I was planting cabbages in the middle of my wild flower meadow this week, and reflecting on my own personal gardening journey. It occurred to me, once again, that a garden should be what you want it to be, not what convention dictates.
I learned my first skills watching my grandfather prune his roses in rigid narrow beds of bare soil around a square lawn, a far cry from my latest creation which has no lawns but manages to combine two different kinds of wild-sown “meadows” alongside formal clipped topiary, an exotic themed area, traditional lush cottage-style beds of flowering perennials, wide borders of flowering shrubs, a Piet Oudolf area comprising large clumps of spiky plants, a stumpery of ferns and decaying logs, a large wall of rocks supporting a waterfall, and finally four raised veggy beds held together by crinkly tin walls.
A visitor would either think I have eclectic tastes in garden design… or I simply cannot make up my mind!
The truth is that I love all of these areas and each serves a purpose, performing a different function at different times of year.
The latest addition is my grass meadow. I already had a wild flower meadow, created on bare ground using seed from a Dorset meadow. It has a multitude of plants, starting with primroses, bluebells, fritillaries and cowslips in spring, giving way to ox-eye daisies and purple flowering knapweed in summer. Grass doesn’t get much of a look-in here. But I know many butterflies lay their eggs on grasses so I recently sowed my grass mix which has fewer flowers but is rich in other species like sheep sorrel and bird’s foot trefoil. My reward was instant. Brown argus and common blue butterflies during last summer were complemented by the first arrival of small coppers , which have shiny wings that flash like gold in sunshine. And on April 27 this year I watched as my very first green hairstreak pottered from plant to plant, depositing eggs!
And the cabbages? I had some spare plants so decided to donate them to the small and large white butterflies to lay on instead of decimating those I need for me to eat!
Neil Walker’s steeply terraced garden in Nethercoombe Lane is one of two Sherborne gardens open to the public on 6,7, June. Combined entry is £5 in aid of St.Margaret’s Hospice Care. Cakes and coffee, but no dogs.
If you need advice on Wild Gardening ask for a visit by one of our ambassadors. Its free. Contact: Sarah Darlington; gardens@wildsherborne.co.uk
