I am a firm believer that a garden must work for its owner, and that one should never feel a slave to it. Most of us are looking at ways to be efficient and reduce the workload, and there are many ways to go. Simple methods make a difference, and include good design (looking at lawn edges, sizes of beds and access), good gardening practice (caring for your soil, considering right plant, right place to reduce watering) and perhaps even relaxing your style in some areas to increase biodiversity (leave seed heads on, let plants naturally decay rather than cutting back), and embrace wildlife and wildflowers (even so-called weeds in some places).
I have recently taken on a large (1.5 acre) garden. I intend to look after it all myself so am always keen to explore ways to plant that are impactful without the need for mollycoddling.
Last week I made a film for Gardeners’ World with Amy Langron, a young garden designer/landscape architect based in Sheffield. She has been experimenting with a range of planting combinations on her own plot and researching precisely how much work is required post-planting.
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Without going into too much detail (can you have a spoiler on Gardeners’ World?), one of the overriding messages I came away with was that I need to up my ratio of groundcover. Langron reckons that if about 50 per cent of the plants are groundcover it significantly reduces the amount of care a border will need. One border she had planted with this percentage had hardly needed any care for a couple of years and looked fabulous. That really got me thinking.
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The groundcover plants were woven throughout the entire scheme (I guess roughly 3m x 4m), not just planted at the front of the border or around the larger plants. Some couldn’t be seen at this time of year, obscured by others, but beneath they were still covering the soil, keeping moisture in, suppressing weeds and filling space. Others such as the astrantia, nepeta, alchemilla and smaller grasses were flowering nicely, adding a colourful understory to the composition, and some had self-seeded into gaps left as plants died out, so in areas the border was self-perpetuating too.
• Joe Swift: The spire-like flowers that will give your beds a lift
Langron, on a tight budget, originally planted 9cm plants (smaller and cheaper), which took a year or so to fill the border. As well as the groundcover there were seasonal feature plants (alliums and euphorbia; the aquilegias and foxgloves have just finished) adding height and interest. So is low-maintenance always boring? Most definitely not.
Joe’s favourite summer-flowering groundcover
1. Hardy geraniums
Unbeatable and most do well in both sun and shade. A huge range to choose from. I’ve come full circle and am using Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’ again because it’s so floriferous with its sky-blue flowers (height 40cm x spread 60cm). G. clarkei ‘Kashmir White’ has pure white open flowers with a delicate purple vein and will spread into gaps if it sees them (height 45cm x spread 1.5m). G. ‘Orkney Cherry’ has smoky bronze-purple foliage and pink flowers all summer.
2. Astrantia
Look forward to planting plenty of these. Great for sun or dappled shade where there’s a little moisture in the ground. Do the job of a groundcover but some get to about 90cm tall so not just ground-hugging. Soft pin cushion-type flowers (in a range of pinks, whites and wine reds) surrounded by delicate papery bracts held on wiry stems above deeply cut foliage. Astrantia ‘Roma’ has soft pink flowers (height 60cm x spread 40cm). A. ‘Claret’ is ruby red with lush dark green leaves (height 90cm x spread 30cm). A. ‘Large White’ is another tall one with white flowers with green tipped petals (height 90cm x spread 45cm).
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3. Grasses
Yes, grasses do flower, and the smaller ones make great groundcover plants and act effortlessly as the “glue” in a scheme. Langron grew a selection. Seslaria autumnalis (height and spread 60cm) is simply a must-have — fresh lime-green leaves, evergreen and grows well in sun or light shade. Silvery flowers mid to late summer. The native Luzula nivea (snowy woodrush, height 60cm x spread 40cm) is tough, evergreen and grows well in shade with clusters of white flowers. Nassella tenuissima (pony tails or angel hair) is the softest grass with silver-green flowers that bleach out as the season progresses. Seeds around (height 50cm x spread 30cm).
4. Nepeta (catnip)
Violet-blue flowers and silvery, strongly aromatic leaves. Great for sun, can cope with a little light shade and covers the ground extremely well. Clip back after flowering and it’ll produce a second flush. Different sizes to choose from, with ‘Junior Walker’ the smallest at about 40cm x 40cm.
• Joe Swift: The spire-like flowers that will give your beds a lift
5. Alchemilla mollis (lady’s mantle)
Scalloped fresh green leaves, which hold water droplets beautifully, and frothy yellow-green flowers. Freely self-seeds and softens any planting scheme. Good for sun or light shade (height and spread 50cm). The smaller Alchemilla erythropoda (height 20cm x spread 35cm) is also useful with blue-green leaves and works better with smaller-scale schemes.
6. Tiarella (foam flower)
Great for shade and weaving under others. Flowers late spring/early summer with short spires of tiny white star-shaped blooms. T. cordifolia has round heuchera-like green leaves and white flowers (height and spread 30cm). ‘Pink Skyrocket’ has deeply lobed leaves and pink buds opening to white (height and spread 40cm).
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7. Erigeron karvinskainus (Mexican fleabane)
Fabulous, long-flowering daisy that seeds around and acts as an effective groundcover when required. Sun-lover, so better for the front of a border, but will pop up in gaps where the light gets through (height 30cm x spread 60cm).
8. Japanese anemones
These will cover the ground effectively with their heart-shaped leaves but are too big to grow and weave between other perennials, so best in a block in sun or shade. Flower from high summer to autumn. Many to choose from in a range of soft pinks (‘September Charm’), stronger pinks (‘Pamina’) and whites (‘Honorine Jobert’). Height 1m x spread 50cm.
9. Betonica officinalis ‘Hummelo’
A form of stachys with orchid-like hot-pink flowers on spikes above long scalloped dark green (and slightly hairy, so slugs and snails avoid them) foliage. Flowers for ages. Does well in sun or light shade. Height 70cm x spread 50cm.
