Modern Gardens - October

MODERN GARDENS I OCTOBER 2017 I ISSUE 19 CREATE YOUR PERFECT OUTSIDE SPACE – NO GREEN FINGERS REQUIRED!
100s
OF EASY
IDEAS!
READER GARDENS | EASY IDEAS | SHOPPING
Easy ideas
Garden makeovers
OCTOBER 2017
ISSUE NINETEEN
£3.99
TRY ME!
NEW!
Create your perfect outside space - no green fingers required!
512
NEW WAYS TO
REVAMP YOUR
GARDEN
Including
✽ MAKE A STATEMENT WITH
THE LATEST FENCE STYLES
✽ ADD DRAMA WITH BAMBOO
✽ CREATIVE WAYS TO MAKE
SMALL GARDENS LOOK BIGGER
✽ USE HOUSEPLANTS FOR DESIGNER STYLE
ENJOY
YEAR-ROUND
ALFRESCO
MAGIC!
Outdoor living
OCTOBER ISSUE 27 SEPT - 24 OCT
TRANSFORM YOUR PATIO
WITH A FAST FACE LIFT
EASY UPDATES FOR YOUR
FRONT GARDEN
THROW A HALLOWEEN
FRIGHT NIGHT

Inside this
MONTH...
14
42
Reader garden
makeovers
14 “The garden is our
sanctuary in all seasons”
An ugly plot is transformed into a stylish
outdoor space to enjoy with friends.
30 “Our garden is easy to keep
looking great”
Using clever design, a gloomy, overgrown
plot is now a modern effort-free space.
Simple makes
& projects
20 Covered areas
Create an outdoor living space to enjoy
whatever the season.
38 Botanical print lanterns
Bring a hint of the outdoors into your
home with easy tea light holders.
52 Rustic luxe
Just 30 minutes is all it takes to make a
stylish vase for late summer blooms.
86 We love to make
Pretty pebble decorations for your garden.
89 Upcycling with glass jars
Try one of these creative ideas, from jam
jar candles to hanging vases.
106
Easy patio makeovers
If your patio is looking a bit tired now
summer is over, it’s time for a revamp.
Easy ideas
26 Beautiful bamboo
Create an easy touch of tropical glamour.
34 Using colour and texture
for fencing
Modern fences that create a statement.
42 15 ideas to create a glow
Add a touch of warmth to your autumn
garden with one of our clever ideas.
54 Small spaces made easy
Highlight an interesting feature to add
style and structure.
64 Designing with houseplants
In the first part of our new series, we
focus on fireplaces.
68
All about asters
Scatter these brilliant purple and pink
flowers throughout your autumn garden.
89
SMALL
GARDENS
BIG
IDEAS
So
EASY!

104
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
6
✽ Subscribe to Modern Gardens and
receive a lantern gift worth £29.99.
118
74 Plant a corner
Keep interest in your garden throughout
winter with evergreen topiary.
76 Front garden revamp
Create a warm welcome to your home
with a space that’s beautiful and practical.
82
Modern gardens of the year
We reveal the winners of our competition.
94
Plant icons: Orchids
13 things you may not know.
Best buys
40 10 buys...
To welcome garden friends.
98
Garden fright night
Invite friends over for a grown-up
Halloween celebration.
102
Special effects
Decorate your house and garden with
projection animation.
Grow & eat
113
Garden to glass
Mix up your own blood orange and
rosemary negroni.
118
Winter leaves
Make salads, muffins and smoothies with
these flavour-packed leaves.
Regulars
6 Earthy pleasures
Top ideas for what to buy, make and do.
12 Blooming lovely
Plants and shrubs to buy now!
24 Dark florals
Stylist Selina Lake on how to get the look.
48 What to do now
How to keep your plot looking good.
51 Upcycle with style
Make a seasonal leaf wreath.
62 We love outdoor living
What you’re up to in the garden now.
85 Paws & whiskers
Enjoying the garden with your pets.
104 Subscription offer
Sign up for a year’s supply of Modern
Gardens and get a lantern gift.
115 Q&A
Got a question? We’ve got the answer.
122 Make winter sweeter
Save £25 on winter flowering shrubs
that smell of spicy cinnamon and vanilla.
124 Add a splash of colour
Create a striking display and save over
£30 with our reader offer.
126 Garden notebook
All you need to know to get started.
130 Our garden crush
Must-have gardens we love.

