Modern Gardens - April Digital Sampler

MODERN GARDENS I APRIL 2017 I ISSUE 13 CREATE YOUR PERFECT OUTSIDE SPACE – NO GREEN FINGERS REQUIRED!
100s
OF EASY
IDEAS!
READER GARDENS | EASY IDEAS | SHOPPING
Including
APRIL 2017
ISSUE THIRTEEN
£3.99
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433
EASY IDEAS
FOR YOUR
GARDEN!
✽ Treat your front garden to a mini-makeover
✽ Easy alliums for pots of style
✽ Create magical lighting in an afternoon!
✽ Make a hanging ball of fragrant flowers
✽ Win a beautiful summerhouse!
GET SET
TO ENJOY
THE BEST OF
OUTDOOR
OUTDOOR
LIVING
LIVING
Garden makeovers
“OUR PERFECT SPACE
FOR DAY AND NIGHT”
Easy ideas
15 GENIUS WAYS TO
REVAMP YOUR SHED
Best buys
TOP NEW TRENDS FOR
COOKING ALFRESCO

Inside this
MONTH...
18
SMALL
GARDENS
BIG
IDEAS
14
Reader garden
makeovers
14 “It’s so much better than we
ever thought it could be”
A garden room and areas to relax turned a
no-go space into one used all the time.
28 “We used every inch”
Moving house meant downsizing the
garden, but the results are amazing.
Simple makes
& projects
37 Painted planter
Upcycle an old chest of drawers in an hour.
50 Design secrets: Terracing
Part four of our design secrets guide, this
time working with different levels.
78 We love to make...
Quick makes inspired by Easter.
81 Create a chandelier
Upcycle materials into hanging displays.
98 Bank Holiday staycation
Recreate a holiday vibe in your garden.
Easy ideas
18 Statement walls
How to use colour to create a focal point.
22 Rural style in the city
Go rurban, give your city plot a country feel.
32 Go large for pots
Create a splash with supersized containers.
40 Competition
Win more than £700 of prizes.
42 15 ways to spruce up a shed
Give your shed a fresh spring makeover
with some simple ideas.
48
Happy places
You share your outside space with us.
56 Everything you need
to know about alliums
Alliums’ tall showy heads look fabulous
fresh and dried – grow them in your plot.
62 Plant a zesty corner
Add springtime effervescence to your plot.
64 Face the front
Simple touches that will give your front
garden kerb appeal.
81
So
EASY!

SUBSCRIBE
TODAY!
Turn to pages
80 & 106
6
68 Light up the night
Easy-to-install, beautiful lighting ideas to
transform your garden in an afternoon.
74 Fall in love with ranunculus
From posies to planters – five ideas to
brighten your world.
90 Plant icons: Cherry blossom
Discover 20 things about this spring beauty.
Best buys
38 10 buys to carry your drinks
A variety of trays for serving with a smile.
102 Choosing a gazebo
Create an instant outdoor room.
108 The best outdoor cookers
How to grill, roast and smoke in style
outside this summer.
Grow & eat
38
113 Garden to glass
Grow your own thyme. Just add plums
and prosecco.
Regulars
6 Earthy pleasures
Top ideas for what to buy, make and do.
12 Blooming lovely
Plants and shrubs to buy now!
20 Ideas for your Easter table
How to make a wreath of garden flowers.
77 Paws & whiskers
Enjoying the garden with your pets.
86 What to do now
How to keep your plot looking good.
89 Upcycle with style
Make painted pebbles into plant labels.
94 We love outdoor living
What you’re up to in your gardens.
105 “I’m in the garden”
Hollie Newton shares her tiny plot.
106 Subscription offer
Get a year’s supply of Modern Gardens
and a free stylish enamel tray. Also p80.
115 Q&A
Got a question? We’ve got the answer.
122 Create a mini orchard
Try this selection of patio fruit trees.
124 Climbing plants offer
Buy three climbers and save £24.50!
126 Garden notebook
All you need to know to get started.
130 Our garden crush
‘Must-have gardens’ we love.
106
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
118
118 Summer herbs
How to grow them now, plus simple, tasty
recipes to make.
✽ Subscribe to Modern Gardens and
receive a free Sophie Conran tray!

