For the last eight years I have had a rather dull front garden full of shrubs left by the developer and their landscapers who planted all the (rather small) front gardens on the street where I live. This year I decided to start fresh and even better, my neighbours decided to let me loose on the part of their front garden that adjoins mine.

The garden faces west and so it receives sunshine all afternoon and in the summer evenings, the soil is fairly heavy but has now had masses of compost added. I had been admiring the grasses planted at RHS Wisley (near the cafe) and in the end decided to grow them along with some box bushes and Epimediums for winter interest and some geraniums and Echinacea for summer flowers. I also had a lovely fragrant English rose to include in the mix.

Planting design can be difficult because there are just so many variables and I drew the garden about half a dozen times and made several plant lists in order to narrow down the plant choices and their positions. I also had a walk around everyone else’s front gardens to see what they had planted, how it was doing and if it looked nice.

I’m pleased with the result, even though it has to grow and fill out the space. I was tempted to plant everything a bit closer but in the end I don’t have the time (or space) to dig out the extra plants when it becomes established and rehome them. Perhaps I will return to this subject at the end of the summer and post some more photos to show how the garden is changing.

If you’d like some ideas for your front garden with plants or design get in contact or leave a message on this blog.

Today in The Times there is an interesting article on making your own garden look as good as a show garden (themed in time for Chelsea Flower Show week).

I was thinking about what tips I would add to those written by Cleve West in the article, here are my ideas.

Cleve mentions the trend for topiary that appears at this years Chelsea show and he recommends buying small plants rather than expensive fully-formed topiary plants. This is a good tip and what Cleve doesn’t mention is that smaller, younger plants will usually settle in quicker and grow better than transplanting an older established plant. So you may not have to wait too long to begin shaping the plants into their final shapes. If you already have a topiary shrub or a hedge then you can also make young plants from cuttings, real topiary on a shoestring budget.

While Cleve urges reader to “Never use more than two or three materials or it starts to get a bit fussy and can make the space feel a bit cluttered. Keep the design simple.” I would add that having a design, on paper or done on the computer on a program like Sketchup, is the first step to creating simplicity because it allows you to add and remove elements easily before you commit to buying anything or digging any holes. If you already have an established and full garden then try taking a photo of it from an upstairs window of your house to identify what parts of the garden are working and where there are gaps you could fill or areas to thin out. Work on the top of the photo using tracing paper or acetate to draw in new feature or planting ideas.

Taking regular photos of your garden throughout the year can also reveal if you have periods where there isn’t much interest in the planting. Even through winter there are plants which look good and add colour or fragrance to the garden and once you know when you have some gaps you can use a book like “What Plant When” published by the RHS for planting suggestions to fill them.

I have been perusing a copy of the June issue of Artists and Illustrators magazine and an article on garden design drawings. The article focuses on the drawings on Steve Puttnam and Andrew Stevenson for a show garden at The Chelsea Flower Show this year and how these drawings help to convey not only the details of the planned garden but also the materials used to make it and the mood the garden hopes to create for visitors.

It is interesting that Steve Putnam says he prefers to produce fully realised drawings of a garden design for his clients so that they will comprehend the whole design and how changing materials would affect the design. Keeping his clients fully aware of what the garden will look like through a drawing would appear to not only be good for business but it also means his clients have a wonderful piece of art to remind them of the whole process.