Brilliant & Wild, A Garden from Scratch in a Year
Like many, in an effort to support declining pollinators, I planned to create a wildflower meadow in my garden. I was ready to order turf seeded with wildflowers. I am so happy I didn't as this wild garden will better suit our existing garden, give us a wider array of colourful flowers with greater longevity, height and texture diversity.
I know this review is crazily random but I am very excited by this idea and the genius of it. Lucy Bellamy has created a plant puzzle that can be customised and scaled to suit any gardener's taste. The principle is simple: select an assortment of plants, create a blocked garden plan for your area, buy smaller sized/cheaper plants and grow!
The idea is pure genius as is the layout of the book. We start with plant categories. The categories are divided into umbellifers, spikes, dots, flatheads, panicles, grasses and bulbs/corms/tubers. Within each category are pages of beautiful plants that are good for nature. Each page details a plant, explains why it is good (and for whom), gives details about the plant (colour, height, spacing, etc), the best species to choose and lists the other plants it goes well with (both flowers and grasses). You pick 7+/- plants you like best, mixing between the categories and picking different heights, then work on the plan. Lucy's got loads of templates and example plans that mix and match the categories and gives lots of planting guidance. This book is a gem for experienced gardeners and novices alike.
Picking plants will be the hardest part for me as I love them all. I made a list of the plants I liked best and my list goes well beyond 7. I decided to give a tick to each 'works well with' plant that matched a plant from my list. Those with the most ticks are my plants. I'm pleased with the selection and now am off to work on my plan. I cannot wait to go shopping and get planting. Thank you, Lucy, for your terrific system!
Comments
Post a Comment