Why do We Garden?

Why do I Love gardening? Why do my and I partner love choosing plants to put in the garden and then arguing for sustained periods of time, as to where we should position them before reaching a consensus? Why do you garden? Why do we as a species seem to have a soft spot in our hearts for growing plants and creating a space for them no matter how large or small? Well I am not sure I really know because I think the answer lies at the heart of what it means to be a Human on Planet Earth and rarely can we pin an answer onto those kinds of existential questions.

copyright Robert Widdowson 2014

This Rose was one of the first things we planted in our garden back in 2014

On the most basic level, when we bought our house from our Landlord, who specifically wanted our garden to be kept as a essentially a lawn, we both felt we wanted to create a beautiful space that was ours to tend to and enjoy. We had no real vision or plan but we did have a fair bit of knowledge stored away in our brains, imparted to us by our gardening obsessed parents and also from our education, as we both have PhD's in the Biological Sciences and this means at some point dissecting a flower and labeling the ovary, stamen and anthers and also learning about rhizomes and the nitrogen cycle and other such related matters. So we set about creating our garden by digging some basic borders around the edge of the lawn and sticking some plants in it. There the journey began.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2015

 Early summer 2015 and the garden was taking shape

As I have the most time spare to work on the garden I set about it full force last year and discovered as i was digging crisp packets and cola cans out of the soil in our new build plot that I didn't just like gardening, I was completely in love with the whole process. After a hard days work destroying my lower back with digging, weeding or planting on seedlings, I would stand back as dusk approached and look at what I had created that day. The whole process soothed me, it relaxed my soul and I became a calmer person. Well, partially calmer. There have been plenty of dramas; such as the destruction of half my of seedlings, as a female Blackbird decided she urgently needed the compost for her nest and set about collecting it from my decking based nursery at will, and the day the Chocolate Cosmos we had just bought wilted over for no obvious reason and lead to a lengthy discussion on what was wrong followed by a emergency transplantation into a sunnier spot with better draining soil. But overall I am calmer and I have learned to accept that you cannot foresee and control everything.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2015

 There have been several dramas in the garden, such as nearly burning it down!

But why have I taken to gardening so passionately? I think an answer may be potentially unraveled from something my Gran said to me when i was reminiscing with her earlier last year. We were talking about what me, my brother and my sister were like as children and she said something that surprised me: That I loved gardening. I thought she was spouting Gran-related nonsense at first but the more I look back into my childhood, the more I think she may be on to something. My parents love to garden and I am sure this has had some effect on me and i grew up in playing in a large and emerging garden that was and is never finished, but was always being worked upon and further created. I definitely remembered owning a trowel at a very young age, as I had planned on digging a hole to the other side of the world and definitely had got far enough that it required me to cover my excavation with wooden boards over night. I also remember creating a Wormery with some house bricks and garden soil, which led to the worms unfortunately being baked to death in the summer heat. Sorry worms! I remember reading a book on Bonsai Trees and then somehow obtaining some small Conifers, which I then, with little patience for the art or process of bonsai, pruned, wired and placed them in my bedroom all in one afternoon, which of course led to near immediate death. Sorry trees!

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2009

  My parents garden: A place of mild chaos and great beauty

In fact, the more I think about my past, the more gardening seems to have been there somewhere close. Even at University, where I purchased and quickly neglected a Venus Fly Trap leading to yet another botanically related death. I think it was this time in my life, my late teen years and my early twenties (I am 36 now), that was the temporary demise of my love of gardening, as more seemingly attractive but ultimately fruitless interests presented themselves to me and perhaps even slowly erased my earlier childhood passions and memories.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