1
AN INFORMAL
seating area forms a focal
point for entertaining
friends and family.
PLANTING HAS been
kept simple, with box,
hydrangea and feather
grass providing structure,
colour and texture.
2
Reader
MAKEOVER
3
A MODERN LOW
maintenance paved area
links the house to the
garden and the upper tier
to the lower one.
“It’s so much better
than we ever thought
it could be!”
NEIL AND NATALIE COOMBS have transformed their space
from a no-go area to a stylish yet functional hideaway
14 MODERN GARDENS APRIL 2017

How we did it...
READER GARDEN
4
THE GARDEN
room replaced a
dilapidated shed. It took
two days to install, and
has been adopted by
Neil as his official ‘man
cave’, complete with
dart board and bar!
SPRING
APRIL 2015 “This is how the garden looked when we moved in.
Garden designer Christopher Rixton and his team cleared everything
in less than a week. Experts took away the shed as it had asbestos
roofing. The ground was excavated, a new drainage system was put in,
and the foundations were built for the new garden room.”
LATE SPRING
MAY 2015 “All the brickwork was installed, including the raised beds
and walls. The garden room went up in two days and then the fencing
arrived. The sandstone patio areas were laid and the huge old olive
tree was manoeuvred into place.”
THE 90-YEAR-OLD olive tree took four men to lift into pride
of place in the raised bed. It’s the undisputed star of the show.
SUMMER
JUNE 2015 “The fencing was erected, the artificial grass was
installed, raised beds and planters were painted in white and grey, and
the plants were put in place. Everything was completed by the end of
the month, taking a total of 25 days from start to finish.”
WORDS: FIONA CUMBERPATCH PHOTOS: WWW.GREENBIRDGARDENING.CO.UK
➣
APRIL 2017 MODERN GARDENS 15

1
HANG
ON A RACK
Old fence posts or
pieces of timber fixed
to your shed make
an ingenious hanging
rack for dried grasses,
baskets of flowers,
decorative pots, even
tools. You can change
your display to suit
the seasons.
15 creative ways to
SPRUCE UP
YOUR SHED
If your garden shed is looking tired, give it a fresh
SPRING MAKEOVER with one of our clever ideas
2
GREEN UP
YOUR ROOF
A carpet of textured
succulents lifts any roof
from boring to beautiful.
You can buy a sedum mat
from (www.greenrooftops.
co.uk), priced at £17.50
per square metre.
SOFTEN
THE EDGES
Encourage a climber
with dramatic blooms
to scramble over
your shed. The deep
magenta petals of
clematis ‘Black Prince’
look stunning. £12.99
www.crocus.co.uk
3
42 MODERN GARDENS APRIL 2017

EASY IDEAS
4
BUILD A SHELF
A simple shelf attached to your shed wall,
makes an instant, inexpensive feature, which
you can use to arrange pots of spring and
summer flowers. Add accessories such
as interesting shaped pebbles, cones and
outdoor candles.
PLANT POTS
Plant flowers in
pots for portable
instant colour
wherever you sit
GOOD IDEA
Pretty-up your shed
to create a stylish
spot to enjoy a
coffee break
APRIL 2017 MODERN GARDENS 43

