Sussex Exclusive Magazine. Issue 7

GARDENING
Create the Garden
Wow-Factor
Practical advice and
inspiring ideas to help
you create a garden with
wow this summer from
gardening feature writer,
Geoff Stonebanks.
It’s hard to believe but this year
marks the 16th year that I have
been opening my own garden,
Driftwood, to the public. It is
also a long time to enjoy and feel
enthusiastic about the task of getting
it ready. I’m often asked by returning
visitors how I renew and refresh
my gardening enthusiasm each new
gardening year. If I’m being honest, it’s
not hard. Once my garden closes in the
late summer, I start thinking about what
small changes can be made to help create
a slightly different feel to the space for
visitors the following year.
Sometimes it’s small, cosmetic changes
and other times bigger projects,
depending on how my imagination runs
riot. The same rule of thumb would be
true for me, whether I opened the garden
to others or not, because it’s important,
in my book, to have the garden looking
the best it can possibly be for friends and
family or paying visitors. But before we
get on to the creative part, at this time of
year, there’s some groundwork to be done.
page 62: dogwood
Top: planted up chair
Garden tidy up
At this time of the year, on dry crisp
days, it is a good idea to clear away
soggy, collapsed stems of perennials and
compost/discard them. I’ve got some
wonderful hellebores in the beach garden
and have just removed foliage marked
with black blotches, to limit the spread of
leaf spot disease.
Check that any small alpines in your
garden don't become smothered by
fallen leaves and other wind-blown
debris, resulting in them rotting away.
If you have some displays of winter
pansies and other bedding then make
sure you deadhead regularly, and remove
any foliage affected by downy mildew.
Don’t forget to check on any plants in
your greenhouse to ensure they have not
dried out.
Mine is so crammed full of plants,
it is quite difficult to get around and
access them all. I’ve always felt like I
was completing a jigsaw each autumn,
trying to pack everything in. I always
find it quite useful to employ a moisture
meter to check the compost before
watering. Any plants that are overwatered
through the winter stand less
chance of survival.
Planting inspiration
A perfect indoor task now is to look
through spring catalogues and choose
some annuals to have delivered. I
usually buy most from a local nursery
in Eastbourne but also get some online
as well. I never set out with a plan of
what colours I want to use throughout
the garden. As far as the nursery is
concerned, I go and look what they have
and then buy what I like.
Once back in the garden, I decide what
looks best where. For the last few years, I
have trialled several new plants from a wellknown
company and reported back on
how they have fared in my coastal plot.
Keep records
Why not list all the plants you buy so
that you don’t forget what you’ve got! It
is inevitable that visitors or friends might
ask what certain plants are and it can be
embarrassing if you don’t know. In recent
years, I have logged mine down so that I
can recall their names if asked. It’s a good
idea, even if you don’t open your plot, as
friends and family may ask!
If you rely on plant labels, they can fade
or go missing, so why not get yourself
a notebook that you can record your
purchases throughout the year! It might
be an idea to leave a bit of space under
each entry so you can write details about
the plant as the year goes on. Make
sure you record where it is planted too
and you’ll be surprised how much of a
valuable resource this can become over
time! A new one I bought and recorded
last year was the beautiful red dogwood
which looks great at this time of the year.
No one wants a soggy petunia!
As part of my desire to ease the burden
of opening the garden to the public by
simplifying the layout and complexity of
planting, I still needed it to have the wow
GARDENING
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