AndAllenGarden

When I write about AndAllen garden, I normally talk about the main elements. I am remiss as I do not give enough focus to our little pot garden – which gives us a lot of pleasure.

I have been doing pot gardening for decades, mainly on our visits to N Ireland, where I kept one going for Jean, CPs mum. The great thing about pot gardening is that you get a double whammy- the beauty of the pot and the harmony with the plants.

As an element in its own right, there are a lot of advantages to pots. Great for small spaces, relatively cheap to establish, low maintenance, and a perfect way to involve children in this great activity. A wide range of plants flourish in pots – for years we kept a dwarf Acer going in Jeans garden, before transplanting it out to replace some diminishing redcurrents.

Here in GA, I have a cycle of plantings across the seasons. I always have one pot planted with tulip bulbs – these are treated here as annuals, get scavenged by squirrels but are a great reminder of home. Maybe 10 days of a stunning show and then done.

Our main effort is a late spring/full summer show of scarlet pelargonium ( geraniums). This reminds us of the many times we drove through villages in France on holidays where it seemed that every house had their own display. Deadhead them and they go on for ages!

In late summer, the geraniums make way to a planting of perennial late flowering plants – this year it is New York asters. When they are done, they will go into the perennial beds – flowering next year. Over winter the pots are restocked with pansies or viola- which were a favorite of my mum.

Every time I change out plants, I don’t change the compost, but just refresh the surface. Compost gets a total change every 12-18 months. As the pot display is cycled I don’t fertilize- just ensure adequate watering.

I have seen some spectacular pot displays covering a wide variety of planting. Tropical plants are a particular favorite – and if you have space you may be able to overwinter. This is something I am going to experiment with a bit more. I have also seen some stunning miniature rock gardens in pots – so you are only limited by your imagination!

Gardening is a great activity that contributes to a healthy lifestyle. The physical activity of being in the garden assists fitness and stamina – it is continuous activity. Brain health is improved as curiosity is peaked at every turn, and the mind can be focused on projects big and small. Breathing fresh air helps improve every aspect health.

Many pioneering garden designers – people like Gertrude Jekyll , Fanny Wilkinson, William Robinson, Christopher Loyd, Beth Chatto, all lived long productive lives, way past the average life spans of their time.

There is something about appreciating the fragrance of flowers – hyacinths in pots in your house in early Spring; the ephemeral explosion of pink as the bare branches of cherry trees come to life; the first burst of yellow as the early daffodils push through; the bursting of maple leaf buds displaying vibrant shades of red,yellow and green; pink,red,white azaleas lighting up the woodland shade;the run of perennials all the way through to the first frosts; the vibrant tapestry the develops above our heads as the fall colors signal the drawing in of another year; and finally the winter blooms of witch hazel and edgeworthia. All contributing to a sense of wellbeing.

AndAllen garden was designed to give us glimpses of all the above.

Another health benefit of my gardening exploits has just appeared! As my mobility is severely impaired following a hip replacement, I ice every hour for 30 minutes sat next to a window overlooking the garden. Watching the garden chaos of early falling leaves, enjoying the October purple flowering of the NY asters, seeing the last of the butterflies flit across the vista, watching the birds! A flock of doves ground feeding underneath the bird feeders, a red headed woodpecker enjoying a visit to a fat block, finches enjoying a bath in the late morning sunshine. Forced limitations made quite bearable, nay quite enjoyable, by my previous gardening endeavors!

When we buy a house, develop a garden, we have to accept responsibility for that very small piece of planet earth. However, we also have to accept that we are only the custodians of that real estate and subsequent owners may have a different vision for it. As such, if the result of all our sweat and toil gets ripped out and replaced by a swimming pool, outdoor kitchen and resort style patio, then so be it – that is not our choice. Digging out a front garden, putting down builder grade hardcore to provide car parking space , again, not our consideration.

The world is full of stories about restoration projects of brilliant gardens that have suffered years of neglect. For every well publicized success there are dozens that never really got off the ground. The decay of gardens is normally a function of lack of interest, time,motivation or funds. Perhaps the decay of a garden is a bit more tragic than its wholesale transformation to another purpose- the former involves apathy,the latter motivation.

I made 2 gardens before AndAllen and have had the chance to partially review them a few years after. The first, in the south of England, looked pretty much as installed. Same shrubs, but clearly no pruning had been done. The beech/hawthorn hedge, originally envisaged as a 6 foot boundary, had become an unfettered 10-12 foot battier, a rather bushy greeting at the front of the house. Pyracantha to the side – spectacular. Although not as tidy as I would have had it, the design had stood up well.

