Gardens
The importance of planning
Ursula Buchan
Gardening pundits grow prematurely old and querulous impressing on readers and viewers the importance of planning what they want in their gardens, before they go out and buy the plants to fill them. Nevertheless, people can still be overheard in the garden centre, deciding whether the evergreen euonyrnus or the Russian vine, which look about the same size in their pots, would be best for climbing up the front of the house.
If there has been no prior research, gar- deners usually have only the plant's label to tell them its Latin name, likely height and spread, the season and appearance of its flowers, the soil and aspect which suit it, and its initial and subsequent cultivation needs. On the usual small label (which, if the plant is selling in the EU, will be in four languages anyway), there will be no room to expand on whether it displays attributes other than the flowers or fruits depicted in the small photograph, or even whether it has shortcomings, such as too vigorous growth, or over-enthusiastic seed- ing. Unless the buyer knows the plant well already, the opportunities for later disap- pointment are legion.
In the hope of improving matters, a pro- cess of research and consultation is presently being pursued by Gardening Which? (the gardening arm of the Con- sumers' Association), with the co-operation of the Horticultural Trades Association, which represents garden centres and nurs- eries. Surveys, focus groups, interviews, and field trials have all been brought into play, and designers, plant experts, semioticians (crikey) and editors are also involved, in an attempt to develop a more helpful, accu- rate and even truthful label.
Commendable and worthy as this cam- paign undoubtedly is, I suspect the com- plete answer will prove elusive. No label, however well-considered, can possibly address the unique nature of each garden nor our generally profound ignorance on the subject of our own.
Think of soil, for instance. A row of small gardens, even if laid out at the same time, may not be identical; old-established gardens are often highly individual. I have at least three distinct types of soil, and there may be even more buried under the lawn, which I don't know about. Soil is a very strong determinant, yet most of us have no idea of the exact pH, nutrient pro- file, humus content, and water-holding capacity of our soil or, more likely, soils. Often it does not matter, mercifully (for many plants are forgiving), but sometimes it makes the difference between life and death.
Then there is 'aspect', by which we mean the direction in which the garden, or part of it, faces. For instance, we make the mis- take of thinking that just because a garden lies to the south of the house it is necessari- ly south-facing, or sunny. Exposure, or lack of it, from wind and air currents, also mat- ters a great deal, as does rainfall (both its seasonal incidence and amount), snow or the lack of it, the minimum mean winter temperature, how easy or difficult it is for frost to drain away and the likelihood of late frosts. This is a complex and individual mix of factors, whose interactive influence on the future of the plants we blithely place in the garden-centre trolley is immense.
I sometimes take less account of these factors than I should, and I have no excuse. To quote just one gloomy example: I was lured by a vague but upbeat label into buy- ing a frost-hardy perennial, Strobilanthes atropurpureus, in a nursery. I had heard the name, and the fact that it was `choice'; that was all. I planted it, as the label advised, in a sheltered (well, more so than most of the garden) place, in sun and a light (all right, lightish) soil. It comes into leaf late in the spring, grows 2ft tall and has sparsely borne purple salvia-like flowers in early autumn. I was perfectly happy with that, as I knew no better, until one day in August I saw a specimen in Devon which was 5ft high and 'I can cope with the fact that he's a transvestite. It's just that he looks better in my clothes than I do.' covered in sumptuous flowers. If only the label had said, truthfully, 'You must be barmy if you think this flower will flourish in a lightish soil in a cold, exposed garden like yours in the East Midlands.'
Plants are not so much curtain material, which may be chosen from a swatch, and whose colour, texture and longevity is assured. With such various origins, and subject to all the vagaries of living things, it is not surprising if they sometimes react badly when dumped down in conditions which differ even slightly from those in their native habitat. That being the case, it won't be a new type of label, even were it the size of an estate agent's sale board, which will save me from further disappoint- ments, unless I can combine its information with a sharp eye, an enquiring mind, a humble spirit and, yes, meticulous research and planning.
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