Surrey Homes | SH29 | March 2017 | Fashion supplement inside

Garden
Plants for a long
season of interest
Evergreens and shrubs
• Euphorbia wulfenii
• Osmanthus burkwoodii
• Hebe ‘Red Edge’
• Heuchera ‘Plum
Pudding’
Early impact
• Viburnum
bodnantense ‘Dawn’
• Helleborus
• Corylopsis pauciflora
Late show
• Abelia grandiflora
• Grasses
• Anemone ‘Honorine
Jobert’
• Asters
Star performers
• Verbena
(bonariensis
and hastata)
• Gaura ‘Whirling
Butterflies’
• Erysimum ‘Bowles
Mauve’
• Geranium ‘Rozanne’
Containers
When there’s a temporary lull between the seasons, or an
area of the garden that needs a bit of pepping up, then a well
placed container full of flowers (bulbs, bedding or annuals)
can work wonders, or at least tide you over for a while. Large
pots and planters are a better bet in the summer months, as
they won’t need watering quite so often – pots dry out very
rapidly in hot weather and may need watering twice a day.
The great thing about containers is that they can be moved
out of the way once they’ve done their thing – or, if you (or
your holiday stand-in) have overlooked them to death.
Autumn
By autumn we could be running out of steam, which is a shame,
because our autumns seem to be getting longer and warmer, so
the show can go on until the frosts arrive. There are some lovely
late summer perennials to choose from and they team up well
with grasses, which are also looking good now. The trick is to
remember to leave room for them when you are planting up in
the spring – the autumn can seem a long way off from there,
especially when the garden centres are full of those irresistible
early flowering plants. Don’t forget to plant lots of bulbs too.
That was a rather quick romp through the seasons, but it
does pay to think ahead at this time of the year and make time
to plan for the later seasons. Gardeners are always looking to
the future; hopefully the seeds of some of that future are in
the ground already – but if they’re not yet, don’t worry: with
an idea of where the seasonal gaps are, a list of good plants,
some good growing weather and a fair wind behind us (on
second thoughts, no wind at all thanks), we can achieve
the gardening holy grail and enjoy a good looking garden
all year round. Enough of the theory, let’s get out there.
For details of Jo’s new gardening course contact her on
01233 861149 hornbrookmanor.co.uk
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