Planning a Seasonal Garden
A garden can never be as colourful in winter as in summer, but there is no reason why it should not be just as interesting but in different ways. This is simply a matter of planning so that there is always something attractive to be seen. Each season needs thinking about in terms of the colour of flowers, foliage and fruit, form, texture, perfume and the uses to which the garden will be put. Even if a grand slam of summer colour is desired, it is still possible to undcrplant and interplant for other times of the year.
There is almost no season in which bulbs do not flower and most of them are easy and trouble-free to grow. Use dry shade under trees for winter aconites and spring and autumn cyclamen. Plant the early dwarf daffodils and the very late, scented pheasant-eye types as well as the mid-season hybrids. Tulips in all their variety have a long season from March to May. There are spring- and autumn-flowering crocuses, as well as the colchicums (meadow saffron) which flower in September. Lilies and gallonias will fill the middle of the summer. Remember that bulbs do not need to occupy a space solely for themselves; they can be tucked in among other plants, almost as a bonus. Bulbs naturalized in grass are a delight.
Perfume can be present in the garden throughout most of the year. There are headily scented, late winter and early spring shrubs such as Azara, Sarco-cocca, Chimonanthus, Viburnum and Hamamelis. Even heather is very sweet on the air in March. Try to make room near to a door for a shrub with good perfume in winter, and have those with summer perfume by windows or sitting-out areas, especially if they produce their strongest scent in the evening. There are also plants with scented foliage to consider, such as Artemisia abrotanum (ladslove) and Helichrysum italicum (the curry plant).
In many places herbaceous perennials can be found in flower for almost 11 months out of the 12, and by planting a good cross section it is possible to get a long season. Hellebores are invaluable in late winter and are soon followed by pulmonarias. Both of these have an unseasonal lushness. Spring and summer are well supplied with colourful perennials, but there are plenty more which flower in the autumn such as Rud-beckia, Persicaria, Schizostylis, michaelmas daisies and dahlias.
In the winter the focus shifts to evergreen foliage, and there is a great variety of textures and colours to choose from including the glossy spiny leaves of holly, the soft gold of some variegated yews, or the blue of spruce needles. The interest supplied by coloured bark is also invaluable. Stooled dogwoods offer scarlet, purple and yellow bark; while that of willows is orange, bloomy grey or glossy brown. Some species of birch have brilliant white or coppery-pink bark and there are cherries with glorious, dramatic bark of purest polished mahogany.
Autumn colour can be found in trees like maples and rowans, but there are vines of equal brilliance and even herbaceous plants such as euphorbia and gille-nia. Fruits and berries need not just be an autumn feature. Many roses carry their hips and Mahonia aquifolium bears its blue berries in late summer. Later come the reds, yellows and oranges of holly, rowans, cotoneasters and pyracantha. Usually the paler the berry, the later the birds will descend to eat them.
In winter a garden falls back on its structure to make itself interesting, and it is then that the most benefit is gained from light and shade and the clarity of the design. Think of the long low shadows from an orange winter sun cast by pencil cedars or a castellated hedge; a tremendously satisfying effect.
Other things to consider are the provision of privacy for the summer and of open spaces for children to play. They will need grass for the lively games of summer and a hard surface to avoid mud and damage in the winter. To get the most out of a garden, think of the luxury of a sitting area in a sun-trap, which could be comfortable on a sunny day in early spring or in autumn. Every detail has seasonal significance; if water features are included as part of the seasonal plan, then it is possible to have the sound of running water in the heat of summer and the still mirror-like surface of a pool to reflect scudding clouds in winter.
