Gardening by Pippa Greenwood
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Windswept Gardening
If your garden suffers the effect of winds, often pretty chilly ones at that, there’s no need to assume that you’re never going to be able to create yourself a garden. There are things you could do to improve the situation and make it easier for plants to survive, but there are also plants that are a lot tougher than you might think. So what should you do, and what should you grow?
If possible choose varieties of plants that are closer to the ground. These are more likely to enjoy a little protection from the prevailing winds and so have the chance to put on a decent show without getting their heads blown off! Go for miniature or dwarf forms where available.
Creating a windbreak is a great idea, and if you can plant a hedge as a windbreak you will be amazed at the level of improvement you see within the garden. Native hedging plants including hawthorn, blackthorn, guelder rose, wild rose and perhaps even some field maple can be bought for planting bare root at a very reasonable price. It’ll take a few years for a small, new hedge to get established but once it has it should grow strongly and have the desired effect. In the meantime, erect a man-made barrier such as some hurdles.
Walls are rarely the answer as a solid windbreak can cause a form of turbulence and increase the problem of wind and cold on the garden side of the barrier. Instead, and if you don’t like the idea of a hedge, erect something like a fence, which allows some wind through.
There are bound to be some areas of your garden that are less exposed than others. Think carefully about what you plant in these prized positions, and don’t ‘waste’ them on tougher plants.
There are a lot of bulbs that are hardy or low to the ground, so on a windy site try crocus, chinodoxa, anemone, Iris reticulata, cyclamen (hardy forms only) or dwarf narcissus such as Tete-a-Tete and Peeping Tom.
The side of a mountain or a very steep hillside is often windswept and exposed, so it is no wonder that a number of rock plants do well in exposed gardens. Try Campanula portenschlagiana (a creeping form of the pretty bellflower), Sempervivum (the rosette-forming house leeks), low-growing hebes, Erigeron daisies, Helianthemum and Veronica spicata.
There are a good few annual flowers that are considerably tougher than you might think when you look at their delicate colourful blooms. Many of these are easy to grow from seed so won’t cost much either, such as wallflowers, petunias, evening primrose, Echium, flax, calendulas, sweet William, clarkia, Californian poppies, Lavatera trimestris and candy tuft.
If you want to do some planting for colour that will come back year after year, you need to sow seeds or buy plants of perennials. There are often some good bargains to be had at this time of year, when small pots of perennials are available from most garden centres for only a few pounds each. The stately hardier form of Yucca filiamentosa (related to the popular houseplant) adds structure and impact; also consider the New Zealand flax (Phormium), Sedum spectabile (the ice plants), Phlomis, Lavatera maritima, Kniphofia caulescens (a form of red-hot poker), Centranthus ruber, Japanese anemones, Eryngium, Agapanthus and Euphorbia characias.
For a little more height and longer-term structure then a few shrubs are a welcome addition to a windy or exposed garden. Many of the delicate flowered Cistus do well: Fuchsia magellanica, Euonymus fortunei, Escallonia, Elaeagnus and the dwarf species of Cotoneaster such as Cotoneaster horizontalis should fit the bill.
At Pippa’s website (www.pippagreenwood.com) you’ll find stylish cloches, practical and pretty plant supports, Nemaslug and other great ‘green’ controls, the fantastic SpeedHoe, gardening tools, Grower Frames, signed books and the ‘Grow Your Own with Pippa’ system. Or book Pippa for a talk at your gardening club.
If your garden suffers the effect of winds, often pretty chilly ones at that, there’s no need to assume that you’re never going to be able to create yourself a garden. There are things you could do to improve the situation and make it easier for plants to survive, but there are also plants that are a lot tougher than you might think. So what should you do, and what should you grow?
If possible choose varieties of plants that are closer to the ground. These are more likely to enjoy a little protection from the prevailing winds and so have the chance to put on a decent show without getting their heads blown off! Go for miniature or dwarf forms where available.
Creating a windbreak is a great idea, and if you can plant a hedge as a windbreak you will be amazed at the level of improvement you see within the garden. Native hedging plants including hawthorn, blackthorn, guelder rose, wild rose and perhaps even some field maple can be bought for planting bare root at a very reasonable price. It’ll take a few years for a small, new hedge to get established but once it has it should grow strongly and have the desired effect. In the meantime, erect a man-made barrier such as some hurdles.
Walls are rarely the answer as a solid windbreak can cause a form of turbulence and increase the problem of wind and cold on the garden side of the barrier. Instead, and if you don’t like the idea of a hedge, erect something like a fence, which allows some wind through.
There are bound to be some areas of your garden that are less exposed than others. Think carefully about what you plant in these prized positions, and don’t ‘waste’ them on tougher plants.
There are a lot of bulbs that are hardy or low to the ground, so on a windy site try crocus, chinodoxa, anemone, Iris reticulata, cyclamen (hardy forms only) or dwarf narcissus such as Tete-a-Tete and Peeping Tom.
The side of a mountain or a very steep hillside is often windswept and exposed, so it is no wonder that a number of rock plants do well in exposed gardens. Try Campanula portenschlagiana (a creeping form of the pretty bellflower), Sempervivum (the rosette-forming house leeks), low-growing hebes, Erigeron daisies, Helianthemum and Veronica spicata.
There are a good few annual flowers that are considerably tougher than you might think when you look at their delicate colourful blooms. Many of these are easy to grow from seed so won’t cost much either, such as wallflowers, petunias, evening primrose, Echium, flax, calendulas, sweet William, clarkia, Californian poppies, Lavatera trimestris and candy tuft.
If you want to do some planting for colour that will come back year after year, you need to sow seeds or buy plants of perennials. There are often some good bargains to be had at this time of year, when small pots of perennials are available from most garden centres for only a few pounds each. The stately hardier form of Yucca filiamentosa (related to the popular houseplant) adds structure and impact; also consider the New Zealand flax (Phormium), Sedum spectabile (the ice plants), Phlomis, Lavatera maritima, Kniphofia caulescens (a form of red-hot poker), Centranthus ruber, Japanese anemones, Eryngium, Agapanthus and Euphorbia characias.
For a little more height and longer-term structure then a few shrubs are a welcome addition to a windy or exposed garden. Many of the delicate flowered Cistus do well: Fuchsia magellanica, Euonymus fortunei, Escallonia, Elaeagnus and the dwarf species of Cotoneaster such as Cotoneaster horizontalis should fit the bill.
At Pippa’s website (www.pippagreenwood.com) you’ll find stylish cloches, practical and pretty plant supports, Nemaslug and other great ‘green’ controls, the fantastic SpeedHoe, gardening tools, Grower Frames, signed books and the ‘Grow Your Own with Pippa’ system. Or book Pippa for a talk at your gardening club.