Whilst I’m out and about with my gorgeous greyhound (who goes by the name of Fiona) I am regularly provided with the opportunity to stop and take in these natural landscapes. Fiona doesn’t tend to do much sprinting these days, she really prefers to stroll along Summer borders, which enables me to take in all the beauty of the Shropshire countryside.
Some might say the images below are just a heap of weeds, that need spraying out. I freely admit, that I wouldn’t choose to have these plants in my small garden, as they are incredibly skilled at self seeding, but I do find these wild landscapes quite mesmerizing, inspirational and beautiful. They act as a planting plan layout, and I find myself swopping in cultivated plants that visually resemble these naturally wild landscapes. One day I will make an entire garden , using the Shropshire landscape as the design basis.
Annual grasses could be replaced by the ornamental grass Calamagrotis x acutifolia ‘Karl Foerster’
The docks could become the annual Amaranthus ‘ hot biscuit ‘ or if you prefer perennials, persicaria or salvia ‘s would be a better option
Umbellifers , could become these huge cultivated umbels – Angelica gigas
Nettles could become Agastache foeniculum ‘Alabaster’
Rudbeckia maxima could be a replacement for Ragwort.
At home, my garden is mainly hard paved and ornamental grasses grow very happily between the gaps of the bricks. They are pretty resilient to dry conditions, and this year they have continued to look magnificent.
I placed a containerised agapanthus under the foliage, and I’m really happy with the result. Just imagine a huge border full of Anemanthele lessoniana with big blocks of Agapanthus growing through ( image below ) . Maybe I can persuade one of my gardening customers to have a new border design next year?
I very much hope your August gardens are still going strong, and providing you with summer happiness.
Sally Wicks 