The second, the Ridge garden, was a different story. The house had passed through 2 different owners and by the look of it, neither were gardeners. At the front of the house, mature shrubs had been ripped out creating a clean but sparse looking view of the house. Around the back it looked like there had been liberal use of weed killer. Former perennial beds were mulched and bare; the crevice garden, somewhat shaggy but the stone infrastructure was intact but still looked attractive. Overall disappointing !

When I designed AndAllen, I had in mind what future custodians may want or do – in the hope of designed in longevity.

The woodland garden is easy. Mature hardwoods providing the framework so just shut the gate and it will slowly revert to a more naturalistic style. The azaleas, camellias will still thrive, so all in all, it will just be a better woodland than it was before I started.

The crevice garden, with over 10 ton of stone, was strategically positioned so as not to interfere with any future development of the plot. The “Shinto stone” is a focal point and the whole structure will be impressive and attractive- whether it is planted or not.

The Japanese garden; Acers and quince with the cherry tree backdrop and juniper underplanting, is a standalone and I would predict it will be around for decades! It’s a part of the garden I am particularly pleased with.

The attraction of our garden plot for future owners is that it is one of the few homes in our neighborhood that has a level back garden. We have a nice lawn here, but it is ideal to install a swimming pool – something that is very popular in this area. A swimming pool is of no interest to us, but by incorporating perennial beds on two sides of this area, then that option has been preserved. Having landed here in GA, but hailing from the other side of the Atlantic, our preferred planting is year long succession of color and texture – a southern twist on an English country garden. These beds can be maintained,modified, restructured or removed with minimal effort.

With a fairly significant history of designing and installing gardens I am pretty much certain that many aspects of AndAllen will have longevity. Until it is time for our period of custodianship to come to an end, our focus will be on delivering the current design strategy and make AndAllen the best version of itself!

AndAllen is coming to the end of its 3rd season and it is time to reflect on what is working and what is not.

Two high level observations. Firstly the overall strategy for the property and design of the garden is solid – very happy with how it has developed. Secondly, gardening in Georgia is a bit more demanding than in NC – slightly higher temperatures and levels of humidity and of course the Georgia clay! The assumption that plants which thrived in NC would do so here only partially holds true – there have been a few more casualties than I anticipated.The perennial beds which benefited from soil replacement have done well. Crevice gardening has been a challenge; the woodland garden is slowly evolving but the reception beds at the front of the house need a rethink.

In addition to plants succumbing, others have done too well and crowded out their neighbors. As an example Verbena “Jenny” has been very aggressive in the crevice garden, not only smothering other plants but totally obscuring the rock structure – which in itself is an attractive feature. It is being totally removed from the crevice garden and will be incorporated as an edging plant around the Japanese area. A pretty plant with wonderful pink blooms – right plant, wrong place.

Verbena Jenny (top right) starting its rampant journey to dominance!

There are 3 reception beds at the front of the property – one was designed around blue toned conifers ( which is doing very well) whist the other 2 incorporated roses – a nod to my father-in-law Allen, a successful rose exhibitor. Sadly, the roses have not done too well. The first season they were fine with strong blooming/reblooming, but downhill from there. Characterized by straggly growth,despite appropriate pruning, a short single blooming period and frequent infestation by Japanese beetles- they were not presenting well. Now they are gone. One bed has been replanted with blue toned conifers ( grey owl, blue star ), enhanced with a dwarf burgundy crape Myrtle- a nice color combo.The other is planned to maintain a yellow theme with daffodils and yellow perennials bouncing off dwarf burgundy loropetalum. Soil amendment will be enhanced.

The main observations in the woodland garden center around shrubs dying. No one species has died out although hybridized azaleas look to be on the “threatened” list. It is just that here and there plants have just given up. The way forward is to diversify and try a number of different shrubs. Once the damaged and dying hardwoods (partly from hurricane Helene) are removed this work will begin – hopefully completed by Spring. One pleasing aspect is the survival of both witch hazels and all 4 Edgworthia. This is my first attempt at a woodland garden and I suspect a five year plan horizon may be a little optimistic!

Woodland walk evolving nicely

Finally,the perennial beds. Dividing the successful ones, planting more asters, lantana and golden rod for autumn color and trying to find the elusive plant that is prepared to give it a go and flower when it is 100 degrees ( lantana is the first candidate). Canna and Asclepias have done well and all the die back will be maintained till early February for the benefit of birds, insects and wildlife.

Lantana blooming well in November!

Looking forward to a bit of work over the winter!

In the 20+ years I have been in the US this is probably the longest and wettest winter experienced. Normally winter brings with it a list of jobs that you go through when the weather allows and in a normal year the garden is in good shape once the clocks change in March. Over 23/24 though it seems to have been difficult to get some momentum going hence a bit of catch up needed. However a bit of planning was done and a few ideas sorted.

