Plant Combinations for an Abundant Garden. A. & G. Bridgewater

PONDS

      Whether a garden pond is integrated with a patio or featured in a lawn setting, it will be enhanced by a few strategically placed lights. If a waterfall or cascade feeds water into it, these too can be illuminated. Fountains, with their wide and varying range of spray patterns, are also enhanced.

       IN PONDS

      Submerged lighting – sometimes colored in red, green, amber or blue – adds a fresh and often novel quality to ornamental ponds. Some lighting equipment creates a rainbow of changing light. Ensure that the equipment is safely installed.

       FLOODLIGHTING TREES AND SHRUBS

      Wall- and post-mounted lights create light over a large area, while low- powered colored lights in a continuous line of up to 40 lamps are possible for stringing between trees. For many gardens, however, a few white spotlights focused upwards and into branches have more appeal.

      Ornamental lights are ideal for patios and terraces.

       Safety first

      Electricity and water are not happy partners and all electrical installations need to be checked over or installed by a competent electrician. Where voltage is reduced through a transformer the risk to yourself and family is less than when the power comes directly from the household power supply.

       DO NOT TAKE ANY RISKS – THINK SAFETY FIRST WITH ELECTRICITY AT ALL TIMES.

       TYPES OF LIGHTING

      The quality and intensity of light is influenced by the source of power – household power, battery or solar.

      • Household power: this creates the strongest and most penetrating light and is suitable for large installations and powerful spotlights. It also requires the most careful and thorough installation.

      • Battery power: the size and quality of the battery determines the power of the light, which slowly diminishes as the battery becomes exhausted. Nevertheless, it is a safe way to have light on a patio or terrace.

      • Solar power: the penetrative quality of the light is poor, but is useful for highlighting the edges of features, from patios to paths and around ponds. It has the bonus of being powered by the sun and inexpensive to operate.

      Spotlights are ideal for highlighting specific plants, as well as on patios during summer evenings

      Low-intensity lights on short, supporting stems are good for positioning around either a patio or a garden pond

      Lantern-type battery lights, with their ornamental appearance, are useful for hanging from trees around a patio

       LAWNS AND EDGING

      Lawns not only help to define and unify spaces, they also lead the eye from one area to another. If you want to increase the apparent size of your garden, run the lawns through and around the beds; if you want to chop the space into “rooms,” have individual areas of lawn. A lawn is a great, low-cost, easy-maintenance, hardwearing but soft, self-renewing, multi-purpose surface for all the family. Remember to choose a grass type to suit your particular needs.

       Why are lawns so important?

       LAWN DESIGN

      A lawn can be used for physical activities such as playing games, as a design feature, such as in a formal garden where the lawn is seen as a visual pattern-making device that links beds and paths, or as a functional path-like form that leads from one area of the garden to another. From a practical mowing point of view, the ideal lawn has a smooth-curved outline, with the edge set slightly higher than the surrounds so that the lawnmower can be run over the edge.

       PREPARING THE SITE

      Till to a depth of 3–4 in (7–10 cm). Remove stones and perennial weeds, break up large clods, and pick up debris. On a day when the ground feels dry, rake over the plot. Work systematically and firm the soil with a rented roller designed for this purpose.

       MAINTENANCE

      At regular intervals throughout the growing season, you need to mow the lawn, water it in dry spells, trim the edges, aerate, rake up dead grass, and topdress to fill hollows and improve vigor. Feeding with fertilizer should only be done if and when the need arises.

       LAWN EDGING OPTIONS

      The lawn edging can be anything from a row of bricks hidden away just below the surface of the ground through to a trench full of pea gravel, a nicely cut edge where the lawn meets a flower bed, or a line of fancy tiles set on edge. There are many options.

      Wooden boards fixed to stakes

      Ready-made logroll

      Round-nose tiles on edge

      Soldier bricks set on end

      Fancy rope-edge tiles

      Bricks set at an angle

       Sowing seed

      • Buy a seed mixture that suits your needs.

      • Pick a day when the soil is dry underfoot – either in the autumn or spring – and go over the whole site, gently raking the surface.

      • Seeding in fall is the best option largely because grass can continue to grow at slightly lower temperatures than most weeds. So a lawn started in early fall gives the grass an edge over competing plants.

      • Kill any existing lawn or weeds with a herbicide recommended by a local garden center or with black plastic sheeting.

      • Watering grass seed and newly sprouted grass is critical to its survival and thriving growth.

      • Try to stay off of newly sprouted grass and keep pets and children away.

       Laying turf

      • Use string and a couple of stakes to set a straight guideline along one edge of the site.

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