Dark
FLORALS
Stylist SELINA LAKE is the author of seven
best-selling books. Here, she shares her inspirational
styling ideas, glorious garden buys and on-trend,
easy craft projects with you every month
The trend in fashion for dark florals
works in the garden too, bridging the
gap perfectly between the last days
of summer and the start of autumn.
October is my birthday month and I always
like to celebrate with a party. I love the idea of
using the dark florals catwalk trend for an
evening soirée, and calling it Midnight Garden.
If you think that evening garden get
togethers are only for balmy nights in high
summer, think again. If you wrap up warm
against the evening chill, light a firepit or other
form of outdoor heating and add lots of
candles, you can create a cosy space that’s
perfect for a special evening gathering.
Although the leaves are starting to turn
from green to gold in our garden, we still have
lots of flowers blooming. The gorgeous
dahlias, particularly my favourite, ‘Cafe au Lait’,
have been putting on a fabulous show since
July, as well as the cosmos in chocolate, white
and pink that I grew from seed. The more I
cut, the more they come. I will be picking the
last remaining flowers and arranging them for
the party. If you’re planning a little get together
of your own this month, make sure you
snap up some black candles from Tiger
(tigerstores.co.uk) and add a few cosy
blankets to set the scene. Here are some
more ideas to inspire you…
Selina
Moody hues
Match party accessories to your dark floral
theme with the Talking Tables Baroque range
(talkingtables.co.uk) of paper plates, cups and
napkins, from £3.49. This collection features
elegant floral prints by Dutch painter Rachel
Rysch, who specialised in painting flowers.
Flower decoration
Give home-grown cut flowers their
last hoorah with this simple decoration.
You will need a galvanised steel
bucket, a dish or plate, jam jars or
bottles, a black candle in a short holder
and some flowers. I used a mix of
cosmos, zinnias, pansies and heathers
from my garden.
Place the dish in the centre of the
bucket and position the candle in
the holder in the middle. Fill the jars
and bottles with water. Add the
flowers and loosely arrange them
around the candle for a dramatic look.
Trending
now
Floral prints and patterns have
long been a favourite of
artists and designers and
as we head into autumn,
they take on a darker, more
moody tone.
PHOTO: FIGURE PICTURES FIGTREEPICTURES.COM
24 MODERN GARDENS OCTOBER 2017

ON TREND
Instagram
@selinalake
PHOTO: PAULINEMORRISSEY.COM
Set the scene
Mix soft lighting with an abundance of
flowers for a midnight garden party. These
ingenious Benjamin festoon lights from
Lights4Fun (£120, lights4fun.co.uk) have
been suspended from a pergola decorated
with faux blooms and real foliage.
Blooms to love
For dark florals inspiration, check out
@3acreblooms. Sisters Emily and Lucy run
their floral business in Cornwall (3acreblooms.
co.uk). They grow their own flowers to use in
designs for weddings and events, and share
their beautiful creations on Instagram. This
month they are championing the dahlia. Take
a look and be inspired.
PHOTO: 3 ACRE BLOOMS
✽ NEXT MONTH: RUSTIC
GARDEN RETREAT
Floral cool
Chill party wine and fizz
and keep it looking pretty
with this flowery ice cube
idea by Instagrammer
@paulinemorrissey. Use
any dark flowers or foliage.
Fill the ice bucket with
regular ice cubes and use
the flowery ones on top
for decoration only.
OCTOBER 2017 MODERN GARDENS 25

