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New Bed in
The Garden
21 Nov
2003
With the whole of the winter ahead it is nice
to have a gardening project to work on. During
inclement weather or, to put it another way,
when it is soaking wet, freezing cold and the
ground is like a bog, it is good to plan something
without going outside.
 There
must be space for a new bed in the garden. What
about an island bed in the lawn or a Mediterranean
zone along a south facing wall? A raised bed
for herbs would be interesting. Do you fancy
a mixed planting area, not in public view, where
flowers can be cut for the house without taking
away from the garden display?
The first job is to go round the rooms looking
out of the windows to see if there are any bare,
uninteresting areas. Is there a lack of colour
at this time of year? Is there something unsightly
that needs to be screened or is the area flat
with no sense of scale? Decide on the total
area available. There is no point in filling
the space unless it fits in
and is to scale.
 A
patio area isolated in the middle of a lawn
will stick out like a sore thumb whereas a well
shaped shrub bed or herbaceous border will compliment
the surroundings. If the area is large the overall
cost may well be a factor. Check there is access
for at least a wheelbarrow.
Constructing a bed in a raised piece of ground
can be a labour of love with all the materials
being carried by hand. It can be frustrating
arriving at
a satisfactory shape for an island bed. If you
live in a bungalow there is no difficulty but
if you look at a curved bed from an upstairs
window it will look totally different to that
viewed at ground level.It is a job for two people.
One upstairs and one on the ground with a marker
or a bucket of lime. If you are on your own
a plastic hose allows you to amend the shape
without covering the lawn in lines.  Shape
of the bed or beds is personal choice but insure
that the surrounding lawn is easy to cut round
with a mower. A kidney shaped bed with deep
curves allows you to “hide” small
plants that can only be seen from a certain
position other than the main view. There is
no reason why this new feature should add significantly
to your maintenance time. Landscape fabric and
mulch with composted bark or decorative gravel
may be used to reduce the need to weed.
The mature height of the plants is important.
Not high enough and there may be no impact or
what was to be screened isn’t. Too high
and the balance is wrong and other choice plants
are hidden.
This is a good time to think of when you want
it to look at its best. Winter colour, spring
freshness, a riot of summer colour or autumn
leaf display.
And that’s it, one project ready to implement
in the spring.
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