Laying out furniture & pots

Laying Out Furniture & Pots

When it comes to adding furniture to your garden drawing, make sure that these items are to scale as well.

When adding my round dining table, I use a set of circle templates from WH Smith. To ensure the circle is to scale, find the right size using your scale rule.

A 1.2 metre-sized table was exactly the right size for the space. I would have preferred a 1.4 metre-sized table, but I didn't feel that the space was big enough to accommodate this.

Because of this slightly smaller size though, I was able to fit in a lot of pots which really helped to bed in the space and bring interest to my sightlines from the house.

Using Pots

The next thing to add to your drawing is the diameter of any pots you have or wish to have. When it comes to pots, I think it's best to choose pots that are of the same material. You can of course throw in a few variations on the theme, but if you're working with a small space, try to keep your palette as tight as possible.

Outside of my kitchen window, I have a large pot with a winter flowering viburnum, which drops its leaves in the autumn and then flowers in the winter. This multi-stemmed shrub is great for a small garden and also has scented flowers. This adds another aspect of interest, which is especially welcome in the winter months.

Include the Pots on Your Plan

I'm going to include some of my pots in my plan because I think this will help me to get a better understanding of how I am using the space and what space I have left to work with.

Pots are a really versatile way of filling space as you can grow such a wide variety of plants in them. You can fill them with spring flowering bulbs, herbs or vegetables or include them as part of your summer bedding plan.

The large viburnum has an Award of Garden Merit (AGM) which is awarded by the RHS and given to plants and shrubs that have been rigorously trialled. Look out for the trophy label on plants when you're next in a garden centre and do pick ones with this label as they will be worth the investment.

How to Order Plants

When you are ringing up the garden centre or plant supplier to place your order, it's crucial that you have the full plant name at your fingertips. Plant names come in three parts, Genus, Species, and Variety.

Genus - Viburnum

Species - bodnantense

Variety - Charles Lamont

If you rang up and asked for a viburnum, this single name could apply to so many different plants, so if you want a specific plant then it is very important that you make a note of its full name.

The Smaller Pots

The smaller pots on my terrace are around 60 cm in diameter and contain a mixture of herbs, bulbs and summer flowering plants. Bees in particular love herbs, so it's great to have them in your garden and particularly great to have them right outside your kitchen door so you can use them when cooking. Just remember that herbs need full sun, so a garden with a western aspect is perfect for this.

In another 900 cm pot on my terrace, I have an Osmanthus × burkwoodii, another multistemmed shrub. Personally, I think a multi-stemmed shrub in a pot is much more pleasing to the eye than a single-stemmed shrub or tree. This osmanthus is great for pollinators, and because it's evergreen, it looks great all year round and will hold your garden together during the winter months.