We
LOVE
this!
THAT’S
CLEVER
A pre-lit twig tree
is a simple
yet decorative way
to light up a patio
1
TAKE THE CHILL
out of alfresco gatherings.
This stainless steel and
aluminium infrared electric
tabletop heater adds warmth
for outdoor drinks and dining.
£175 johnlewis.com
15 ideas to create a
GLOW
Add a TOUCH OF WARMTH to your
autumn garden with one of our clever ideas
Add
colour
3
LIGHT UP YOUR GARDEN PATH
or lawn edge with a row of glass brick solar lights
(7 x 7 x 4.5cm). They will even work when covered with
snow! They give a warm white glow in low light and
don’t need any wiring or batteries as they charge by
day and illuminate by night. £4.99 each lights4fun.co.uk
2
ADD A BOLD BLOCK
of hot orange to a dark corner with
a paint makeover. Garden Colour
Apricot Matt Woodstain by
Colours works on all exterior wood
and is easy to apply using a brush,
roller or spray. It takes two hours to
dry and will cover up to 11m 2 per
litre. £7/0.75 litre diy.com

EASY IDEAS
4
CREATE AN AMBIENT MOOD
with a simple display of tea lights in glass jars, lining
them with autumn leaves to cast a golden glow.
Use LED tea lights to avoid any chance of them
catching alight. £12/48 hobbycraft.co.uk
KEEP COSY WHEN THE TEMPERATURE DROPS
with this stylish cast iron firepit. It makes the perfect patio
centrepiece for outdoor entertaining with friends, and for toasting
marshmallows on! £100 grahamandgreen.co.uk
➣
5
WORDS: SARAH WILSON. PHOTOS: FLORA PRESS, GAP
OCTOBER 2017 MODERN GARDENS 43

SIMPLY
STYLISH
Intersperse houseplants
with your favourite
ornaments for a more
personal display
Echeveria
Aloe
Peperomia
rotundifolia
Staghorn fern
Asparagus fern
‘Sprengeri’
Pteris‘Albolineata’
64 76 MODERN GARDENS OCTOBER JULY 20162017

ON TREND
Fern arum
Designing with
HOUSE
PLANTS
In the first part of our series on using plants
as accessories, we focus on creating a
LOOK YOU’LL LOVE for fireplaces
There is no doubt that houseplants are
‘having a moment’. In recent years,
indoor plants have been out of favour.
But with the return of a more individual
approach to interior decorating, it was only a
matter of time before the real plants that inspired
the botanical fabrics and wallpapers you see
everywhere were once again back in the
spotlight. Interior design companies have used
houseplants as inspiration for prints and upped
the variety of plant pots in their range too. There
has been a resurgence of both terrariums and
hanging planters. Cacti and succulents are back
in vogue, while dramatic, large-scale specimens,
such as 1970’s favourite the Swiss cheese plant
(#monstera), are also in the spotlight. Together
with the revival of interest in crafts and
grow-your-own, houseplants are popular again.
The good news is that, with a little
know-how, even the least green-fingered
among us can successfully grow an indoor plant
or two. Start small with a cactus or succulent,
and once you’ve proven your plant-caring skills,
we guarantee you will want to introduce more
into your home. One of the most amazing
things about houseplants is that you can enjoy
them all year round. And introducing them
into your home is the perfect way to reconnect
with nature. Technological advances in the way
professional nurseries now grow plants mean
they are much more affordable than they were
a decade ago. Combined with the easy
availability of must-have pots in stores and
online, as well as simple yet inspirational ideas
on Pinterest and Instagram, means we can all
attempt a planting scheme that suits our space
and brings out our creative side.
LINK YOUR HOUSE AND GARDEN
You don’t need to have masses of plants to
make a statement. It all comes down to how
they are arranged and displayed. Choosing
plants of the same colour or perhaps using the
same container in different sizes will create a
cohesive design. Another point to consider
is whether you have a view of the garden. A
really successful design scheme can involve
bringing that exterior inside by planting around
the window to frame the view. Alternatively, if
you are facing a brick wall, you can screen it out.
Adding a few elements that you would normally
expect to find outdoors, such as weathered
terracotta pots or exterior planters, is another
neat way of linking indoors and out.
WORDS: SARAH WILSON
➣
OCTOBER 2017 MODERN GARDENS 65