EVERYTHING YOU NEED
TO KNOW ABOUT…
Alliums
With their tall, dancing, SHOWY HEADS in a range of
colours, these ornamental onions look gorgeous all year
Dazzling alliums are often called
the firework flower. In every shade
of purple, from intense violet to
delicate lilac, or even sparkling
white, alliums are hard to beat for amazing
tones and striking shapes. Allium flowers
grow from bulbs and flower now. Handily,
they can also be bought in pots as shooting
and flowering plants that are ready to go, and
perfect for popping straight in the soil.
All alliums are brilliant for adding structure
to the garden in the border or a pot, with
huge, round flowers. Each one is like an
explosion, some big, some small, at the top
of tall, neat stalks. Plant an allium to flower
in spring and it will come back next year and
every year after that. They are incredibly
reliable, easy-care plants.
There are three main types – the spiky pompom
headed varieties, drumstick alliums with
oval-shaped heads which tend to flower later
(from July), and edible alliums, better known as
chives, with an amazing onion flavour.
Like most early flowering bulbs, the green
leaves are low down on the plant and they
do all the hard work to feed the bulb before
the flowers burst open. This makes alliums
super-easy to use anywhere in the garden as
they can be popped into gaps amongst other
plants. They mix readily with lots of different
flowers, hovering above their next-door
neighbours like purple pom-poms.
In a pot, alliums work well on their own
but they are also good companions for other
flowers, bringing a bolt of vivid colour and
keeping their lollipop shapes much
later into the year.
When winter arrives and the plants die
back, the spherical dried flower heads will still
look attractive in the garden, or can be cut to
take indoors to make interesting displays in
vases and jugs.
3 of the best for growing in pots
ALLIUM ‘EARLY EMPEROR’
Beautiful bi-coloured flowers.
£9.99 for 5 plug plants
www.vanmeuwen.com
Edible
pom-poms
of colour
KNOW YOUR
ONIONS
The leaves and
flowers of chives are
ready to eat from
July. Snip leaves
from the base. The
more you cut, the
more they will grow.
ALLIUM SPHAEROCEPHALUM
The drumstick allium has pretty
purple flowers with a sweet scent.
£4.30 www.ashwoodnurseries.com
Loved
by bees
ALLIUM ATROPURPUREUM
Delicate maroon flowers with
shining gold centres. £5
www.hillviewhardyplants.com
56 MODERN GARDENS APRIL 2017

EASY IDEAS
GIANT ALLIUMS
The tallest variety, allium
giganteum, can grow more
than 1.5m (5ft) high.
MAKE IT!
DID YOU KNOW... Onions, garlic,
shallots, leeks and chives are all
part of the allium family
ALLIUM FLOWER
BUTTER
Chives are the allium
you can eat. Chop the
stalks finely for salads.
The fresh flower heads,
are edible too
WHAT YOU NEED
✽ 250g butter
✽ 8 chive flowers
✽ Freshly ground black pepper
WHAT TO DO
1 Soften the butter in a bowl, using a
wooden spoon.
2 Carefully pull the florets from the
chive blooms and add them to the
butter. Add 5-6 twists of black pepper.
3 Lay out a piece of baking parchment
and place the herby butter in the
middle of it. Wrap it up to make a
cylinder.
4 Remove the parchment and wrap
the butter in clingfilm.
5 Pop it in the fridge for an hour. Slice
to use. It will keep for a week, or freeze.
WORDS: LUCY BELLAMY PHOTOS: ALAMY, FLORA PRESS, GAP PHOTOS – CLIVE NCHOLS/NOLA STOCKEN,
LIVING4MEDIA, STOCKFOOD, WWW.PLAINPICTURE.COM
➣
APRIL 2017 MODERN GARDENS 57

