.......................................................Late season drama at RHS Wisley from Piet Oudolf
The Piet Oudolf borders at Wisley demonstrate late season interest through a combination of perennials and grasses . Here sedums, eryngium, agastache and perovskia create a pattern of colour and form.
As the nights draw in you may experience a pang for your beautiful summer borders and feel the garden year is over. But the passing of summer does not mean your garden has finished its annual performance just yet. A little careful planning will ensure that your garden approaches the close of the season with a rousing finale. Trees, shrubs, perennial and bulbs all have their part to play in the end of season act.
Whatever season you are considering, it is always a good idea to start any planting design by thinking of structural planting. This planting provides the backbone of the garden to ensure it has impact throughout the year. Trees and large shrubs are the foundations of structural planting. If you only have room for one tree, make sure it is working hard to provide interest for every season – not just the autumn. Ideally your, single tree should have blossom in spring, fruit, berries or foliage colour during autumn and winter interest. Trees such as whitebeam, hawthorn and Amelanchier can all deliver this multi-talented performance. Alternatively, choose a tree with a beautiful, spreading structure that will act as a piece of sculpture in your garden. An acer, or Japanese maple, is an excellent example of such a tree.
There is an abundance of shrubs that will strut their stuff in the autumn. Just don’t get carried away and leave no performers for spring and summer! Fuchsias are one of the most popular autumn flowering shrubs and their graceful, balletic blooms will grace any garden. Hibiscus are also attractive late flowering shrubs – the delightful Hibiscus syriacus ‘Blue Bird’ has a wonderful blue flower. Both the hardy plumbago, or Ceratostigma willmottianum, and Caryopteris also offer blue flowers. Many shrubs have colourful autumnal berries. Perhaps the most spectacular are those from the common spindle, or Euonymous europaeus, which have a hot pink outside that splits open to reveal a garish orange seed. A shocking combination.
Recent years has a seen a surge of interest in perennial and ornamental grasses planting, sometimes known as ‘prairie planting’, epitomised by the Piet Oudolf borders at Wisley. This kind of planting relies on selecting plants that ‘die well’. Plants such as Echinacea, renowned as a cold remedy, provide lovely pink or white flowers in autumn but retain their shape when they die to create winter interest. Other perennials that flower late in the season include Rudbeckia, Asters, Helianthus, Japanese anemones, Verbena bonariensis and Gaura.
Many ornamental grasses are at their best late in the season. Miscanthus sinensis has a wonderful strong structure topped by fascinating crimped flowers. Panicum virgatum produces a cloud of hazy flowers that appear to float above a border. The feathery flowers of Pennisetum nod in the wind like so many wads of cotton wool. These grasses look especially attractive when backlit by the low autumn sun.
Keen plantsmen, with the benefit of a greenhouse or some way of over wintering plants, can take inspiration from the late Christopher Lloyd’s tropical beds at Great Dixter, in East Sussex, to create autumn drama. The predominantly tender plants in this area are cosseted over the winter and then planted out well after the danger of frosts. The planting is designed to create a riot of colour, form and texture during the autumn months and is well worth a visit.
Autumn spectacle at Great Dixter
Finally, don’t forget bulbs when creating late season interest in your garden. The two most well known autumn flowering bulbs are Cyclamen and Colchicum. Cyclamen hederifolium is particularly good value as it has evergreen, marbled foliage that looks good all year as well as the pink and white flowers in autumn. It is particularly happy under trees and can create good groundcover. Colchicum has a lovely waterlily like flower and grass like spring foliage.
So, don’t let your garden slip quietly into winter …. finish the season with a bang, not a whimper!
Michelle Wake October 2007