‘DON’T EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM PLANTS THAT HAVE RECENTLY BEEN MOVED’
(Image credit: Greg Loades)
Greg Loadesis an editor and author of The Modern Cottage Garden (available at Amazon)
‘I was looking for a stylish but simple patio look this year, and succulents paired with Mediterranean herbs have worked well as a low-maintenance option that I intend to use more next year. An upright rosemary with a sedum and sempervivum in a terracotta pot filled with gritty compost, and topped with a stone mulch has needed minimal attention and the rosemary was a handy go-to for summer barbecues!
On the downside I’ve realised I shouldn’t expect too much from plants that have recently been moved. I am a great believer in moving plants if they are in the wrong place but I’ve learned this year that it is unrealistic to expect them to grow as vigorously or flower as freely as they did before, in the first year in their new home. An Alchemilla epipsila and a couple of roses that I moved this spring have taken time to settle. I like to be optimistic though!’
Find out how to create a herb gardenin our expert guide.
‘IT’S EASY TO GROW VEGETABLES IN CONTAINERS’
(Image credit: Lucy Butler)
Lucy Butleris qualified at RHS L2 and volunteers at her local RHS garden.
‘I’ve had a few garden successes this year – from trying how to growing dahliasfor the first time to creating a beautiful new border during lockdown in April. However, one of my biggest highlights has to be the container allotment I created. I’ve always grown one or two edibles but lack of border space, raised bedsor an allotment has prevented me from exploring this further. Once lockdown hit in March, thoughts turned to what we could start growing as a family and so the container allotment was born!
After a bit of research into best crops to grow we ended up with a plentiful supply of fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs including blueberries, strawberries, gooseberries, chard, beetroot, potatoes, red and yellow cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, cucumbers and pepper as well as herbs such as sage, rosemary, marjoram, oregano, chocolate and grapefruit mint, Indian mint and Vietnamese coriander.
Just as I’ve had successes in the garden this year, I’ve also had a few failures. My magnolia tree and arum lily not flowering (this is particularly puzzling as they have always flowered in previous years). My grape vine not producing any grapes after a bountiful harvest last year, roseballing on my Rosa ‘Josephine Bruce’ and my Escallonia developing leaf spot, which despite my best efforts to remove keeps returning. So I guess what I’ve learned from the garden this year is to take the failures on the chin, accept that you can’t win them all and that plants will sometimes do things to surprise you.
Find out everything you need to know about growing vegetables in potsin our expert guide.
‘GARDENING WITH KIDS CAN BE FUN’
(Image credit: Laetitia Maklouf)
Laetitia Makloufis the author of The Five Minute Garden (available at Amazon)
‘I’ve learned that control freakery has no place in a pandemic! That the garden is (as always) the best teacher, that I CAN enjoy gardening with my children and that the garden isn’t just a beautiful place; it’s a sacred space that we are beyond lucky to have and be custodians of. There really aren’t any negative lessons from a garden. There are tough lessons (like understanding that things take time, or that you can’t make a plant thrive if it’s in the wrong place) but I can’t think of any negative ones!’
Head over to our garden ideas for kidsfor fun ways to get youngsters outdoors and involved in the garden.
‘I’LL NEVER TAKE MY GARDEN FOR GRANTED AGAIN’
(Image credit: The Balcony Gardener)
Isabelle Palmeris small space container garden designer and author of Modern Container Gardening (available at Amazon)
‘This year has been possibly the most beneficial and intensive discovery of not only my garden but of plants in themselves. The imposed exile from many of life’s distractions and the necessity to create much of my garden from seed and cuttings this year has attributed a new wonderment that I don’t think I quite realised before.
Indeed the forcing of time to explore and initially the deprivation of my visits to the garden centre were tinged with panic at the beginning. But my exploration has given me both hope (to see these plants bloom), patience (to watch them grow), companionship (a friendly face to watch when the world seemed so bleak) and fulfilment (at the creation of something so beautiful from nothing but a single seed) at a time of uncertainty and fear. My garden for me has been the highlight of this year and I will never take it for granted again.’
Our balcony garden ideasfeature offers plenty of inspiration for how to make the most of your compact outdoor space.