The design process

The Design Process

The process of setting out what goes where in a garden is driven by the conditions. Early on, I put together a list of plants that I knew were compatible with the growing conditions, and also with each other, in terms of their vigour and what likes to grow with what.

I also looked at what microclimates there are even within this small space. For example, the bay tree creates a definite zone underneath it of perpetual shadow, which does not change throughout the year.

When setting out the other trees and shrubs, I wanted to create some counterpoint to the weight and evenness of that bay tree, but with some seasonal flux. So I introduced two multi-stemmed Amelanchier, which are offset from each other as you look out of the picture window.

• These allow you a partial view through to the bay tree and stop you from being able to look at the whole garden all at once.
• One of the trees is placed so that when you're sitting on the bench at the back of the garden, you're screened from being overlooked by the neighbours.

So the Amelanchier, and their placement, were very important – they animate the space, are something to move around and interact with, and provide privacy in areas that need to be less overlooked.

Their multi-stemmed form, with branches coming from the base and the canopy sitting above, means you can walk amongst and around them, and can see through their trunks. Meanwhile their loose canopies create little pools of light shade that are in contrast with the heavy shade beneath the bay tree.

Then we have the shrubs:

• White Fuchsia magellanica var. molinae,
• Magnolia wilsonii,
• Mahonia eurybracteata in the deep shade at the back,
• Small groups of evergreen Sarcocca hookeriana at key points to hold the junctions and maintain an evenness and structure throughout the year.

Then I'm left with the spaces in between where the perennials can be flooded, starting with the emergents:

• Disporum longistylum 'Night Heron' – its plum-purple stems emerge in spring and arch up to just over a metre, with bronze leaves and tiny green droplets of flower – lovely to look through.
• I want to showcase this plant's structure, so I've surrounded it with lower plants.
• Polygonatum verticillatum – a Solomon's seal that similarly comes up tall and fine.

Once I've put in those emergents amongst the trees and shrubs that provide the form, I weave in the ground covers and other herbaceous perennials that glue it all together. The highlights of this layer include:

• Helleborus × hybridus 'Yellow Lady' – a good evergreen perennial that is very early-flowering.
• Viola cornuta Alba Group – little sparkling white violas that I've brought to the front of the garden where they light up that front border, and you can see the flowers from the window.
• Fragaria vesca (wild strawberry) – one of the plants I've repeated throughout the ground cover in larger quantities to flow through the space.

A simple plant like wild strawberry can start to generate a planting plan. If you think about where a wild strawberry occurs, it gives you a sense of what else might occur with those plants in the wild.

Those moods, captured from something as simple as the memory of a wild place that you're trying to recreate, start to generate a planting list in which things sit well with each other, feel right for the place, and create something that feels special and works for all 12 months of the year.

Leaving Enough Space to Appreciate the Architecture of Each Plant

The emergents, whether perennials or trees, all have their own air space around them.

• The two Amelanchier have enough space between them for them to breathe, and I haven't put too many shrubs in so it doesn't become congested.

You don't want everything cheek by jowl so that you can't see the wood for the trees. Giving each emergent its own space brings the layers together and lets you appreciate the architecture of individual plants.

Allowing each emergent its own air space makes a planting feel more refined, lighter, less congested and easier to read as a composition.

Climbers

When I'm laying out that first round of plants – trees, shrubs, subshrubs – I always do the climbers at the same time.

Handsome brick walls wrap around this rear garden. I've left these unclothed at the back, where we've got the bay tree and I don't want it to feel too heavy or congested, and also want to allow a glimpse of the structure of the wall. Here the walls simply frame the bay tree with groups of evergreens holding the corners.

Elsewhere, I've clothed the walls with Parthenocissus 'Henryana', Hydrangea ampla and the evergreen Trachelospermum asiaticum.

Dry Shade

One area I needed to look at quite carefully, because it's often the most difficult, is the dry shade beneath the bay tree. I needed plants that looked delicate and light, but would thrive there even in summer.

These are the plants I've used:

1. Adiantum venustum – a very delicate maidenhair fern that copes with dry shade.

• I've placed this around the bench and in intimate places where I want delicate foliage.

1. Cyclamen hederifolium f. album – a white autumn cyclamen that lights up the path edges.

• This is also great for winter interest because after emerging from summer dormancy in autumn, it produces beautiful silver and dark green marbled leaves, which reflect light.
• It's more than happy to sit underneath the bay tree when it's dry in the summer and then use the damper growing period in the winter to thrive.

1. Dryopteris erythrosora – an evergreen fern that gives a nice change in scale with the Adiantum.

• When the new leaves unfurl, they present a fantastic rust colour.

1. Epimedium sulphureum – an incredibly adaptable plant that thrives in dry shade, moist shade and places where other plants might not want to grow.

• This is a plant I use again and again – it has tiny pale yellow flowers in early spring, a beautiful marbling to the new foliage, and then lovely heart-shaped leaves.

These plants are all evergreen: evergreen perennials are important in this garden because being small, it needs constancy throughout the year. We've got delicate changes in greens underneath the bay tree, and this little combination of evergreens is enough to hold the back of the garden and provide constancy.

Plant Directory

Amelanchier lamarckii

Fuchsia magellanica var. molinae

Mahonia eurybracteata

Sarcocca hookeriana

Disporum longistylum 'Night Heron'

Polygonatum verticillatum

Helleborus × hybridus 'Yellow Lady'

Viola cornuta Alba Group

Fragaria vesca

Parthenocissus 'Henryana'

Hydrangea ampla

Trachelospermum asiaticum

Adiantum venustum

Cyclamen hederifolium f. album

Dryopteris erythrosora

Epimedium sulphureum

Your Assignment

Do you have a shady area in your garden that you'd like to develop? Think about what plants you might like to use. Divide your planting list into the layers below:

1. Trees:

1. Shrubs:

1. Climbers:

1. Perennials:

1. Annuals and biennials:

1. Bulbs: