Autumn Garden Visits for Design Inspiration

Autumn garden visits for design inspiration aplenty from jewel laden trees and sparking flowers. Plus structure with lush topiary and statuary as a backdrop or focal point.
We can all be inspired but sometimes the sticking point is translating from the “oh I’d love to have that in my garden” stage to the “how do I fit this into my garden without re-designing the whole thing?” or, in the case of larger shrubs and trees “how do I fit this into my small garden? Will it even physically fit?!”

I’d like to help a little if I can with plenty of inspirational photos, ideas as to how certain plants might work with your existing planting scheme and suggestions for gardens you can visit even during the current lockdown. There are blog links at the end with further tips and ideas.

Autumn Garden Visits for Design Inspiration – Shrubs and Trees

Its so easy to get carried away at garden centres and plant nurseries and buy small shrubs in a pot, not realising that when they’ve grown our garden will have disappeared under its lush foliage! Part of the confusion for many people is that they think shrubs = small, whilst trees = large. This is not the case.

Visiting gardens where it is easy to see the full height and breadth of a shrub will help you to decide if its right for your garden. For example, ask yourself the following questions: –

do you have the right soil and aspect?
is there a smaller cultivar that would be suitable?
would a totally different species of tree or shrub still give you the same effect?
or is a careful pruning regime possible?
do you want colourful berries of foliage or both?

Of course, the questions you need to ask are slightly different for a specimen tree or shrub – whether standing alone or within a border – than for those which you would like to form a hedge yet still provide you with seasonal interest.

More on this is considered in the section below. But, for example: a beech hedge will have lime green spring foliage, which darkens as the season progresses. However, although it is deciduous, the matte bronze dead leaves remain over winter, providing a change of effect.

pear black worcester, espalier, autumn foliage, trained fruit tree

english walnut tree, autumn colour, juglans regia

Euonymus europaeus, spindle, autumn, fruits, foliage

Acer, japanese maple, red leaved tree, Lanhydrock, cornwall

topiary trees, Hardwick hall, yew trees, taxus baccata, formal gardens

Autumn Garden Visits for Design Inspiration – Flowers and Ornamental Grasses

We’re back to question time. Are you one of those who, for whatever reason, spend less time walking around your garden once September is over? Or are you out there with a cup of coffee as soon as it’s light enough to see?

Your answers will affect the inspiration you take away from your garden visits. For example, these three offer not only a different autumn display but differing care regimes : –

a long mixed herbaceous border filled with asters, salvia and persicaria
tall feathery grasses, Stipa, Molinia, catching the breeze, and interspersed with the seed heads of echinops and eryngium
an exotic border with dark leaved canna, glowing nerines and low growing Plectranthus
a cut flower border glowing with dahlias and chrysanthemums

If you’re not going to be in the garden from mid autumn to early spring, then you need to be considering the views from your house and, for the front garden, what is visible as you walk to the front door. But I would suggest at least a late flowering shrub or three, to provide a pleasant outlook for you and food for the pollinators who are still active.

Not everyone is a fan of prairie planting. And borders filled with this style, whilst they look magnificent in late summer and autumn, do not necessarily give enough interest throughout the year to be a main feature in smaller gardens. Equally, if you like a relatively tidy garden, this is not a style for you. That said, including a few choice grasses within a mixed planting scheme adds movement and sound.

herbaceous borders, walled garden, fulham palace

miscanthus, parterre garden, fulham palace

dahlias, walled garden Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash;

dahlia, helianthus, mixed flower border, wakehurst, Summer Flower Border

herbaceous flower border, walled garden, brockwell park

Autumn Garden Design Tips

First item to note – my tips and others you read will of necessity be general, not specific to your garden. For how to achieve your dream autumn garden you will need to at the very least to: –

spend much time reading and researching
pay lots of garden visits (no hardship here!)
establish your garden’s soil and aspect
consider the existing features in and surrounding your garden and whether these are able to change
at the very least draw a rough plant of the garden with the above noted on it as well as the size

Now lets be clear, I am not trying to put you off doing it yourself! Why else do you think I produce weekly blogs for you on a range of gardening related topics, including plenty of ‘how to’ ones? Because its important to me that you have the information, inspiration and help to succeed in your gardening life.
However, that said, if you still feel daunted, or quite simply do not have the time to do more than the fun parts of autumn garden visits for design inspiration, then getting personal professional advice might be just what you need. After that you should feel confident enough to do it yourself (even if you get someone else to do the digging!)

book, apple, photo by congerdesign on pixabay

preparing flower border, curved indian sandstone patio, garden designer, landscaper, garden project, kent

corylus avellana red majestic, corkscrew hazel, garden design

first plant delivery, ornamental edible garden, garden designer, garden desgn, planting design, garden project, plant delivery, trade nursery, plant nursery

hazel hurdle fence, garden design, london, conservation area, garden fencing

garden planting design, handwritten plant list

Second item – what is in the autumn garden?