 My parents garden: Form and function

Why do WE, Humans, as part of increasingly modern and capitalist aspiring species like to garden? Have you ever walked past a meadow or grassland or anywhere where there are some grasses growing and plucked the seeds from the head and into your fingers before throwing them into the air and watching them disperse? Have you collected Acorns or Conkers as child or have you simply blown the fluff of a seeded dandelion head? I think most of us probably have, at least in here in the United Kingdom, picking up random seedlings if you live in a Tropical Rainforest may lead to being bit by a spider or snake or slowly poisoned, I am not really sure, but I guess there are similar occurrences of unconsciously spreading seeds all over the planet. Is it therefore possible that cultivation is inside of us in some way? Genetically, epigenetically? We certainly did not start our human journey as an agricultural species. We were of course, hunter gatherers, but eventually an agricultural society began to prevail, whether it be from the discovered convenience of planting crops for harvest or whether it had been through necessity, for our continued human survival. Was there a time when there were the old ways of hunter gathering were running in parallel with the new ways of farming and civic society? If so, maybe there was a collection of behavior types or even genes which conferred these seed spreading behaviors, that have been passed down through the successfully proliferating agricultural communities of the time. Behaviors that most of us now carry? I am engaging in speculation but maybe  the reason I garden, you garden, the human species, given the chance, gardens is because in some way, we have to?

            

           

What Looks Good in the Garden in January? Part 2: The Back

Yesterday we looked at what is looking good right now in our tiny front garden, where we found Hellebore, Ornamental Cabbage, Heather, Cyclamen and Red Robin. Today we shall look at what is looking good in the back garden this January.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

The first thing is a new addition to the garden, which I bought as a birthday present in December for my partner. This pink flowered Camelia came from the garden centre with flower buds already on the plant and looks great even though the flowers have not yet opened. The plant is still in the pot in which it came when bought it and we plan to pot it on into something a bit nicer soon. I do not know too much about Camelia and it could be that the plant has been forced into starting to flower a little early by the cultivators, by being kept somewhere warm as I noticed a few of the flower buds dropped off when we had some harsh cold weather recently. It will be interesting to see when it produces its flowers next year. 

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

The next plant is a bit of a surprise to us and it is our Olive Tree. For It's first winter last year we decided to bring the tree inside the house to protect it from the elements as we assumed it would not withstand the British winter. This turned out to be a mistake as the dramatic temperature changes in the house as the central heating came on and off, along with reduced light caused it to drop all of it's leaves and we assumed we had killed it. We put it back outside in the beginning of March last year and it slowly but surely sprang back to life. This winter, after seeing how tough this plant actually was, we decided to leave it outside, but we protected the pot and roots by wrapping it in bubble wrap to keep out the worst of the cold and keep the roots relatively dry. We also moved it into a corner next to the house where it is more protected and a little warmer. The Olive seems to have enjoyed it much more outside and is looking great and hopefully it will grow strongly this year and maybe even produce fruit.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

Grasses, depending on the type, can look great all winter. Even though this deciduous grass has dried out and will need to be cut back to make space for new growth later in the year, right now it gives a beautiful structured, bronzed display and we have it in prized position on our decking so we can see it through the window from inside the house.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

We have two Dogwood plants in the garden and we love the colour of the stems and the structure of the naked plant during the winter months. They produce great leaves, flowers and berries too so we see it as good all rounder. If we had a bigger garden it would be great to plant these in a regimented pattern and have a mini Dogwood forest with a plethora of spring bulbs emerging below and while i do have around twenty five Dwarf Iris planted around this Dogwood, my plans will have to wait as we enjoy having a wide variety of plants in our garden, but this does not immediately lend itself to creating a more structured or architectural plant display so easily.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

Our stopping point today is perhaps not so obvious and isn't limited to any one plant variety in particular, but we think emerging buds can look really great in the January garden. not only is it a sign of new life for the approaching growing season, but buds such as the one emerging from one of  our Hydrangeas have a small beauty all of their own, with often quite striking contrasts between reds and greens, they may not have the impact of say, a Dahlia in mid summer but they do have a subtle charm all of there own. 

We hope we have shown you that there are quite a range of plants that can make the January garden a interesting and beautiful place to be and with a little forward thinking, the garden can look great all year round. Stay tuned for more to come.

