Estate/Large Garden Management
EDWARD FRASER. Director of Sevenoaks Landscaping (Kent) Ltd. BA (hons) Environmental Studies, RHS Diploma in Horticulture (Theoretical modules - Plant pathology, Soil science, ammenity horticulture, commercial horticulture). 19 years experience in commercial and private horticulture and landscaping.
'One of our major passions is in the creation and management of large gardens/estates.
For the last 2 decades we have been honing the skills necessary to effectively manage significant areas of garden enabling us to consistently improve on the aesthetic value of gardens as well as tackle the routine essential jobs in an appropriate manner'.
The above statement should not be taken lightly. It is an incredibly complex job managing an estate and many aspects can only be learnt by hard won experience. Below, we've listed some of the factors that are considered during the gardening year.
(1).Flowering schemes: How do they change throughout the year? Are there plants providing visual interest every month of the year? How do colour schemes flow as you move through the garden?
We delight in creating flowering combinations that change through the seasons. We would maybe start off in spring using pure white plants such as
Erica carnea 'Springwood White',
Leucojum aestivum,
Brunnera macrophylla 'Dawson's White',
Narcissus 'Thalia', followed by a succesion of white evergreen azaleas then pale blue evergreen specie Rhododendron eg;
Rh. 'Exbury'. Late spring and summer could be heralded by wave upon wave of blues and violets e.g.
Iris sibirica 'Mountain Lake',
Iris 'Matinata', pinks e.g.
Paeonia suffruticosa 'Ballerina', whites e.g.
Dicentra spectablis 'Alba' or using brighter colours such as golden
Haemerocallis lilioasphodelus,
Haemerocallis 'Stella d'Oro' and
Anthemis tinctoria 'E.C.Buxton'. Mid summer especially in hot years can be tricky but plant genera such as Kniphofia, Helenium, Salvia and Malva can carry the display through until late summer when a totally new planting scheme bursts forth with genera such as Penstemon, Salvia and Fushia grown alongside waving ornamental grasses, giving joy right through to November/December. Winter is predominantly about evergreen form, however there are shubs such as
Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn',
Daphne bholua,
Daphne odora,
Lonicera fragrantissima and
Skimmia 'Rubella' that'll not only provide beautiful flowers throughout the winter but will also provide some of the best scents of the year!
(2). Areas of special interest or garden 'rooms'.
It can be very satisfying to create parts of the garden devoted to a certain style, for example; a tranquil shady spot with ferns and trickling water, or a sunny seat surrounded by scented climbers. These usually combine some hard landscaping with dedicated specialist planting. Our clients delight in taking visitors to these areas and explaining the plant choices or just sitting back and relaxing in a hidden corner far away from the rest of the world.
(3). Appropriate scale.
There are two definitions of appropriate scale:
The layout of the garden; the hard surfaces, lawns, beds and planting schemes need to be in proportion to each other and to the surrounding countryside.
And.
When tackling maintenance tasks, it should be assessed which techniques and machinery if necessary should be used in order to produce the
maximum result for the minimum overall expense.(4). When to carry out jobs.
This is where experience really counts. Examples would include:
Pruning shrubs at the correct time to ensure flowers/fruit the following year. Pre-emptive lawn treatments to minimise the risks of moss, weeds, malnourishment and diseases. Pruning and dividing herbaceous perennials to maximise vitality. Sowing seeds for the coming year. Spraying preventative fungicides against mildew on deciduous Azaleas or against Fusarium spp. in fine turf lawns.
(5). Future impact and unintended consequences.
It always needs to be considered what the impact of your actions will be, both visually and for the species already in the garden. It also pays to consider how much maintenance that new projects will create or save. Again experience pays dividends here.
(6). Weed control.
Pretty well the biggest drain on resources in any garden is removing weeds. There are 3 main ways of controlling unwanted species:
Prevention; using mulches (e.g. wood chip) over any bare soil will hinder the germination of any annual weeds and make hand weeding much easier. Constant vigilance and regular weeding over the years will reduce the stock of seed and remove perennial weeds from the garden. The adage - one years' seed, seven years' weed, (i.e. let a plant spread seed one summer and you'll be pulling out it's offspring for the next seven) should always be at the forefront of the gardener's mind.
Hand weeding; good old fashioned use of trowel, hoe and bucket.
Chemical weed control; use of selective and broad spectrum herbicides where appropriate.
The list could go on, but you should have the idea by now that we think very deeply about our work and take our job extremely seriously. Furthermore we would welcome the opportunity to meet you in your garden to discuss our services and would be proud to take you around some of our existing gardens to show off the fruits of our labours and enable you to meet the owners to discuss our work. Click on the folders below to see galleries of our work
