Amateur Gardening – 10 August 2019

54 AMATEURGARDENING 10 AUGUST 2019

Ideas for gorgeous gardens

Get the look

Link two contrasting gardens by incorporating

shared features, such as box balls, rectangular

flowerbeds and black-coloured woodwork

Grow Italian cypress Cupressus sempervirens against

a pale wall to provide colour and interest. Obelisks

planted with ivy and golden hop, plus a trio of black

bird ornaments, complete the picture

and while a pair of purple-leaved acers
provide a point of difference around the
front, the trees chime with the sustained
Japanese vibe shared by both plots.
Sarah and Martyn’s thatched property
had only just been built when they
moved there in 2007, and their first
impressions of the back garden weren’t
very positive. “It looked like a squash
court: a lot of wall and a patio,” laughs
Sarah. “Our priorities were to do
something with the walls so they didn’t
look so stark, hide the ghastly oil tank,
and put in some kind of structure.”
Once the hard landscaping was in
place, Sarah was able to soften it with
flowers and foliage, although she’s mainly
stuck to a small range of colours, such
as white, mauve, pink, silver and blue,
to make the predominantly green
backdrop sparkle.
The centrepiece in the back garden is
a vibrant flamingo willow that shines out
against the foliage cladding the wall and,
with an ultimate height and spread of 8ft
(2½m), will not grow too big. While both

Plant Iris sibirica

for an injection

of blue coupled

with attractive

foliage. This

perennial grows

from rhizomes