COOL CURVES
break up a square front
garden. Plant in waves to
follow the sweep of the
paving stones.
Front
garden
glamour!
FACE THE
FRONT
WORDS: FIONA CUMBERPATCH PHOTOS: ALAMY, FLORA PRESS, GAP PHOTOS/HEATHER EDWARDS, SHUTTERSTOCK
A FEW SIMPLE, EASY touches are all
it takes to transform your front garden
It’s tempting to treat the front garden as a
purely functional space. It’s somewhere
handy to store the bins, or maybe a
convenient place to park your car or stash
your family bikes. But just because the space
needs to be practical doesn’t mean that it can’t
look good, too. Spend just a few hours
refreshing the area and your home will soon
have maximum kerb appeal!
PRETTY UP YOUR PAVING
According to the Royal Horticultural Society, a
quarter of UK front gardens are now paved
over. This may well be easy to maintain,
especially if you keep a vehicle there, but it can
look characterless. And, unless you use
permeable or porous paving, it increases the
water run off when it rains, which can cause
problems with flooding. To add interest and
re-green an area, lift away individual paving
stones and plant in the spaces. You can limit
this to random, single spaces, or create a
chequerboard effect. Mind-your-own-business
is a creeper that forms bright green low clumps,
softening the edges of pavers. If you prefer
something with scent, creeping thyme is
another fast grower. To plant, simply dig a hole
about the same size as the pot, push the plants
in and pack around them with compost. You
should see the space filled out with greenery
over the summer. Mind-your-own-business can
be invasive so it will need to be pulled out of the
soil if it spreads further than you want it to.
A group of pots or containers is another
simple way to refresh a paved front garden. Opt
for a couple of large pots. Not only will their
heaviness deter thieves from making off with
them but they make more impact than lots of
smaller containers. An elegant small tree such as
an olive or a bay, positioned either side of your
front door, helps to frame the entrance. Keep
them neatly trimmed so the branches don’t
intrude, catching on people’s clothes, or poking
the postman in the eye!
TIDY UP THE PATH
Make sure that your path is well maintained and
clearly marked. Ideally, a path should be three to
four feet wide so two people can walk side by
side along it. Trim back any hanging shrubs or
GOLDEN OATS
(Stipa gigantea) creates
a see-through, light
filtering screen.
A LOW, NEAT
hedge, such as box,
makes an attractive
boundary marker.
PHOTO CREDIT HERE PLEASE
64 MODERN GARDENS APRIL 2017

REPAINT THE
front door for an instant,
inexpensive refresh. This
slate blue is both intense
and striking.
PROJECTS
RAISED UP POTS
of pink hydrangeas
make a pretty focal
point by the door.
FRAME YOUR
entrance with two elegantly
simple bay trees.
ECHO PATTERNS
such as these large and
small square shapes.
GOOD IDEA
Pale grey pavers, contrasted
with smaller pebbles, break up
the ‘corridor’ effect.
Stay secure
Once your front garden is looking
good, here’s how to safeguard it from
unwanted attention:
PHOTO CREDIT HERE PLEASE
PHOTO CREDIT HERE PLEASE
PATTERNED
FOLIAGE like
Siberian bugloss ‘Jack
Frost’ softens edges.
✽ Secure hanging baskets with
locking brackets. The Baskit Geni
costs £4.99, www.baskitgeni.co.uk
✽ Add broken bricks to the base of
containers before you plant them, as
this will make them harder to lift and
remove. Or consider cementing your
containers into place so they can’t be
moved at all.
✽ If you have a special or valuable
piece of furniture or a pot which you
wish to display, Platipus Anchors
offers a permanent stake to which
items can be bolted or chained.
www.platipus-anchors.com
✽ Chain up your dustbin: thieves
often use them to climb over garden
gates to gain access.
PHOTO ABOVE: WWW.KARENMCCLURE.CO.UK THANKS TO OAKLEY LANDSCAPES
APRIL 2017 MODERN GARDENS 65