What Looks Good in the Garden in January? Part 1: The Front

A British garden in January is not always an appealing place for some and it is tempting to ignore the garden until milder times. Although our garden is not looking at its best right now, there are ways to improve the garden and make it pleasant year round. A quick look around the front and back garden in the pouring rain today shows there are still some plants working for our pleasure in the first month of the year:

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

At the front of the house there is not really a garden significant garden space at all. There are two bedding areas, perhaps 1 square metre either side of the front door and we have done some planting here, despite the soil being essentially builders rubble from our newly built house. We have put a small plastic planter under the window to the right of the front door. My partner has planted it with a white flowered Hellebore, which flowers in winter and adds some much needed cheer to the front of the house. She has also planted a small conifer which she bought from the local greengrocers to add some year round structure. In the small space in the middle I have just popped in some Muscari bulbs which we had stored in an ice cream tub in the shed over the last summer. They were already growing shoots in the tub and should be quickly making a beautiful early spring display.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

Also on the front we have created a small winter display in two brightly coloured plastic pots. In the pink pot there are Cyclamen and a Heather. These all flowered wonderfully all winter and even though the Cyclamen have slowed flower production and the heather flowers have dried off, they still look great and i especially like the Cyclamen foliage. In the green pot there is an Ornamental Cabbage which we tried planting for a bit of an experiment. It looks good, but Slugs have been consistently eating away at the lower leaves, but it continues to fight on as it grows taller at the top. The extremely wet and mild winter has meant Slugs have been having a fine time. Behind the Cabbage is a small Conifer, which was in the window box during the summer but we have moved it as it grew bigger and we thought it would look great in the pot with the Cabbage. 

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

We have two White Hellebore planted out front. One is in the planter below the window and the other is a larger variety which is planted in the soil/builders rubble and has not flowered as of yet. Next to this dormant White Hellebore is this beautiful Purple Hellebore, which is flowering heavily and looks great. They are fantastic winter/early spring flowering perennials and certainly cheer up the British winter garden. They look great in the bedding area, but the flower heads do naturally hang downwards, so they may look even better if planted in raised bed, raised container or even perhaps a winter hanging basket.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

Before concluding Part 1 of what looks good in the garden in January, where we have looked at the front of the house, the Red Robin is definitely worth a mention. We have it planted as a small standard and it requires careful pruning to stop it swallowing the whole space and going wild. It has beautiful flowers and great foliage year round but it is looking very appealing here today with it's fine new red shoots appearing, which contrast so nicely against the green leaves. 

In Part 2 of 'What Looks Good in the Garden in January' we shall have a look in the back garden for some more early season delights. 

Our garden in Janauary

January is often an uninspiring month when it comes to the garden. Although we have been keeping weeds at bay, protecting the tender plants and perpetually picking up leaves off the lawn, that fall from the mammoth Sycamore Tree, that resides at the house at the back, not too much had been going on until this past week. It is fair to say that our garden looks bare and exposed right now as it is relatively new and does not have many perennials of good size to create a winter display. However, signs of life are starting to appear and I have been doing a little pruning of Roses which are beginning to show new shoots and our healthy spring bulb collection of Snow Drops, Crocus, Dwarf Iris and Tulips are all sprouting out awaiting some sunshine and a little more warmth.

As we want to show you how our garden changes through the seasons, we are posting some pictures of the garden now so you can see what it looks like at its coldest and most damp:

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

As you can see, not only do we have a small garden but also a small but cosy and pleasant house, which has a patio door leading to the decking. We have several containers on the decking which house trees, a Lavender trained as a standard, Hydrangeas and trellis for a Wisteria against the house and Clematis and Honey Suckle in the white wooden planter. There is a paving area for containers with a small metal obelisk which is home to a Climbing Hydrangea and a Coprosma next to it with Succulents and Alpines in the gaps between the paving below. We keep a lot of plants in containers as it gives us the freedom to move them around but also because we will one day have to move to a bigger house and we want to easily take our plant collection with us. in the right hand corner is Blackcurrant, Redcurrant and two Blueberry with the Dwarf Iris bulbs and some of the Tulips planted in between.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

From the decking and facing north, you can see the perimeter of the garden and the fencing which was painted green by the previous owner. The lawn is a little overgrown but far too wet to consider mowing. In the far corner below the neighbour's Sycamore is our rose arch bench, which gets most of the sun in the summer and is planted with a different Climbing Rose on each side. Behind the bench we have planted a small Conifer hedge to eventually hide the rear fence gate and some of the pathway.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

