Grand designs and Grand days out
I recently persuaded a Godchild to visit an historic garden before going on to a McDonald's Drive-Thru for an artery-hardening Big Mac. I was amazed how much he enjoyed it and would recommend Tintinhull Garden ( just off the A303 near Yeovil).
It is easy to think that these beautiful and grand gardens have little to teach us 21st Century folk. They do however often contain colour combinations that can be inspiring pointers for our own backyards.
The past 150 years have seen a dramatic change in use of colour in planting. This is largely down to a rather frumpy-looking Victorian spinster called Gertrude Jekyll (pronounced Jee-kell) who quietly went about a revolution that was to have far-reaching effects. Working with the architect Lutyens she created masterpieces such as Hestercombe, Upton Grey and Munstead Wood where formal and informal were blended and more natural hues replaced the garish, regimented rows of annuals so popular in her time.
She looked to the natural hedgerows for inspiration and often used cooler colours in great drifts that gave way to hotter colours then cooler again. Interspersing borders with evergreen 'strucure' plants she wasn't afraid to use hot colours but knew how to handle them - unlike Trish & Trinny from Abfab!
So ...........when you go to the garden centre clutching your 'significant birthday' tokens, ask yourself;
- What is the overall effect I am trying to achieve? ( Natural? Dramatic? Low-key?)
- How well will the colours work together?
- Can I put it some evergreen 'structure' plants? ( Green is the great harmonizer)
- Can I create groups of plants that will come out together at the same time of year? Even better, can I get plants to come 'through them' when they are over?
- Can I put in the occasional dramatic tall plant or occasional splash of colour amongst the pastels?
At least you will do better than the colours we found when going on to the Drive-Thru McDonald's....!
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