LESSONS LEARNED + INSPIRATION GAINED FROM GARDEN VISITS
The further I got into my own garden, the more I noticed others. I became a keen observer of public planting and a very nosey neighbour as I walked my local streets. What people choose to grow in your area is an encouraging signal to you of what your environment and climate can offer your own space. What’s more, you rapidly realise that the ‘decorating’ of a garden is not far removed from how people nest their own homes.
Plant choices and positioning can help you achieve the vibe you are after just as much as paint and furniture decisions inside. The weighty difference here is there are few opportunities for instant gratification; gardening revives your ability to display patience – an attribute that has disappeared over the years in this fast-paced era we live in.
It wasn’t until I visited my first ‘open’ garden that I glimpsed the scale and potential of what a person can do with some earth. I was astonished at the realm I entered, and incredibly grateful to that family who chose to open to eager visitors. From here, I was hooked!
Karen Rhind’s fascinating rich dry border as viewed from her living space. Complete with reflective pond in the foreground.
My husband T chatting to Jill Simpson in her fascinating Fishermans Bay garden.
As a beginner, I had been wrong in assuming garden visits and tours were only for experienced plant people. The discoveries I made, and continue to make as a newish gardener, have had an enormous bearing on my own creativity and bank of ideas. Since these first visits, I have become a serial attendee of garden tours and an eager explorer of open gardens, both on a small urban scale and sprawling rural scope.
I started trying to make sense of what I saw in these places created by everyday people with passion. What made lovely gardens into magical ones? What was preventing my own planting from appearing resolved and harmonious?
The realisation that gardens can impact my internal feelings in the same way great interiors and architecture do has been a big breakthrough in the way I consider outdoor spaces.
The following are some basic takeaways I have gathered from garden tours as a beginner on an adventure and journey of discovery.
REPETITION
I noticed that the gardens that I was most moved by had paid attention to repeating, grouping and re-weaving plants through beds to deliver on their aesthetic and style.
Lesson: Sometimes more of less is more.
Karen Rhind’s Cromwell dry garden where repeated grasses stictch her deep border together.
Exploring the beautiful borders of Winterhome where a limited colour palette in the herbecous border is repeated and supported by strong structural clipped shrubs.
Maintaining a limited but contrasting palette of shapes and colour has ignited this dry planting at the Blue House Amberley. - Can be visited as part of the upcoming Hurunui Garden Festival.
STRUCTURE VERSUS SOFTNESS
For me, hard elements against soft planting is where ‘design’ enters my gardening equation, and it opens the doors to a lot of fun that even amateurs can experiment with. Consider bordering airy flower beds in brick or wood for contrast, or clipping shrubs into sculptural topiary.
Lesson: Juxtaposition is where the magic lives.
Inspiring use of clipped NZ natives shrubs at Ohinetahi.
Doctor Seuss style clipped shrubs at Welton House support the wonderful shapes and colour in the other planting. - Viewed at the 2019 Garden Marlborough
Fence and path elements retain the tall and wild planting at Robyn Kilty’s small Christchurch cottage.
LINES OF SIGHT
Like great architecture, gardens can lead you through spaces and present special moments. I learned that this could be achieved in intimate gardens as much as sweeping ones.
Lesson: Atmosphere and drama can be achieved in any size garden once we consider how they might be viewed and moved through.
On a grand scale, this formal pond at Winterhome drags the eye through to the astonishing bricked peep hole. Trust me, to look through it from the other size opens a new framed world! - Viewed at the 2019 Garden Marlborough.
A wooded pathway that begs to be walked at Flaxmere Garden. - Can be visited as part of the upcoming Hurunui Garden Festival.
Small in size, Robyn Kilty draws you through dense planting along the size of her cottage, the pink chair a magnet for the eye.
LAYERS AND TEXTURE
At the basic level, layers in a garden are likely created with planting shorter plants at the front and taller ones at the back. This is important for function and growth as much as the visual effect - but of course this can be played with!
Richness and atmosphere can be created by layering textures across each other, considering a moment in the garden from the ground right to the horizon. This does require some experience in that you need to know what your mature plants will look like.
Lesson: Texture is just as important in a garden as it is in an interior.
The warm deep tones and whimsical forms of Berberis ‘Helmonds Pillar’ in mixed beds at Frensham garden.
A new resilient bed of hardy plants by Ross Palmer at Rototowai. Inspiration is rife in his diverse palette of shapes and texture.
Use of contrasting colour and texture but also flower shape and size in the naturalistic planting at Flaxmere garden. - Can be visited as part of the upcoming Hurunui Garden Festival.
THIS ARTICLE WAS AN EXTENDED EXTRACT FROM MY NEW BOOK.
A Guided Discovery of Gardening is a comprehensive partner in creating a garden, arranged to sweep beginner and progressing gardeners through informative basics to fascinating insights laid bare through her casual, friendly and often personal writing. From introductions to plant types and taking cuttings to valuable tips for home buyers and the curation of seasonally responsive planting.
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