Friday, August 22, 1691 - North Shore News - 18

Begin your perennial garden on paper

IT SEEMS that everyone I taik to is interested in creating
an English Cottage garden. A few months ago, | suggested
that every garden has its place and the best place for an
English Country Garden was in Essex or Cornwall.

{ am as fond of the look
typified in those gorgeous coffec
table books as the rest of you. I
am just too fond of the Pacific
Northwest and too darn ornery to
concede that any other area of the
world could offer any possible
improvements to it.

Hence my beating of the drum
for the West Coast garden.

But enough of horticultural na-
tionalism, fet’s look at the
possibilities presented by these
herbaceous borders England calls
its own. It is these that are at the
heart of the cottage garden, and
once explored, can be made to
jook as at home here as on the
banks of the Thames.

There are many principles which
need to be understood in the cre-
ation of an effective perennial
bed. Two of the most important
are: a proper consideration for
relative heights and some regard
to the flowering season of each
plant.

In the first case, we should ad-
dress the obvious and place ine
taller plants to the rear. What is
the point of possessing a gorgeous
specimen if it is only to be hidden
behind some gangly cousin? Less
obvious and sometimes even more
important is the controlled use of
height to support neighboring
plants.

Much as J fove this neck of the

Geoff
Tobiasson

OVER THE GARDEN GATE

woods, I have to admit that we do
occasionally get more than our
fair share of rain. It is this abun-
dant rainfall that should cause us
to consider plant size in the for-
miztion of the skeletal structure of
the bec

If you were to surround your
tallest plants with others with
slightly less height, these with even
shorter varieties and so on, you
should see how they will lend
support even during the heaviest
rains. With proper planning, all
but the most top-heavy plants (eg.
peonies) of your perennials should

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not require stacking.

Next, let's look at blooming
times. It would be nice if peren-
nials displayed for as long a
Period us our annuals.

Unfortunately, this is not the
case; most perennials will flower
for three to four weeks at best
and then slowly fade and yellow
until they die back to the ground.

This being the case, without
proper planning we could have an
abundance of color at one period
of the year and be required to live
with little but decaying plant parts
for the rest. We need to choose
our plants in a way that will
spread the show out over as large
@ portion of the year as possible.

The best place to begin your
perennial garden is on a piece of
paper. As many of you have
heard me say on far too many an
occasion, ‘‘Better to correct your
mistakes with an eraser and pencil
than with a spade and your pocket
book."”

Once you have mastered the
master plan, you can take it to
your local nursery and spend to
your heart’s content. In a year or
two, you can share your secrets
with your envious neighbors.

A year or two after that, some
admiring soul will nominate your
block as a candidate for the Block

44 We need to choose our plants in a
way that will spread the show out over as
large a portion of the year as possible. 99

Beautiful Awards - 1995.

Speaking of which, it is very
heartening, indeed to nate that so
many of you took my advice. To
date, 58 blocks have been
nominated for this year's competi-
tion and 645 letters have been sent
out to their respective residents.
Even without the short notice,
these numbers are impressive.

Here are a few tips for the
lucky souls who were so notified.
First, be aware of the criteria used
by the judges. They will look first
at the overall impression of the
entire street. Is it unified in its
appearance? Does it demonstrate
the same high level of
maintenance throughout?

Next they will look to the
details. How do the various ele-
ments of the gardens fit together?
1s there a unifying theme in the
selection of the various plant ma-
terials; ie. trees and shrubs? Are

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there any unusual or particularly
well-grown specimens, groupings
of shrubs, or use of groundcovers
which contribute to the overall
appearance of the neighborhood?
The innovative and decorative
use of flowering plants, stone,
wood and paving materials will be
recognized only as they contribute
to the total effect of the
Streetscape. One or two massive
displays of annuals will only be
noted if they make a positive im-
pact rather than a distractive one.

Edge your lawns (see last week’s
article). Rent a power washer for
the block; do all the walks,
dhiveways, front patios and even
the roadway. Cultivate your beds;
obviously this will eliminate
weeds, but it will also enhance
that manicured image. Throw
yourselves a party; even if you do
not win, you deserve to celebrate.

Ps,
° tyes
So Tiens|

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