For
under
£70
Plant a
TOPIARY
CORNER
Every month we give you easy
ideas for creating a special
corner in your garden
Plant list
One sure-fire way to keep interest
in your garden through winter
is to add some evergreen
topiary. Balls of box or yew
create sculptural elements, transforming a
corner into a year-round focal point. Choose
plants of different heights to create a tiered
arrangement, so the balls of foliage float like
clouds. Large topiary plants are expensive,
so be budget savvy by buying smaller
plants and growing them to the right size,
clipping them into a lollipop shape as you
go. From a small plug plant, achieving a large
piece of topiary will take a few years, so for
instant impact you can invest in larger plants
from a local garden centre. The eventual
sharply defined outlines can be softened
with swathes of flowing grass around the
base. These plants will do well in a shady
corner with drier soil, perfect for a spot
overshadowed by taller trees.
3 X BOX £8.99 EACH
This classic topiary plant can be clipped two
or three times in summer to keep a neat
outline. They are ideal for ball or pyramid
shapes. Height and spread 30cm
(trimmed) best4hedging.co.uk
5 X YEW £24.99
These conifers grow into huge trees if left alone,
but annual clipping keeps them compact. They
can be trained into almost any shape including
tall lollipops as above. Height 1m and spread
35cm (trimmed) jparkers.co.uk
3 X JAPANESE FOREST GRASS
‘AUREOLA’ £5.99 EACH
This lime-green grass gradually dies back in
winter but its colours get brighter as it does. It
loves shade. Height 35cm Spread 45cm
ballyrobertgardens.com
74 MODERN GARDENS OCTOBER 2017

EASY IDEAS
More stylish topiary combinations
Easy
SUN
LOVERS
3 X JAPANESE HOLLY £45 EACH
This small-leaved holly is often used as a substitute
for box where disease makes it impossible to grow,
or where it’s too hot. It is brilliant for making tightly
knitted topiary. Height and Spread 40cm
(trimmed) paramountplants.co.uk
3 X HEBE ‘GREEN GLOBE’ £7.99 EACH
These plants naturally form a rounded shape so
don’t need much in the way of maintenance. A
trim every other year is all they need. Their
leaves are small and look almost mossy. Height
and Spread 45cm jacksonsnurseries.co.uk
5 X FESCUE ‘ELIJAH BLUE’ £47.95
Add this silvery grass, which shrugs off heat and
grows well in dry soils. It will form an explosion
of thin grey-blue stems topped by tall feathery
seed heads in summer. Height and Spread
30cm vanmeuwen.com
Best for
TASTY
HERBS
3 X ROSEMARY £9.99 EACH
Double your corner’s usefulness and grow herbs in
sculptural forms. Rosemary will form round balls if
it’s clipped a few times every summer. Don’t let the
clippings go to waste – use them in your cooking.
Height and Spread 40cm (clipped) crocus.co.uk
2 X BAY £75
Choose two bay lollipops of different heights if
you can, to create tiers. Like rosemary, these
evergreen trees like a spot in the sun. The leaves
are delicious in casseroles. Height 1.2m Spread
35cm paramountplants.co.uk
5 X CHIVES £5.99 EACH
These plants aren’t evergreen but in summer they
will form clumps of glossy green grass-like leaves,
topped by purple pom-pom flowers adding a
burst of colour to the rosemary and bay. Height
30cm and Spread 40cm waitrosegarden.co.uk
Best for
ADDING
COLOUR
3 X BERBERIS ‘INSPIRATION’ £29.99 EACH
You don’t have to stick to green – plenty of
plants can add colour as well as structure,
including this pink- and red-splashed shrub. The
leaves take on fiery tints in autumn. Height and
Spread 40cm (trimmed) suttons.co.uk
3X HOLLY ‘GOLDEN KING’ £21.99 FOR 3
Create more interest with these variegated gold
and green leaves. The leaves are spineless so it’s
also easy to keep clipped in a lollipop shape.
Height 60cm and Spread 30cm (clipped)
toddsbotanics.co.uk
5 X BLACK MONDO £5.99 EACH
This striking inky-black grass is a dramatic plant for
any spot, and perfectly fills in empty spots below
and around shrubs. It’s evergreen and will thrive in
both sun and shade.. Height 20cm and Spread
30cm crocus.co.uk
WORDS: MELISSA MABBITT. PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK, ALAMY
OCTOBER 2017 MODERN GARDENS 75

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