Modern Gardens Oct 19

Inside this
month...
Small
gardens
Big
Ideas
14
A makeover sees this garden
echo the home’s interior style
Reader garden
makeovers
14 “We enjoy the garden like
any other room in the house”
Taking the inside out has transformed this
plot into the perfect living space.
30 “Our garden is a
haven from the hustle”
This stylish, multi-use space plays host to
friends, as well as a car.
48 “I love to escape to my
seaside sanctuary”
A coastal-style oasis in Derbyshire.
on the cover
Easy ideas
20 Get creative with grasses
Divide up your space and add drama
all year round.
23 Floral faffery
Floral designer Jane inspires with
Halloween decorations.
26 Paint your deck
Give old wooden decking an instant
update and a designer feel.
on the cover
37 Big tree, small garden
Create high drama on a small budget.
37
How to add a big tree
to a small garden
Simple makes
& projects
55 Ornamental
cabbage wreath
Wow visitors with a leafy welcome.
96 We love to make
Easy ideas to get creative with pumpkins.
99 on the cover
Light up the night
Extend the time you spend outdoors with
these upcycled tealight holders.
108 Ahead of the curve
Add an on-trend architectural arch to
your modern garden.
42 Selina’s garden style
On-trend styling ideas and garden buys.
44 A lust for rust
A corten steel panel with delicious orange
tones is a must for the modern garden.
52 Cool cabbages
Bring a splash of colour to your garden
with a riot of ruffled leaves.
56 16 ways to add
autumn colour
Turn your garden orange and gold.
on the cover
72 Fill your garden with
gaudy greens
Bring your garden to life with flowers
and foliage in zesty lime.

Pretty upcycling
with tealights
99
120
Ornamental kales
and cabbages
52
Cooking with quince
78 Plant a corner
Must-have pastel autumn combinations.
86 Winter honeysuckle
10 reasons to grow this scented plant.
88 Get modern with moss
How to add magical green texture.
114 Create a modern lawn patio
Laying a pattern of paving into grass is
the look of the moment.
Outdoor living
35 Fiona’s patch
Bringing back to life a small, town garden.
104 Have the best
bonfire night
How to host a sparkling get-together.
Best buys
24 10 buys to create
a warm welcome
From pretty lights to cheery doormats.
66 It’s time to cosy up
your garden
Create a snug space this autumn.
on the cover
on the cover
on the cover
Grow your own
120 Delicious quince
Grow and eat this tangy pear-shaped
fruit that smells like pineapple!
Regulars
6 Earthy pleasures
What to buy, make and do this month.
12 Blooming lovely
Plants and shrubs to buy now.
62 What to do in your garden
How to keep your plot looking good.
80 Ask the designer
How to create a modern living wall.
84 I’m in the garden
We take a peek over a reader’s fence.
95 Paws & whiskers
Enjoying your garden with your pets.
116
Q&A
Got a question? We’ve got the answer.
118 We love outdoor living
Your garden highlights.
124 Fill your garden with leaves
Save money on maple trees.
126 Enjoy fragrant blooms
Buy great value honeysuckle.
128 Garden notebook
All you need to know to get started.
130 Our garden crush
It’s where we’d like to be this month!
92 SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
✽ Subscribe to Modern Gardens now
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£18, perfect for serving drinks outdoors.

Red-hot poker
So
lovely
Cosy up with cushions
Layer on the textures for an autumn
afternoon outdoors. Dazzling red-hot poker
plants provide the perfect colour palette to
mirror. For similar cushions, try dunelm.com
1
16 ways to add
autumn
colour
Fill your garden with bold pops
of orange and gold
Try a new hue
Plant a hanging basket with Begonia
‘Apricot Shades Improved’. Wonderfully
warm shades of apricot, orange and
ochre will pour from your container
right through to the end of October.
2
Celebrate the season
Make a pretty table decoration
from fallen leaves. Secure them
around a glass vase using fine wire
or thread, and use to store cutlery.
3

