John Shortland - Why Cant My Garden Look Like That?: Proven, Easy Ways To Make a Beautiful Garden

Contents

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First published in the UK by Spring Hill,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2013

Copyright John Shortland 2013

The right of John Shortland to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in
Publication Data is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-908974-10-5

Designed by Ian Hughes, Mousemat Design Limited

E-Book production by www.mousematdesign.com
E-ISBN 978-1-845285-33-3

Printed and bound in the UK

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Contents

Foreword

I feel botanically linked to John Shortland, the author of this enticing book. In the late 19th century my great-grandfather, a passionate gardener, redesigned the grounds of his house, Kiddington Hall, in Oxfordshire, and planted some exceptional trees. As a child, when my grandfather was living there, I loved playing under those majestic trees, and made friends with the gardener, Mr Faint. Almost fifty years later it was John Shortland, author of this book, who kept the Kiddington gardens beautiful, so the pleasure of them is what we share.

Why Cant My Garden Look Like That? includes everything you need to know, from the practical to the creative. It is like having a friend to whom you can always turn for un-daunting advice. Whether youre new to gardening or have been digging, planting, pruning and tending for years, this book will inspire you. You will want to plan a new garden, or re-think an old one; concentrate more on contrasting size, shape and colour; look after your old favourites better and try out new varieties. And before long, on a brilliant early summers day, someone will say to you Why cant my garden look like yours?

Josceline Dimbleby

Introduction

There are many reasons why we garden but, more often than not, the one that started us off is simply that a garden came attached to the first house we were responsible for. Perhaps the previous owners had been keen gardeners and, over time, you have watched overwhelmed as it steadily went downhill. Or perhaps your house is new and the builders have laid grass and randomly planted a tree and a few odd shrubs to enhance an otherwise stark appearance.

Of course, sometimes it is none of these things: youve worked hard over the years but the garden has simply not quite done what you had hoped for or it has outgrown its allotted space. Everywhere you look in glossy magazines or when visiting National Trust properties or even friends houses you see your ideal and hear yourself exclaiming Why cant mine look like that?The simple answer is it can; you dont need to be an expert and more often than not it can be done with surprisingly little effort.

You dont need to be an expert to have a beautiful garden there are simple techniques that can have immediate effect

To have a stunning garden you need to answer some questions truthfully for it can be surprisingly hard, sometimes, to view something you badly want dispassionately.The most important question of all is Do I like gardening? If the answer has a but in it those are the first issues to address write them down. So for example, if the response is Yes, but it is difficult to find the time then this is most likely the key to all the on-going problems.The good news is that it is quite possible to have a great garden without spending every spare hour in it.

Time, of course, is the major factor. If you are only free at weekends and you have to juggle those hours to fit in child dance and music lessons, dog walking and doing the washing and ironing, it is necessary to allow for that in the garden plan of action. If time is at a premium it is far better to have a simple yet beautiful garden to maintain than to have a complicated one that is a constant heartache. Simple does not have to mean boring. There are always opportunities for expanding the gardening activities as your circumstances change and you become confident that you are able to cope with its increased demands. Likewise, if you find yourself with less time to devote to it, it is better to reduce the number of tasks required than to struggle on and feel constantly dissatisfied. Gardening should always be a pleasure it is important to remember that.

The weather also plays a great part in gardening and not just in the obvious way of the sun and rain requirements of plants. Are you a fair weather gardener or are you the sort of person that likes to be outside regardless of the climate? All of these things have to be written down on the list and taken into account.There are no right or wrong answers for we are all different.

So far we have assumed that you do like working in the garden even if, at times, it all gets a bit much. If you dont especially enjoy it but want a nice garden there are still ways to approach it and once you start to see results you will almost certainly begin to like doing it more. Gardening can be as addictive as any drug once youve been on a high with it you will want to be there over and over again.