Country Garden Plants for an English Garden Style

the gardener — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:42:06 +0000

For American Gardens

Colorful Blooms
Why “country garden” plants? What denotes a ‘country’ rather than ‘urban’ plant? If I were to write the definition for the comparison, it would concern the amount of care and attention a plant needs, and whether it has strong visual impact for its size. Country gardens tend to be large, farther from the doorstep, and looser in feeling… so for a simpler and yet abundant feeling, these are plantings that maximize impact for the effort. Open spaces can often mean less shelter from the elements, a plant will need to be sturdy, and not be easily damaged by winds, it is an abundantly flowering plant that is capable of giving the good show required by the English garden style.

I thought up a few motifs that might prove interesting parts, or even an entire theme, in our gardens.

A patch of meadow….

What is more English than a country meadow? A heath, perhaps, but for most of us, it is the meadow garden that can replicate something of a an English style feature. Represented by the garden in St. Mary de Haura, of New Shoreham. This is how I picture the English countryside, but not everyone has a large expanse of garden….what then?

Medieval ground cover, or a small herbal lawn, could make a garden mead bench when grown in a raised bed created from simple lumber boards strapped or nailed together.

A mass of dainty flowers like something from a Medieval tapestry, maybe inside a “Mead” raised bed might give you just the flavor you are looking for. In a formal arrangement with some box shrubs for accent, this could be a wonderful entryway design. A meadow in a box is a very accessible garden feature.

A little about a mead of the Middle Ages.

“Turfed seats were a major feature of ‘gardens of pleasure’.”

See the Plant List for an English meadow

American plantings for the English meadow:

Calendulas
Dianthus
Sweet Woodruff
A mix of small bulbs
violets
fine leaved grasses
chamomile
alpine strawberries
English daisies, Bellis perennis

All the plants listed are well able to compete with each other, although a little more care to create space for dianthus might be needed. Grow your mead seat in sun.

Old fashioned abundance of perennials….

This is what we all picture when thinking of Britain’s great gardens… a gorgeous array of perennials in large borders, or an overflowing Cottage garden. Both large and small contain an arrangement of spires, mounds, and weaving plants growing to varied heights in harmonious color choices. The plants suggested here are a representative sample of what you could grow in your garden, choices depend on your climate and growing conditions.

Plant list for a flower border

American plantings for the English flower border:

geraniums (‘Johnson’s Blue’ is a good one)
phlox paniculata
shrub rose
platycodon
Shasta daisies
Tanacetum parthenium, Feverfew
Kniphofia Uvaria, Red-Hot Poker
Veronica

Pots of annual flowers….massed for an English style effect

This is an easy one to incorporate. The English style garden often has accents of potted plants. Some of the prettiest flank steps, or gates. Dramatic focal points use large pots, alone or filled with one exciting planting. In smaller gardens an array of smaller pots filled with such favorites as the gardeners desires can become a “border” of flowers in themselves. Just remember that in the climate of our continent, The USA, containers can dry out quickly and need regular watering. Regular watering is the one secret to lush growing beautiful flowering containers. Keep that in mind when adding this feature to your design.

Suggested annuals to fill your containers

American plantings for the English style containers:

Verbena bonariensis
Nicotiana alata
Helicrysum petiolare
Heliotrope

More ideas for container plants, recipes to try.

A book I think is fabulous for creating your containers is P. Allen Smith’s Container Gardens: 60 Container Recipes to Accent Your Garden

Herb Garden Fragrance

When I think of herbs and English gardens I usually think of Tudor Knot gardens, but those were manicured by a troop of gardeners and wouldn’t give a “country” feeling at all. Not suitable for most of us, with our busy schedules and gardening staff of one (I am speaking of us, maybe two of us, if we are lucky), so our inspiration might come from another age and time. There are other forms of herb gardens with an English garden look, or we can simple combine the plants our own way and make sure to fill them to overflow with creeping, mounding, spired, and vining herb plants.

The Physic garden, with blocks of the same plant in regular rows, or a loose Bee garden, arranged on an axis and surrounding a center feature such as a fountain, or decorative bee skep- with a small side bench to watch the busy apian visitors, of course.

Some Tudor Herbal Plantings

American plantings for the English country herb garden:

Thyme, Thymus vulgaris
Purple-leaved Sage, Salvia officinalis ‘Purpurescens’
Lavender, Lavandula
Rue, Ruta graveolens

Graceful Climbers and Clamberers
An arbor, a trellis or columns laced with a climbing plant or vine gives just the right amount of detail and grace to an entryway or to soften the line of a fence.

photo by Sue Hasker
American plantings to give English grace to doors and fences:

‘New Dawn’ Rose
Clematis, many varieties- but especially Clematis montana
Wisteria
Morning Glory ‘Heavenly Blue’
Honeysuckle,Lonicera sempervirens
Lathyrus latifolius

To pull your plants together in a way that gives an impression of a real English garden, look into the pages of English Style Gardens, Style Notes, and the English Cottage Garden.

Other Related Pages:
Climbers at Monticello

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Herbs on your Windowsill

the gardener — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 05:25:20 +0000

There is something deliciously attractive about a neat row of culinary herbs lining the kitchen windowsill.

Aromatic herbs Buy This Allposters.com

Whether making your own collection or buying one of the potted up containers that are often available during the holiday season. Growing fresh herbs for kitchen use is a draw with the added bonus of their decorative value. Some of the more common herbs are good looking in both foliage and flower, and regular trimming only helps to keep them growing compactly.

One thing that your windowsill herb collection
needs will be plenty of sunlight. A western or southerly exposure is best. Additional artificial light might be a useful bonus, as well. Try to provide direct sunlight, five or six hours a day. Transplanting to large enough pots as the plants grow will be needed as time goes by.

What to grow? Tarragon, chives, thyme, and sage are easy to begin with. chives are compact and are easy to harvest with a simple snip whenever a little onion flavor is desired. Try parsley, rosemary, mint, and dill (although dill can get quite tall. Basil is a favorite and a particularly handsome plant- used in pestos and salads, especially, it is a great candidate for the kitchen windowsill garden.

Use large, deep pots, but especially for rosemary and basil.

I have tried rosemary unsuccessfully each year. It is a plant which needs a deep pot and regular moisture- maybe you will have better success than I have had! Perhaps my problem begins with the fact that I like to to buy it as a Christmas plant, and it is potted in much too small a container and kept in less than ideal conditions before I purchase it. Whatever the reason, it has proved a very temporary, albeit enjoyable addition to my winter kitchen windowsill.

Here is a list to choose from:

Basil
Oregano
Marjoram
Mint
Parsley
Thyme
Tarragon
Chives
Coriander(seeds) AKA Cilantro(leaves)
Sage

Learn About Cardamom

While almost any herb could be grown indoors during the winter, there are probably limits to the success of growing many of them, whether because of their deep rooting habits, larger sizes or for other reasons they may be unsuitable. Staying with those suggested for their usefulness and ease of growing in pots will give you more satisfaction in my opinion.

Potting Up Your Herb Plants

Tips: Container herbs benefit from compost and a sterile medium of peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite.

Add slow release fertilizer and water-absorbing polymers which reduce the need for watering.

Notes on plants:
Lemon thyme is a wonderful addition to your cooking.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a soothing mint tea. It is hardy, but you may like having it available during your winter months.

Basil is the main ingredient in Pesto sauces. Very tender, grow it easily from seed.