Vertical Garden

 The patio area is looking particularly lovely at this time of the year. The main attraction for me is not the pots and baskets but the vertical garden on the retaining wall. There is a current trend for this type of planting, the idea being to make ugly walls into attractive or productive garden spaces and at the same time to make the very best use of space. particularly where it is at a premium.

It is possible to buy hanging baskets and planters from any garden centre. Connected drop down fabric pockets are also increasingly popular. DIY enthusiasts can use reclaimed pallets for vertical planting schemes but we have been lucky and are able to plant directly into the gaps in the retaining wall. It really is surprising how many plants can cope with quite small amounts of soil in the most difficult sites. Some plants like the ferns will just find a home by themselves others have to be helped along. I would strongly encourage any gardener to try out a variety of plants and flowers, certainly do not restrict yourselves to alpines, which are the traditional standby for vertiginous locations with thin soil.

The patio area is sheltered but does not always get the best of the sunshine. However, it is where you can find my plant of the month, "Gran's lillies". These tough little flowers have grown towards the top of the wall for decades. Planted by our Gran in the early 1980's they come up every year without fail and the only attention they need is to have the dead foliage cut down to ground level every October.

Their beauty lies in their unfussy simplicity and of course the sentimental value they have for us both.