easy ideas
Take heart
The papery seed sacks of Chinese lanterns
make wonderful arrangements indoors and
out. String them onto a length of florists’
wire and shape into a heart for a warm and
welcoming door decoration.
5
4
Look to nature
Inject some cheer through autumn
months and pack out your borders
with bright orange blooms. Try
wallflower ‘Sugar Rush Orange’,
£12/6 x 9cm plants suttons.co.uk
make instant modern art
Finished raking up the leaves from your
lawn? Lean the rake up against your shed
wall and enjoy the fan of speared autumn
leaves for a few days!
6
➣
october 2019 MODERN GARDENS 57

Ahead
Of the
curve
Forget old-fashioned rose-clad
arches, there’s been an explosion
of new architectural
structures perfect for
modern gardens
feature: Jules Barton-Breck. Photos: alamy, flora press, gap
Want to make your garden look
amazing right now? Step forward
the all-new arch. These sculptural
structures instantly add a focal
point and make your garden look fresh,
interesting and bang on-trend. Whatever size
your plot or budget, an arch or three lets you
make a statement with very little effort. And,
with most flowering plants now past their best,
it’s the perfect time to add one to your plot.
An arch will add shape and structure through
the winter and, come next summer, whatever
you’ve chosen to climb up it will have enjoyed
its autumn head start and be romping away.
Where to put an arch
Before you consider where an arch might
look good in your garden, forget all your
preconceptions. We’re so used to seeing arches
dripping with pretty roses marking the entrance
to a new part of the garden, that it’s hard to
How to install an arch
✽ On grass
With some arches, it’s possible to simply push
them into the ground, but it is best to fix
them in place. Once clad in a climber, they’ll
catch the wind, so they need anchoring down.
First, make sure the ground is level. Dig a
hole 10cm deep for each arch support. Fill
with cement (try Blue Circle Ready To Use
Postcrete, £4.23/20kg wickes.co.uk), add the
supports and allow to dry.
108 MODERN GARDENS october 2019
imagine using one in any other way. But there
are so many exciting and creative things you can
do with an arch, rather than using it as a glorified
trellis for growing a climber!
You could use one as a frame to enhance a
large planter or piece of wall art. Fix one around
your back door to instantly give the doorway
a facelift. Place three separated by a metre or
so to create a tunnel effect over a path. Or how
about standing a row of arches side-by-side
in a border? Now the garden arch has had
a modern makeover, you could simply use one
as a garden sculpture. And of course, an arch
still works brilliantly to define an area.
We all want to make our gardens an outdoor
living space with different ‘rooms’, and even
in a small plot, an archway can suggest you’re
entering a new area. You don’t need a fence
or hedge, just position an arch at the edge of
your patio, or between a lounging spot and the
barbecue, to highlight different zones.
✽ On paving
To install an arch on a concrete patio or
paving stones, you’ll need to use bolt down
post holders to hold your arch in place
(try Bolt Down Post Shoes, from £5.49
toolstation.com). Measure the width of the
arch supports and mark their position. Fix
the post holders into the ground using a drill,
heavy-duty masonry bit and screws, then
insert the arch frame.
clever curves
Playing with perspective, this
elegant, rounded double arch
narrows at the back and draws
you through the garden and
beyond. Forest Garden Infinity
Arch, H270 x W148 x D61cm,
£229.95 cuckooland.com

ProjectS
Super
stylish
ARCHITECTURAL STATEMENT
Inspired by the iconic whalebone arch on
Whitby’s seafront, this arch doesn’t need
any planting to create wow. Forest Whitby
Wooden Garden Arch, H258 x W154
x D76cm, £249 cuckooland.com
TIP While you’re waiting for a plant to
scramble over an arch, hang pots filled with
trailing plants on the side supports
MAGICAL MOON GATE
A huge trend in modern garden arches, these
spherical wonders look impressive whether
you go for one, two or three along a path.
Plant with climbers to create a magical flower
circle. Grange Freestanding Flower Circle,
H2.34m x W2.47m, £379.99 gardensite.co.uk
october 2019 MODERN GARDENS 109
➣

