How old is your garden?
Marianne Willburn
(9/2019) In turns I ask, and answer, this
question many times during a growing season.
Perhaps you do to. As fallible human beings
hiding laundry lists of inadequacies behind
bright smiles, we all want to know where we
stand in the scheme of things – and as
fallible gardeners, that means ‘where our
gardens stand.’
To find out that so-and-so with a magical
ten-year-old garden started it in the same
year you started yours, when all you see in
yours is a rag-tag collection of beloved
plants and half-finished projects…well, it’s
hard to keep that bright smile bright. How
much better to hear that they’ve been creating
that garden for thirty years – that some parts
might even nudge the forty-mark? If you’re
square in the middle of year six with your
current space (as am I), such news suddenly
restores your ability to create a beautiful
garden in time, and you are allowed to once
again exist in the magical, empowering world
of ‘Someday.’
Regardless of our individual levels of
paranoia – or confidence for that matter – we
all want a garden that looks finished, even
when it’s far from it. We want a feeling of
maturity, and of enclosure. We want our
gardens to tell a story and we want that story
to unfold like a good novel, not a cheap
paperback that betrays its plot in the first
few pages. We want gravitas.
So, how do you get your hands on a bit of
garden gravitas when you’ve got a young garden
that needs growth, experience and a few more
rides on the roller coaster? I submit that we
should take our cue from Millennial hipsters,
who clothe young supple faces with
sophisticated beards and wear ironic glasses
on strong eyes in order to credibly lecture
their grandmothers on fermenting.
In short, we need props.
There are many props we can use in the
garden, and they’re not all plants. They give
us structure and interest without insisting on
a great deal of time in which to deliver it.
They don’t have to be permanent, but it’s
always a bonus if some are later incorporated
into the final scenes. Let’s look at a few
ideas to dress your set as you work through
all the rehearsals:
Go big with your containers.
If you’re considering buying five ten-inch
pots, stop yourself and put the money into one
large thirty-incher instead. Large pots can
take larger plants, larger arrangements, and
make a larger impact. And there’s a very good
chance that you’ll use them many years down
the line.
Group your objects and plants
So you bought those five ten-inch pots
before you read this? No problem. Turn one
upside down, place one on top of it and
arrange the other three next to it with a few
additional levels. Nothing says ‘paltry’ like
a collection of small pots spaced
equidistantly on a long deck. When you group
your objects and your plants, you create a
sense of abundance. The whole is greater than
the sum of its parts.
Use fast growing tropicals to create
structure during the growing season
Cannas, bananas, colocasia, xanthosoma…many
of these vigorous plants can put on six feet
in a season without breaking a sweat. They
respond beautifully to heat and humidity
(which is exactly the opposite of how I
respond), and many can be thrown roughly
(depending on your mood) into a frost-free
basement for the winter to do it all again
next year.
Build raised wooden beds in your vegetable
garden
Raised beds provide a framework for your
vegetable garden that is as pleasing as it is
functional. In a moist climate that grows
green armies while we sleep, raised beds give
us an instant delineation between ‘weed’ and
‘wanted.’ Such a delineation is very useful on
days where we have a small amount of time and
need to weed efficiently.
Use grasses in your landscaping
Grasses are increasingly popular for many
reasons, though I still know gardeners that
don’t use them. One of the biggest benefits to
using them in a young garden is the creation
of [almost] instant structure. The second?
Creating movement. It is a characteristic
often forgotten in the rush for color, texture
and shape. There is nothing lovelier than
watching the wind gently ripple a stand of
switchgrass (panicum) – unless it’s seeing a
finch feasting on its seeds.
Grow annuals
Annuals have one year to germinate, grow,
flower and set seed. They’re not putting their
energies into four inches of evergreen leaves
so you can have that hedge you want in ten
years. They’re doing it all. Right now.
Consequently, they can make a young garden
filled with tiny boxwood starts into a cottage
garden with a wild flair for color. Use that
joie de vivre to your advantage.
Consider the purchase of one or two larger,
dramatic specimens
It has been proven conclusively that
smaller sized shrubs and trees catch up and
often surpass their larger siblings, but if
you know you want a plant to produce a certain
effect, such as creating an archway with a
weeper or anchoring a far-off bed with a
topiary – and you have the money to make that
happen – by all means spend it. Such specimens
are usually almost as big as you want them to
be anyway, and as long as you keep them
watered and keep the deer away, you are
unlikely to shed tears over the purchase.
One caveat when it comes to filling your
stage with props. When you see ‘fast growing,’
or ‘aggressive’ it’s a sign that you may want
to think twice about planting something.
Digging out bamboo (if only it were that easy)
is not a fun task when the runners run under
the plants you love – plants which have
finally started to achieve their potential.
Tread carefully.
Read past editions of The Small Town Gardener
Marianne is a Master Gardener and the author of Big Dreams, Small Garden.
You can read more at www.smalltowngardener.com