Closer to the Bench you can see our hanging basket containing Strawberries on the left and our bird feeders on the right. We currently have somewhat traditional borders which we filled with Rudbekia and Cosmos last year, but we have different and more exciting plans for the year ahead. Behind the bench you can see the emerging hedge and below there are Foxglove which we grew from seed last year and should hopefully provide us with lots of beautiful blooms in late spring and early summer.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

Along the fence at the back of the garden we have created a display of pots in which we grew Fuchsia last year as well as trailing and climbing annuals. It worked pretty well, but did end up a bit disorganised and messy by the end of last year's flowering season, with the Fuchsia not really reaching their full potential either. We will keep the pots this year but will go for a different and hopefully more dramatic and composed floral display this flowering season.   

So there you have a January tour of our garden. I hope you can see we have done a fair bit to what was all lawn when we bought the house and you can see the potential for this year too. We have plenty more to show you and share as the days move on and the plants begin to spring to life. 

Tip: Protect Plants and Containers from the Cold

It has been a mild January all in all, we have had a couple of days of very cold weather this month with otherwise warmer wet conditions for the remainder. There could be more cold to come however and this could potentially damage any containers you may have. To protect plants which prefer milder conditions and also to protect the containers it helps to keep the soil and roots reasonably dry during the winter months. Any freezing conditions can cause ice crystals to damage the roots of plants and also cause expansion of water in the soil, which may crack pots and containers. 

 Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

Frost and can not only damage tender plants but can also cause containers to crack and break

We have moved our most tender plants to our small cold frame but we have larger plants that do not fit such as our Olive Tree. To help it survive through the winter months, I have moved the plant into a sheltered corner next to the house, where frost is less likely take effect and have wrapped the pot in bubble wrap not only around the sides but also on top to help keep the roots reasonably dry. 

I have tried covering plants with fleece in the past with mixed results. Our Coprosma did not enjoy being covered in fleece throughout the winter last year. It seemed to limit the light it received and although only hardy down to -5 degrees Celcius which can easily be reached here in the UK, we have left it uncovered this year and it seems to be fine so far even though we have had a couple of nights around -5. The evergreen nature of the plant means it probably is happiest gathering as much light as possible in winter and although the fleece does let light through, it must limit it to some extent.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

Coprosma is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. It is found in New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the Juan Fernández Islands. Wikipedia

We have covered all our ceramic pots with bubble wrap to protect the containers themselves and also to help the plants which may be more exposed when kept in containers. We have also wrapped a small wooden container with our Dahlia tubers remaining in soil completely with bubble wrap to protect them and we shall see if this was effective later in the year.

Copyright Robert Widdowson 2016

Protect ceramic containers from cracking in the cold January weather

Save bubble wrap from packaging as a cost effective means of providing winter protection in your garden.        

Welcome to Our Garden

Hello and welcome to Small Urban Garden UK. The idea behind this blog is to let you join me and my partner on our journey as we create our garden. We want to let you see how it develops throughout the seasons and years, as well as providing gardening information and tips to help you in your garden too!

Our parents have always been keen gardeners and I have grown up playing and learning in a beautiful and spacious suburban English garden in Derbyshire and my partner had much the same experience in her families beautiful garden in Bavaria, Germany. Three years ago we moved into a a small rented house in Oxford, which has a small square garden measuring 6 metres by 8 metres. It was covered with a lawn and no bedding areas and has some decking which leads from the patio door at the back of our house into the garden itself. The landlord wanted us to leave it as it was and so this is how it remained for the first year. 

Two years ago we were lucky enough to be able to buy the house and were then free to develop our garden. Since then we have added bedding, painted fences, installed a rose bow and planted a wide selection of plants. It is fair to say we never really planned how our garden would turn out and just took it on a day to day basis, making changes and adding plants as we saw fit at the time. We have a little bit of garden knowledge and a lot of enthusiasm as well as what we have gleaned from our parents who have helped us with providing plants and advice along the way.

    copyright Robert Widdowson 2015

 Enjoying the garden on a summer night last year

By sharing our progress with you, as well as providing hints and tips we have found helpful along the way so far, we would love for you to join us on our journey of creating a beautiful and peaceful space in a small urban garden environment.