Blooming lovely
in october
Try our pick of the most beautiful plants you can buy now
Giant sea holly ‘Silver Ghost’
£6.99/9cm pot
Silvery thistle-like flowers are surrounded by a
ruff of spiky leaves, that gradually fade to warm
shades of buff and brown. Height 60cm Spread
40cm. crocus.co.uk
3
dramatIC
seed
heads
Allium
‘Ambassador’
£13.97/pack of 3 bulbs
Once the intense
purple lollipop-like
flowers fade, the
striking seed heads
arrive – fabulous for
picking! Height 1.2m
Spread 25cm.
jparkers.co.uk
Nigella hispanica
£19.99/40 plug plants
Beautiful romantic flowers
atop feathery foliage, maturing
into green and red attractive
seed pods. Look spectacular
arranged in a vintage pot.
Height 60cm Spread
50cm. crocus.co.uk
The brightest berries
Beautyberry
£24.99/4L pot
Everyone will want to know what this plant
is, with violet-purple berries with an almost
metallic sheen growing alongside leaves with
gold and purple tones. The name says it all!
Height 4m Spread 2.5m. gardening
express.co.uk
Add a
touch of
loveliness
Three autumn showstoppers
£44.99
North American
redbud tree
Plant where the sun can
backlight heart-shaped leaves
with striking autumnal shades.
Height 5m Spread 4m.
ornamental-trees.co.uk
£22
cornus kousa
‘Miss Satomi’
This shrub has autumn leaves
in red, orange and purple,
flowers in spring and fruit in
summer. Height 4m Spread
4m. ashwoodnurseries.com
£5.99
Hardy plumbago
Vivid blue salver-shaped
flowers contrast with bright
green leaves that turn a
strikingly deep red in autumn.
Height 45cm Spread 30cm.
crocus.co.uk
feature: louise curley. Photos: alamy, gap, shutterstock. prices are for
one plant unless otherwise stated and correct at time of printing
12 MODERN GARDENS october 2019

Give it a try
Autumn
pinks
This time of year is all about reds,
oranges and yellows, so adding a
burst of lush green and pink to your
patio looks striking. Holding onto
these summer colours in your garden
keeps the lovely feeling of warm
sunshine a little longer. Evergreen
foliage creates a verdant backdrop,
and with a grass or two for shape and
texture, this combo will look good
throughout autumn.
What are the plants? The fronds of
the fern, the glossy leaves of the ivy
and slender leaves of the fountain
grass are the perfect foils for the
pretty pink flowers of the cyclamen
and anemone.
Where do they thrive? A partly
shady spot out of strong winds is
perfect. Use a John Innes No 3
compost when planting rather than a
multi-purpose compost as it’ll release
nutrients over a longer period.
When will they look at their best?
The ivy and fern are evergreen so
will look good all year, while the
cyclamen, grass and anemone flower
from August to October.
Fountain grass
‘Hameln’
£6.50/1L pot
Fluffy caterpillar-like,
creamy-pink flower heads
sit above strappy, narrow
leaves. Height and Spread
60cm. bethchatto.co.uk
EARTHY PLEASURES
Anemone
‘pamina’
£5.99/9cm pot
With ruffled layers of
deep pink petals, this
compact plant is perfect
for pots. Height 50cm
Spread 40cm.
crocus.co.uk
Ivy-leaved
cyclamen
£3.95/9cm pot
Pretty heart-shaped,
marbled leaves and rosepink
blooms that just
keep popping up. Height
10cm Spread 50cm.
plantsforshade.co.uk
Makino’s
Holly fern
£7.50/13cm pot
We’re big fans of its yearround
arching fronds in a
cool olive green. Height
60cm Spread 50cm.
perfectplants.co.uk

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