Welcome to my new Seasonal Planting course, and a special hello to any new subscribers this year. I’m really looking forward to sharing some of the ideas and knowledge I’ve gleaned over the years, both from my own garden and others, which you’ll be able to take away and use in your own gardens. I hope to give you the tools to create your own planting schemes as well as describing how to look after them on a seasonal basis with weekly notes on what I’m doing in real time out in the garden.
So, in the middle of a bleak, cold January, where do we start? By dreaming, I propose. Let your imagination run wild and start thinking about the type of garden you would like to be sitting in on a balmy summer’s evening. Look through magazines and books and work out the type of garden you’re drawn to. How do you want it to feel? Neat and orderly, or wild and romantic? Pared back and pastel, or colourful and exuberant? Think about the atmosphere you want to create with your plants. Leaf through plant catalogues (or scroll through websites) and jot down the names of the plants you love, but think beyond those well known summer flowers and embrace all the seasons. If you use a website like Crocus, you can filter your search by season or month - or browse the lists of some of the nurseries and specialists I recommend at the end of this post. Soon I’ll be preaching ‘less is more’, and you’ll have to tailor your list to your garden conditions, but at this stage write down the longest list of plants you can and really revel in it. Cut out pictures and make a mood board.
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