traditionally, houses and their gardens only used local materials, so gardens matched their houses and tended to sit comfortably within their locality. Nowadays, though, there are many strong influences both from other countries and from modern garden designers. At the same time, the range of plants that are available to buy has dramatically increased and construction materials have become more affordable and much more widely available.

Whatever style of garden appeals to you, decide whether you would like to have a complete garden in that style, or just a part of it. If you use the design principal of ‘rooms’ in your garden, you could choose to include a few different styles. A Mediterranean style area, for example, would need to be in the hottest, driest and sunniest part of your garden, while you could have a tropical-style border in a sheltered spot, close to a patio or decking area. A wild area would be best situated at the bottom of your garden, as far away from the house as possible.