A garden for all four seasons
A space that only works in July isn't really finished. Most gardens peak for a few weeks in summer and are endured the rest of the year; the aim instead is a garden that has something going on in every month and is worth walking into on a grey afternoon in February.
That comes from designing the whole year deliberately: structure that holds the space when the planting has died back, seasons layered through the borders, and surfaces and shelter that keep it usable when the weather turns.
Structure first
Walls, levels, paths, hedges and the shapes of the beds are the garden's winter self. If that framework reads well in January — with good bark on the trees, evergreen bones and something for the eye to hold onto — everything planted into it is a bonus.
Deciduous stems and seed heads left standing carry frost and low winter light better than almost anything bought in, and they are doing a job for wildlife at the same time.
Seasons threaded through the planting
Early bulbs come up through the previous year's growth, perennials build through spring, grasses and late-flowering perennials carry the summer and hold their shape into autumn. Each season overlaps the last instead of replacing it, so the garden changes rather than restarting.
Choosing plants for a spread of interest across the year — rather than a single flush of summer colour — is what turns a display into a garden that earns its space every month.
Usable in every month
A garden is only usable in the cold months if you can get around it dry-footed and stand somewhere out of the wind. Well-detailed surfaces that drain, a sensible route from the door, and a sheltered spot facing the low winter sun matter more than any plant at that time of year.
Modest, warm lighting extends the hours a garden can be enjoyed in the dark months — kept low and switched off when nobody is out there, so it works for people without disrupting everything else using the garden.
Written by George Hughes-Stanton of GHS Spaces, a landscape design practice based in Bristol. See the projects or get in touch.