A dash of Autumn colour: Red, pink and gold — bulbs to brighten up the dullest of spaces
- Nigel Colborn shared advice for brightening up dull spaces with Autumn colours
- British gardening expert said small trees and shrubs can brighten a garden up
- Autumn is short-lived so the smaller the working space, the more selective
The countryside near my home looks heavenly this weekend. Oaks and maples have spun their gold and hedgerows sparkle with berries. In the fields, baby cereals look like carpets of emerald green.
Can we create such beauty in a tiny garden? Well, we can scale down the best of those features to replicate them at home.
Few gardens have space for a single oak. But there are small trees and shrubs whose autumn colours are beautiful.
Most gardens have space for berry-bearers as well as evergreens and winter flowers.
We must keep things in proportion, though. Spring and summer are star seasons, never to be compromised. Autumn colour is magnificent but usually short-lived. So the smaller the space, the more selective we must be with plants.
Good late plants should provide high points in other seasons, too. The best have year-round interest. Largeflowered dogwoods such as Cornus kousa, for example have dramatic spring blossom and reddening autumn foliage.
A Japanese maple such as Acer palmatum ‘Firecracker’ is ravishing from April to November. Lilacs, on the other hand, are glorious for 20 spring days but uninteresting for 345.
Top dogwood: Cornus kousa ‘Satomi’ provides variety of colour late into the autumn
DOUBLE WHAMMY
A tiny garden has no space for ‘weekend wonder’ plants. Instead, each should supplement a big seasonal show with benefits in different seasons.
That’s why hollies are so valuable. Their glossy, bottle-green or variegated leaves and bright red berries look lovely from now to February — birds permitting. But you can also develop them into beautiful hedges. There are dwarf types, too.
A tiny patio needs the most careful selection for off-season interest. Winter heathers are pretty but their changelessness can pall. So blend those with bergenias. The jumbo leaves of Bergenia ‘Beethoven’ or B. ‘Abendglut’ turn deep bronze in winter and all have dramatic spring flowers.
Small maples are among the most shapely feature trees. In confined spaces or for contain- ers, choose dwarf varieties such as Acer palmatum ‘Wilson’s Pink Dwarf’ or lacy red-tinted ‘Garnet’. Plant in large, stable containers in sheltered spot.
In mid-size gardens, maples such as A. japonicum ‘Aconitifolium’ grow eight metres high and as wide. But they can be pruned. The leaves are rust-coloured in spring, fresh green all summer and turn beetroot, then scarlet to orange in autumn.
GO FOR TWO-TIMERS
ROWAN or mountain ashes are among the prettiest small to medium trees. Their spring blossom is attractive and the red, orange, white or pink berries are popular with birds.
For tiny spaces, Sorbus reducta is a suckering rowan that barely grows a metre. The berries and leaves give lovely autumn colour.
In mid-size gardens, witch hazels give two super shows: vivid autumn leaves, then fragrant, spidery blossoms in January or February. Varieties such as yellow ‘Arnold Promise’ and orange-flowered ‘Jelena’ become low, spreading trees, four metres wide and as high.
That makes them ideal for under-planting with hellebores or winter bulbs such as snowdrops and aconites.
When planting creatively, you never know quite how things will end up. But a great way to be inspired is by visiting a wellplanted garden now. That lets you see how plants you fancy might look when mature.