Removing last years skeletons from the perennial beds.

The first practical thing done in ‘24 was to get an understanding of the winter casualties – the “death list”. The most notable (expensive to replace) are one of the specimen flowering cherries and a dwarf Japanese Acer. The former happened to be in a slightly water logged part of the garden whilst the Acer seemed to be impacted by last years summer heat and went into winter a bit stressed. There had been quite a few casualties in the crevice garden.

One of the winter highlights helping to get us through to Spring.

The 4 sections of AndAllen all had different priorities -in the woodland garden we are in year 3 of a 5+ year plan so tidying out unwanted natural plants and some further planting of understory framework plants would continue. The crevice garden is all about trying to fill the space vacated by deceased plants – sounds easy but experience to date says that finding robust plants is definitely not easy.The front garden and perennial garden just needed tidying up and any gaps filled.

First sign of Spring.Vivid red twigs still showing winter color.

The weather delays were further compounded by the need to travel back to the motherland for a few weeks to deal with a family matter. Bad news for the Spring garden plan, but on the plus side, this would be a real test of how resilient the garden and its planting is. Reality dawned – it was highly unlikely that I would get ahead of Mother Nature and I would be working hand to hand throughout 2024.

spring cherry blossom!

As we approach Thanksgiving, the garden is in transition as fall drifts into winter. Many horticultural aficionados turn to reflecting on the seasons past – re- sharing those pictures full of glorious color. However, at this time of the year there is an opportunity to absorb a different kind of beauty, let’s call it “an ugly beauty”.

The first frost stimulates canna to reabsorb – green waxy to brown and crisp in 48 hours

The cycle of life is easiest to appreciate in perennial plants. By now they have done their stuff – rapid growth , flowered and pollinated, seed production and distribution, fed the roots.If we are lucky then we may be left with an attractive plant skeleton – often best seen after overnight frosts.If not, then we may be left with a brown mess – but it is important not to be over zealous to cut it back.

Plant skeletons – residual seed heads – seasonal bird food – will only be removed when new growth appears.In its own way – natures beauty!

As well as residual seeds providing seasonal bird food, plant skeletons and debris provides shelter for insects, snakes and small mammals. An important service for the environmental well being…. and not unattractive – an ugly beauty!

Still plenty of interest here!

I live with this phase of the garden until around the end of January/ early February when ,here in the south,new growth starts to become apparent. Normally, it is cut back over a weekend , cut and spread in the woodland and then the main garden is ready for mulching.And then the magic starts again!

Some wise gardener once said something like “a great garden is the result of 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration”. This notion holds very true. There is something very satisfying about doing a days work – the amalgam of the high of physical activity with the sense of progress made. Equally well, spending a chunk of time looking for ideas is rewarding – sometimes it can be reading, sometimes a serendipitous day out.

Looking North up “The High Line”

A mid morning,late October walk down the High Line in New York City provided a lovely day out with quite a few ideas to consider.

The High Line is known for its grass planting so did not disappoint.

AndAllen has a smattering of grasses but the latest High Line walk cemented the idea that more grasses would be a good investment.

pink Muhly at AndAllen

white Muhly at AndAllen

first grass planting at AndAllen

The next thing that struck me on the High Line walk was the wonderful contrast of deciduous autumn color with evergreens – definitely will help shape next years Spring planting design.

Coincidentally, the winter edition of The Irish Garden has a great article on evergreens.The Irish climate is very different to that in Georgia but nonetheless plenty of ideas to consider.

New England Aster

Understandably, there is a temptation to focus on leaf color but fall flowering perennials also give a great effect. This aster does very nicely in Georgia and will be a nice foil against grasses and deciduous shrubs.

Perfection!

Walking the High Line with friends is great fun.Lots of chit chat and laughs but with half an eye on the planting – a special day out!

Andy did most of his gardening at his allotment. For those not familiar, allotments are tracts of land, generally owned by the local council that people can rent for a nominal sum. Andy’s allotment was surrounded by people growing vegetables but some kept chickens, one guy kept budgerigars and seven were pigeon fanciers. Essentially, these were community gardens where people could carry out their hobbies and get to know each other in the process. Non gardeners would often walk through the allotments just in the hope of meeting a friendly soul for a bit of crack.

Of course, in recent years there has been an uptick in the number of “custom” community gardens. On our 2023 tour of the North we visited a great community garden in Sunderland, aptly named “Just let your soul grow”. A wonderful space, curated by the wonderful Jen and encouraged by her side kick,Phil (pictured above). – that stimulates loads of community activities. Encouraging children to garden, be aware of nature, a place for mothers and toddlers to meet,seniors to find companionship and even partake some light exercise and so forth.