The following list is not definitive, just to give you a flavour. NB – the shrubs trees and hedges may be deciduous or evergreen.

shrubs
trees
herbaceous perennials
small perennials
tender perennials
ornamental grasses
bulbs
topiary
hedges
fruit trees and bushes
vegetables
statues
arbours, pergolas, arches
paths, patios
ponds, water features
greenhouse, shed
summerhouse, home office

Hang on a minute, you may be saying, I thought we were discussing my autumn garden? Why are the summerhouse and patio on the list?
Simple answer, because many items on the above list are in your garden all year. It is very easy to forget about them when planning for a particular season as the focus is often on certain plants.

As a bit more inspiration is probably welcome at this point, lets find some gardens to visit so we can all be inspired, wherever in the country we garden…

summerhouse, hexagonal, green, garden project in progress

garden pond, cornus midwinter fire, pond border, wildlife friendly, planting design, garden project

pergola and path, Bodnant Garden, Conway Valley, Wales

Suggestions for Autumn Gardens to Visit

Many gardens remain open, so you can enjoy the final fling of colour and then the glory of bare branches caught in shafts of sunlight even in England under lockdown #2.Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eire also have beautiful spaces you can access. Links are with the Plews blog links below

Do please be patient with garden owners and Head Gardeners — the logistics in meeting the extra requirements are scary and for some, just not worth it, especially when they still may not have the staff. Its not just about roping off parts of the garden to make a one way system, there’s boring but essential stuff like deep cleaning the loos as well…

Those gardens which are open are operating timed tickets, pre-booked online. Glasshouses are, by and large, closed. Do check the garden’s website for up to date information, as the situation changes.
Two main things to note –

There are more slots available in many gardens often for the next day
If you’re not able to make your slot, please cancel so someone else can take your place

English Heritage may make you think of castles, but they have many fine gardens in their care that look glorious in the autumn. Whilst the National Trust and Historic House Association magnificent mansions are closed, remember they also administer gardens and woodlands too.
And there is much on offer – walled kitchen gardens with colourful swiss chard and rhubarb forcing pots; borders laden with berried shrubs and swathes of Asters and dahlias; formal parterres and topiary; landscaped parkland and woodlands.

The RHS have both their own gardens and partnership gardens

Trees

National Tree Week 2020 falls in Nov 28 – Dec 6 and does have some open air events this year, including tree planting. Check website for details. Or just use it as an excuse to walk through tall trees in an arboretum (tree collection)
The National Arboretum, Westonbirt. This is Britain’s oldest arboretum and planting started in 1829 by collector Robert Holford. It is now administered by the Forestry Commission.

Botanic Gardens

Despite some confusion in the press, the Botanic Gardens in England, Scotland Wales and Eire are, in the main, open. The Royal Botanic Gardens in Scotland are celebrating their 350 year birthday this year.

For finding more unusual plants that will grow in your locality there is a lot to be said for taking autumn garden visits for design inspiration here. A friend recently showed highlights of Kew’s Hawthorn collection on his Instagram feed – the range of colour in the berries was impressive. We tend to think of them as ruby red, or possibly a deeper garnet, but there are also topaz yellow and jet black.

poppy seed sculptures, millenium seed bank, wakehurst place, kew

temperate house, royal botanic gardens, Kew, london, victorian glasshouse, decimus burton, richard turner

autumn leaves, vine, Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash

Autumn Garden Visits for Design Inspiration – what next?

All the gardens can provide you with plenty of design inspiration now you have an idea how to pick out the elements that will suit you and your own garden. For more inspiration, check out the blogs below. If you’d like the personal touch with an autumn planting design or gardening lessons in your own garden do get in touch with Plews. And do feel free to ask me (easy) questions via social media – particularly Instagram for the quickest response (!) but also on Facebook and Twitter