The design I’ve gone for here is influenced by the Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf. I’m using a mix of herbaceous perennials and grasses to create a Prairie Garden. After removing a tired old lawn full of weeds and very little turf, I prepared the cleaned bare earth by adding two tons of topsoil and eighty bags of manure. The site was dug over and loosely levelled ready for planting. I allowed the area to settle and then planting began.
The beauty of my design is that the garden stays interesting beyond the Spring and Summer months, and movement, sound and colour can be enjoyed through the Autumn and beyond Winter into the following year.
I’m looking forward to seeing the first frosts on the grass seed heads, and icy cobwebs covering the Echinacea and Echinops.So far the experiment is going to plan and I’m really pleased with the outcome.The large clump of Heleniums, hot red daisies, have been a huge success, whilst the yellow daisies (Rudbeckias) exploded into life with a vengeance, giving height and dominance to the back of the mid border. Stipa gigantea and Miscanthus gigantea (Chinese reed) have yet to perform, so watch this space next year to see gracefully towering stands of sinuously waving grasses punctuating the design.
Why not have a look at some of my other video blogs? I hope I can inspire you to try some of my Garden Graft magic. Keep watching and learn to love your garden even more!