Both ends of the age spectrum having fun

Pictures tell the story.

Curator Jen with side kick Phil.

In a world where strife, economics, politics, natural and man made disasters seem to grab the news headlines, it is refreshing to come across 2 highly motivated individuals who work to enrich the lives of their neighbours. Also the value of gardening stretches way beyond growing a few flowers or veg. I guess the message is to support your local community garden.

January,a normally grungy dark month,turned out to be rather productive in 2023. CP decided,unilaterally I may add, that all out effort would be applied to Spring cleaning! This positive philosophy was applied to the whole house,including areas (the garage; my office) traditionally under my jurisdiction.After a little resistance, I have to admit that her enthusiasm became infectious.This resulted in the purchase of a”garden tool stand” ,a bike rack and a few additional general purpose storage bins.

It must be Spring!

CP has skills way beyond my comprehension.With a single sentence she can initiate actions to resolve the thorniest of issues. “What can we do to make it easier for you to enjoy your gardening magazines?” ( my translation to that was “I find these little piles of magazines randomly popping up in various parts of the house a little disconcerting”). In order to maintain control, a process was spontaneously designed to identify articles of interest, remove them from the magazine, trim the edges, staple them together and file them in one of the recently purchased storage bins! – recycling the remainder of the magazine to assist in saving the planet. The result was a pile of about 100 magazines now condensed into 2 x 4” A4 storage bins. The beauty of this new process is that at the end of every quarter, recently acquired magazines can be dealt with “in real time”. The process has been future proofed as I have room for an additional storage bin and when all 3 are full all I have to do is throw out the 25% of articles that have proven to be of little value.🤗 I feel tired!

Lambs gamboling…. Only in the Spring. The Richhill walk!

Of course not to be outdone, I then initiated the Spring clean of the garden! Over lunch I casually dropped into the conversation “ I wonder how best to clean up the perennial beds to your liking ?” Reverse psychology- a newly learned skill – my first element of this years ongoing further education. Silence! – the bait was not taken. So I just went out and cut everything down and put it on the compost heap.

To my surprise,there was quite a lot of new growth coming through so I decided to mulch early, at the end of January. The objective to get it done before spring bulbs started to appear and minimize the risk of damage.

I had started to build up a relationship with Jay, a young, high quality landscaper who had set up his own business so we talked about “mulch”. The norm in our area is to used shredded pine bark that has been dyed black, brown or red – or even worse “pine straw” (say no more). I do not like “dyed” – an inappropriate use of chemicals so we went for natural shredded hardwood mulch (a saving of $7/ cu yd over “dyed”).

An interesting discussion re the quantity of mulch needed – Jay thought 40 cu yds – I thought 30 – it was actually 60!
Jay and his team of 7 did the job in a day.

Pots have been cleaned, the storage box reorganized, irrigation system extended, patio furniture cleaned, roses fertilized – not a bad start to the year…….. and when the dodgy February weather arrives , lots of well sorted gardening articles to read!

A picture tells a thousand stories! We were fortunate to get to see the fabulous festive lights at Atlanta Botanic garden on 2 occasions – one just after Christmas and one on the final weekend in January. Impressive!

On the second visit, it was much less crowded and we arrived just before nightfall. This allowed a glimpse of how the light show was staged. Millions of bulbs; speakers all around for the accompanying sound show; supporting poles,nets and cables; no doubt there were control systems with bespoke software. All in all a massive undertaking.

A huge amount of work for that transient “wow” moment.

Just like many aspects of life,moments of joy are normally preceded by a lot of hard work – practice, developing competency, mastering new skills,building the foundations, building relationships,determination in execution……. Whether it is your profession,how you earn a living, the pastime you enjoy, the investment in your children – there is pretty much a correlation between effort expended and the output.

At AndAllen a neighbor pulls up and comments on how well ‘the yellow bed’ is looking. Pleasing that someone notices….. and is prepared to take the effort to give feedback. All the hardwork put in to thinking of the design, choosing and sourcing the plants – roses, lantana and varieties of daffodils, preparing the soil,planting, pruning,fertilizing, weeding – now all worthwhile. Is it work? Not if you get enjoyment from doing it! Not if you get a buzz from that ‘wow’ moment!

The Botanic garden festive experience is down to someone’s vision and determination to make it happen, marshaling a team of people with the technical skills to create the images and the many volunteers to guide us through the experience. A wonderful event that offers up new insights no matter how many times you visit. Just seeing the expression on Rosie’s face as we saunter round makes the effort of visiting all worthwhile and that alone is why we should thank the team at Atlanta Botanic Garden.