Chapter 2

Principles Of Garden Design

There are always the few in every community who strive to excel. When these folk apply their diligence to gardening, either they have a superlative generalized garden or they specialize in one type of plant. This is not so with the vast majority of home-dwellers. They have a garden of many types of plants, but, almost invariably, roses are the most highly prized. It is often said that roses will not thrive in beds with other plants, but some of the finest blooms I have ever seen have been on rose plants surrounded by small annuals or vegetables. It is hard to argue against such results. In fact, I think it is statements of the former kind that make people believe that roses are hard to grow and that the successful grower is akin to a magician. Any good garden soil will suit most garden plants, and the rose is the most common and most desired of them all.

In laying out a garden there are many guiding principles, observance of which will give better results by way of both growth and effect. Before proceeding with any lay-out of your garden, test the natural drainage of the area. Most gardens will benefit by artificial drainage, though few have had this preparation. It is essential in cold, wet, heavy soils.

General Arrangement

The area in front of the home and any other part that is exposed to public view should give an attractive display and should enhance the general appearance of the house. Other parts less likely to be seen by passers-by should be carefully planned with much the same motive, but from them the gardener will expect to gather most of his indoor decorations, and in them he must find space for such things as a garage, a tool-shed, a compost heap, and a clothes-line. A good garden-planner will convert secluded areas into small vistas conducive to relaxation. Advantage should be taken of any fall of the land or other natural features, such as a projecting rock, to build terraces and grassy banks. If the area is too small for such schemes a small retaining-wall will allow a change of level in two adjacent areas.

Most soils need digging about eighteen inches deep before any planting is done, even the lawns; some soils need trenching. At the same time one must attend to removal of weeds, drainage, and addition of plant foods. The weeds should never be burnt or carted away, but thrown in a heap to rot. Allow the whole area to settle well before attempting to level it. Meanwhile more weeds will appear, and a little surface-digging to remove them while they are still small will help in soil preparation.

Shape And General Care Of Lawns

Small beds not only confuse a plan but greatly increase the length of lawn edges and the difficulties in watering. Edges are much more pleasing if curved.

Design the shape of the lawns rather than that of the beds. The contour of the lawns will always be conspicuous, but that of the beds will soon be obscured by plants, except in the case of small feature-beds. These are seldom attractive and are suited only to low-growing plants, but if one is desired, place it, not in the centre of the lawn, but towards one corner, thus helping to create an illusion of distance. This impression is never easy to obtain in small areas, but no detail should be overlooked in striving for it.

In the same quest, lawns can be made to look longer and bigger by running them nearly to the corners of the area. This will leave short narrow parts of beds at the ends of these lawns. They must be filled in with climbers or with dense vertical shrubs to hide the fence or wall. If the area is a little bigger than average, it may be possible to hide the ends of these elongated parts of the lawns so that they almost become paths and appear to lead farther on. This extra space is found more often at the back of the house, where, too, the beds should be so shaped that the plants in them screen garages, fowl-pens, incinerators, and tool-sheds, whether any or all of them are your own or your neighbour's.

Confidence, Raised by crossing Mine A. Meilland with Michele Meilland. A. Iar^e Hybrid Tea rose that docs well in warm climates. Plate 6 Tripod supporting climbing rose. Plate 7

In the maintenance of your garden give your lawns plenty of attention. Water them frequently and manure them from time to time, preferably with blood-and-bone, compost, or steam-sterilized sheep manure. Not only do lawns make or mar the whole appearance of a garden, but, if they suffer from underwatering and underfeeding, the plants near the lawn edges will suffer similarly. In the case of gravel paths, never use weed-killers or tar near the edges of beds. When using the modern hormone weed-killing sprays on lawns, choose a perfectly windless day, for they are absorbed through leaves and the least amount on certain garden plants will be fatal. Heavy losses of plants have resulted from traces left in spraying apparatus. It is advisable to keep the one spray-pump especially for applying those compounds, using another for all other spraying that needs to be done. The present-day hormone weed-killing sprays are very selective in action and will not kill grasses.

