Cottage Garden
The most important thing about a garden is how it makes you feel. It is hard not to like a garden that exudes vitality. That is the secret of the Cottage Garden. The shear exuberance and vitality of the plantings is forgiving of design.
Field Grown Japanese Maple
The business of the nursery trade is to grow plants at a fast rate and to sell them quickly. As a result, the intensity of growth is continually pushed by fertilization. The light soil mixes also hold nutrients poorly and require constant renewal. A Japanese maple grown on this regime will have whip like growths with a tuft of foliage on the ends. A field grown tree which is transplanted will have a shape that reflects the grace and character of the Japanese maple.
If the plant is too lank or has grown too quickly you will see poor structure. Pruning and slowing of growth without stunting the plants during this period is critical. The younger the plant the less this is an issue, but be aware that the planting will also have a smaller buffer. The slightest drought or stress will be magnified on a small two or four inch planting. In Northern California the ideal planting time for most plants is between November and April. By early May we may have initial heat spells which take their toll on the recent plantings.
Balled and Burlaped specimens have the same issue with quality. This is reflected both in the plant itself and in the soundness and craft of the nurseryman’s wrapped root ball. Handling these heavy balls is critical to the percentage of success. I have a 95% success rate with root balls from reputable sources which are planted carefully soon after arrival and in the correct season.
Even more vulnerable are bare root plants. How reputable is the source and how have the bare roots been handled to date? What is the quality of the plant? Has it been root pruned properly? The handling of these plants is paramount. Bare root plants are the least costly option and you may have great success, but you must get them as soon as they arrive at your nursery and plant them forthwith.
New Shoot
In planting we want to regain a positive momentum of growth as soon as possible. Keep in mind that you want the energy to go to new root growth and not fruits or flowers the first season.
Anything short of sowing seed or placing bulbs involves trauma for the plant. It is important to remember that you are dealing with living organisms when planting. Growth has momentum. When it is interrupted it requires twice as much energy to regain and settle into a natural rate of growth.
It is remarkable that any plants survive nurseries, let alone our ministrations. I do not sacrifice quality when specifying plants, as I can reduce quantity. If you space your plants further apart, you have a larger area over which to maintain control. This is exacerbated by overhead spray. Closer plant spacing can greatly reduce maintenance in the establishment period and reduces seed and sucker sprouting, thus reducing weeds and water requirements for the garden.
Plant Spacing
I like to think that a garden should be an abundance of riches after five years. After that time, you thin and build on your strengths. The secret of a successful garden is to find out what grows well and use lots of it. Plant spacing is determined by the massing of the spaces we move through, the immediacy of desired effect, the intensity of the horticulture, the need for control of the planted effect, and cost.
One way to reduce cost and maintain the quality of your plants is to reduce the size of the garden. More dense plantings give way to widely spread plantings and transition back to nature. We are fortunate in the Napa Valley to have many opportunities to transition to nature via surrounding Oaks or Chamise or the farmed nature of a vineyard.
Even in a contained space you can reduce the garden by reducing its pulse or horticultural intensity. Variety increases the complexity and amount of care a garden will require. The secret to diverse plantings is to match their horticultural needs and choose plants that will do your bidding and not spread by their own volition. All gardens are an illusion maintained by our continued attention.
If you have a Master Plan for your garden you can plant it incrementally. Always start with the most important decisions first. These are usually tree selections, followed by screening or framing plantings, thematic plantings that tie the garden design together and finally, the accent plantings.
Specimen Apple
You can buy time with planting. I utilize specimens strategically located throughout my gardens and smaller material around it. Some of these large shrubs and trees can make a garden by themselves.
I once designed a small viewing terrace adjacent to a home office that was enclosed with a wall for privacy. My client had two large dogs who often utilized this space, which created a challenge. The solution was to plant in a raised planter (a beautiful spreading Japanese maple Acer palmatum ‘Dissectum Garnet’), place large pots with plantings near the door, and plant Boston Ivy on the wall. When you entered the office and looked out it was an “Oh My” moment.
Not all areas of your garden have the same value experientially. There are “million dollar spots” of focused views or areas that get intense scrutiny – resources used here make sense. The rarely seen area behind the shed obviously gets less attention.
Garden Courtyard
In prioritizing my garden I avoid the curse of the front garden, side garden, and back garden divisive mentality that afflicts so many. If the house feels like it is swaddled by the landscape and the attention to detail is experienced throughout, it allows the garden to coalesce into something greater than the sum of its parts.
Let me return to where I started. The most important thing about a garden is how it makes you feel. It has to be growing well to even begin to coalesce and create that “Oh My” moment. It starts with the quality of the plant, followed by the quality of the horticulture, followed by the quality of the design.