Light up
THE NIGHT
These BEAUTIFUL LIGHTING IDEAS can all be created in
an afternoon, leaving you the evening to sit back and enjoy them
Are you looking to make more of your
garden time this summer? Perhaps
you’re hoping to enjoy leisurely
evenings outside, rather than just the
odd barbecue that sees you heading indoors
as the light fades. Getting the lighting right can
make all the difference, helping to create mood
and atmosphere. And here’s the good news,
many of the latest lighting designs don’t involve
running power, burying cables under established
plants or hiring an electrician. Look out for
solar-powered designs that charge throughout
the day and give a run time of around six-eight
hours from dusk onwards, often controlled
by a timer. Do read the instructions, as some
rechargeable batteries take time to charge up
before their first use straight out of the box.
If you do need mains power, then a qualified
electrician will be able to fit a weatherproof
outdoor socket quickly and easily – it’s always
a job for the professionals – but once it’s in
place, you can use it for summer and Christmas
lighting schemes in your garden. Many of
our lighting ideas will take a few attempts
to get perfect – stand back regularly as you
fix or stake the lights in place, looking for
any obvious gaps or dark corners that would
benefit from extra twinkle. Candlelight,
especially in lanterns, is another quick and
easy way to light up your garden – choose
battery-operated LED tealights for ease, or
try citronella-scented tealights to keep any
pesky insects at bay.
BUDGET BUYS
Individual additions to your garden can
make a big impact – a small spend can
help to tie an overall theme together, or
even provide a key focal point.
1
UNDER
£20
2
1 TWO-IN-ONE
Relax as daylight fades with this solar
wind chime light – just hang from a
branch or under a parasol, and it emits a
colour-changing glow. Solar light crackle
ball in stainless steel, £12 www.wilko.com
2 HOOKED UP
These decorative lanterns give your garden
a stylish Moroccan touch. Push the stakes
into soft ground and hang the lanterns –
easy! Smart Solar Riad lanterns, two for
£19.99 www.wyevalegardencentres.co.uk
3 HOT TREND
Work the copper look outdoors with this
caged lantern design. The warm white
LED auto switches on/off from dusk
to dawn. Cole & Bright Aged lightbulb
lantern, £14.99 www.gardman.co.uk
4
4 NATURE LOVERS
Go back to nature with this pretty string
of 10 hummingbird lights. They're solar
powered and give out a lovely soft white
glow. £9.99 www.lights4fun.co.uk
3
68 MODERN GARDENS APRIL 2017

EASY IDEAS
TRELLIS TRICKS
Painted purple, a colour
recognised for its
mind-calming effects,
a trellis can create the
perfect backdrop.
SCATTER
LIGHT
Using intricate
lanterns to throw
patterned light creates
instant interest
1
Try
something And
RELAX different
CREATE PATTERNS
Projecting a pattern with some clever garden
lighting instantly creates interest in the darkness.
Whether it’s to liven up fences, walls and paving
slabs after dark, or to make a design statement,
there’s nothing plain about these lights.
1 FANCY THAT
The geometric design of this solar powered
lantern casts an intricate pattern of light to
brighten up a quiet corner. It has a sensor to
turn on the light at dusk, and a six-hour timer.
Noma modern metallic hanging light, from
£8.99 for the small size. www.noma.co.uk
2 LIGHT BEAMS
Divide your lawn into segments of light, with this
weathered steel modern design. Four beams
of light project through slits on each side of the
cube. The mains cable will need concealing if
it’s to be a permanent feature, so you’ll need an
outdoor socket. Available in two heights, 30cm
and 50cm, from £499 www.madeindesign.co.uk
3 GLOWING JAR
Coloured gems surround this LED solar jar light
throwing orbs of colour around its base, perfect
for a table top decoration. It stays lit for six hours
when fully charged. £10 www.lighting-direct.co.uk
4 ILLUMINATED BORDER
Plant these branch lights amongst your shrubbery
for a magical, twinkling light. You’ll need a
weatherproof outdoor socket as the wire and
acrylic lights (20 warm white LEDs per branch)
come with 1m of cable. Cole & Bright LED
Branch lights, three for £19.99
www.wyevalegardencentres.co.uk
4
2 3
TIP Twist solar-powered fairy lights
around canes hidden among tall
plants when there’s no outdoor socket
APRIL 2017 MODERN GARDENS 69

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