Plant the lawns to overlap slightly the areas to be allotted to beds. Let the former grow well before marking out the bed. Then dig the beds a second time, placing the pieces of growing lawn at least a foot below the surface. This will ensure closely grown lawns with good edges. See that the lawns are left wide enough in all parts to allow ample room for mowing.

Your neighbour may boast of having had a garden full of colour within three months without all the work you have done, while you still have only bare earth, but it is worth thinking of a garden in terms of years. Your preparation will give lawns with better resistance to drought and heat, roses, shrubs, and trees better in growth, and a whole garden less prone to disease.

Hedges

In most circumstances hedges are undesirable unless they produce blooms or berries colour in the garden and material for home decoration. Mixed shrubs, including roses, make a good substitute for a hedge of the old conventional type, but by far the most attractive planting is a rose hedge. There are many varieties to choose from now. A tall cypress hedge certainly gives privacy from the outside and a beautiful green background from the inside, but it takes a lot of food and water from the garden, entails much work in trimming two or three times a year, and occupies four or five feet in depth of an already small suburban garden. The roots on the garden side should be cut at least every two years by sinking a trench three or four feet deep the full length of the hedge. Similar objections can be raised to most hedges, especially privet which, in addition, is seldom tall enough to provide either privacy or protection from wind. An unadorned fence is an eyesore. What, then, but a row of mixed shrubs or a hedge that will produce colour for the garden and the home?

The Placing Of Plants

In purchasing plants for a mixed garden, remember that variety and continuity of bloom, berries, or attractive foliages maintain interest. Vary the greens and intermingle the deciduous types with evergreen; a proportion of one to three or four gives good effect. Advanced plants are available in kerosene tins; they are more expensive than younger plants, but are especially useful for quickly blocking an undesirable view, for replacing casualties, or for producing a quick garden effect. Roses are best not bought in this way.

Avoid placing plants with thorns, such as roses, berberis, and pyracanthas, near enough to paths to be a menace to passers-by. What looks a long way from the path at planting time may not prove sufficient after a few years of growth.

All plants should get an adequate amount of sunlight. Fuchsias, rhododendrons, azaleas, hydrangeas, primulas, cinerarias, and the like need very little sunlight, so plant them on south walls. Sun-loving plants, such as hibiscus, poinsettia, frangipanni (plumieria), and perennial phlox should never face south. Roses require at least three or four hours of sunlight daily.

Do not mix plants that require very different soil conditions. Carnations, chrysanthemums, stock, sweet-peas, irises, violets, and antirrhinums like lime, but it will very quickly kill ericas, azaleas, rhododendrons, and orchids. Some plants need heavy watering; others like drier conditions. Roses will tolerate any reasonable treatment.

Avoid very large beds unless the centre or back portion is to be regarded as simply a wild, uncared-for mass, leaving the parts nearer the edges for roses, annuals, and the like. Roses will never thrive if planted near large established shrubs or trees, but if planted at the same time as the young shrubs or trees they will usually do quite well. In country gardens, big beds are often desirable, for watering is easier; and lawns are hard to maintain. Stepping-stones making curved paths through the beds will be useful.

Small annuals, when grown among roses, indicate, by wilting, when water is deficient in the surface soil. Dwarf roses should never have to share a bed with annuals that grow taller than pansies. Standards can be surrounded by bigger things, such as Iceland poppies, nemesia, petunias, phlox, carnations, and dianthus.

The rose is just as much at home in a mixed garden as is any other plant of moderate growing habits, but it should be remembered that it resents greedy companions such as dahlias, zinnias, and heuchera. It is in a mixed garden that the rose can fully demonstrate its pre-eminence. It can be seen in its multitude of uses as a garden plant, and can be gathered as a cut flower. No garden is complete without a goodly number of roses, and they need not have separate beds, let alone whole areas.

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