This Week’s Guest Blogger is Camilla Grayley, a Garden Designer who runs her own business
The Spring Garden
Seeing blossom on the trees is one of my favourite signs that spring has arrived, the warmer weather is just around the corner and the days are getting longer allowing more time to be spent in the garden. I love that there is a tree in just about any size to suit any garden, whether looking for fruit trees or ornamental blossom. Prunus ‘Spire’ has pretty white flowers tinged with pink and bronze foliage that turns orange and then red in the autumn, adding extra interest throughout the year. For a smaller garden Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’ has deep pink buds opening to more delicate pale pink flowers, whether wanting to grow it on the ground or plant in containers, perhaps to frame an entrance. If there is a spare fence panel or wall then fan trained fruit trees are ideal for adding height along with some pretty blossom to a garden.
Walking through a local park or out in the countryside there are plenty of woodland plants appearing in spring that provide inspiration for the garden, to grow in dappled shade or to help cover bare soil underneath deciduous shrubs. Yellow is one of my favourite spring colours, adding an element of cheerfulness to the garden and is on trend in 2021, it is one of Pantone’s colours of the year. Some of the smaller narcissus are happy growing in partial shade from the freshness of lemon yellow, Narcissus ‘W.P. Milner’ or Hawera, which only grow to around 20cm in height. Along with pale oxslips (Primula elatior) and primroses (Primula vulgaris), which once established will happily self-seed around the place or the darker dog toothed violets of Erythronium ‘Pagoda’.
Either mixed in with some yellow or on their own there are plenty of shades of blues and purples around in spring too, from the tiny lilac petals of Viola odorata or the larger flowered white and lilac variety of Hungarian Beauty. For a few daisy shaped flowers Anemone nemorosa ‘Robinsoniana’ is a delicate shade or lilac or the pure white of Anemone nemorosa. Whether planting a swathe through an existing scheme or cheering up a few pots the rich blue of grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) will pack a punch. Not forgetting the quintessential English bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) with their bell-shaped flowers, why not bring a piece of woodland to your own garden to enjoy.
Camilla Grayley Garden Design
http://www.camillagrayleydesign.com
