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Alan Titchmarsh imparts a lifetime of expertise in these definitive practical guides for beginners and experienced gardeners. Step-by-step illustrations and easy-to-follow instructions guide you through the basic skills and on to the advanced techniques, providing everything you need to create nad maintain your dream garden.

About the Author

Originally trained at Hertfordshire College of Horticulture and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Alan Titchmarsh is the author of over 40 books about gardening, including How to be a Gardener Book 1: Back to Basics, the fastest-selling of all time in the genre, and the bestselling The Kitchen Gardener: How to Grow Your Own Fruit and Veg. He writes for BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, and is gardening correspondent for the Daily Express and Sunday Express. He has presented Gardeners’ World, the annual coverage of The Chelsea Flower Show and Nature of Britain, and has his own daily chatshow.

Introduction

Gardening is one of the best and most fulfilling activities on earth, but it can sometimes seem complicated and confusing. The answers to problems can usually be found in books, but big fat gardening books can be rather daunting. Where do you start? How can you find just the information you want without wading through lots of stuff that is not appropriate to your particular problem? Well, a good index is helpful, but sometimes a smaller book devoted to one particular subject fits the bill better – especially if it is reasonably priced and if you have a small garden where you might not be able to fit in everything suggested in a larger volume.

The How to Garden books aim to fill that gap – even if sometimes it may be only a small one. They are clearly set out and written, I hope, in a straightforward, easy-to-understand style. I don’t see any point in making gardening complicated, when much of it is based on common sense and observation. (All the key techniques are explained and illustrated, and I’ve included plenty of tips and tricks of the trade.)

There are suggestions on the best plants and the best varieties to grow in particular situations and for a particular effect. I’ve tried to keep the information crisp and to the point so that you can find what you need quickly and easily and then put your new-found knowledge into practice. Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with the Latin names of plants. They are there to make sure you can find the plant as it will be labelled in the nursery or garden centre, but where appropriate I have included common names, too. Forgetting a plant’s name need not stand in your way when it comes to being able to grow it.

Above all, the How to Garden books are designed to fill you with passion and enthusiasm for your garden and all that its creation and care entails, from designing and planting it to maintaining it and enjoying it. For more than fifty years gardening has been my passion, and that initial enthusiasm for watching plants grow, for trying something new and for just being outside pottering has never faded. If anything I am keener on gardening now than I ever was and get more satisfaction from my plants every day. It’s not that I am simply a romantic, but rather that I have learned to look for the good in gardens and in plants, and there is lots to be found. Oh, there are times when I fail – when my plants don’t grow as well as they should and I need to try harder. But where would I rather be on a sunny day? Nowhere!

The How to Garden handbooks will, I hope, allow some of that enthusiasm – childish though it may be – to rub off on you, and the information they contain will, I hope, make you a better gardener, as well as opening your eyes to the magic of plants and flowers.

Introducing lawns and hard surfaces

Ask any child, or adult for that matter, to make a quick sketch of a house and they’ll inevitably draw a square building with a path leading to the front door and lawn on either side. It’s our idealized view of home – a welcoming place where we feel secure, and a garden is an integral part of this ideal. But it’s not just about plants, it’s also about having an outdoor living area where children can play and adults can relax. In most gardens about two-thirds of the space consists of lawns and hard surfaces, so it’s important they look good and are of practical use. Artists paint a picture and then choose a suitable frame. Garden design differs in that the ‘frame’, or hard landscaping, needs to be made first and then the picture ‘painted’ with plants.

Choosing a surface

Lawns, paths, patios, terraces and decks are the flat surfaces that make up our garden, or link its various parts. While lawns and paths are easily defined, the distinction between patios, terraces and decks is blurred, and in practice they often perform similar duties. The design and the materials that go into the construction of garden surfaces are determined by their situation as well as your personal preferences and budget. Consider the visual effect you want to achieve and always balance it with the practicalities.

If you’re planning a new lawn or area of hard surfacing, begin by thinking about how you’ll use the space – for example, a patio for entertaining is quite different from a utilitarian place where you hang the washing or keep the bins, and the aesthetic, practical and financial decisions you make should reflect this. Also, bear in mind the amount of work involved, both in the area’s construction and its long-term upkeep. Try to be realistic in your aims: it’s no good hankering after a lush green sward if you’re a couch potato, because it will require too much aftercare. Likewise, there’s no point in establishing a super-fine lawn if the kids play football on the grass – it simply won’t withstand the wear. Consider that your needs are likely to change over time and plan for any adaptations you may want to make later on.

Lawns

The lawn is so much more than just an expanse of grass to be looked at and admired. It’s marvellously refreshing to relax on or beside the lawn on a warm day, gazing up at the blue sky and watching birds and insects going about their daily lives. And a lawn is wonderful for the senses – rich green seems to have a calming effect, and at the height of summer, there’s nothing quite like walking barefoot on freshly mown grass for making you feel good.

A lawn is easily adapted according to your needs, your budget and the time you’re willing or able to devote to its upkeep. If you want an immaculate, carefully manicured area, complete with parallel stripes, you’ll need a fine grass mixture and plenty of time at your disposal. If, on the other hand, you have children who want to play on the grass, you’ll require a lawn that can pretty much take care of itself. Inevitably, if it gets plenty of use it will become worn in some areas and need restorative care at the end of the summer, but grass is a resilient plant and by choosing a hardwearing mixture you should be able to have a lawn that can stand a reasonable amount of wear and tear without too much long-term suffering. Mine does!

You can create a lawn on any garden soil, either by sowing seed or laying turf. Whatever you choose, a lawn needs a minimum level of attention without which it will struggle. Care includes regular mowing, occasional raking and spiking, and an annual or twice-yearly feeding and weeding session. If you’re not prepared to do this amount of work, it makes good sense to consider an alternative to grass. You also need to work out the logistics of cutting the grass (whether you can get a mower onto the area) and the conditions it will be growing in (especially the type of soil, see here).

Lawns: the pros and cons

Grass is an evergreen, resilient, natural landscaping material.

Lawns fit in with any garden design.

The plain green colour of a lawn links different garden elements together and acts as a cool, soothing foil to the brighter flower colours.

A lawn creates a sense of calm openness that is a perfect complement to the planted areas, which might otherwise seem quite full and busy.

Turf is easy to lay.

The shape and make up of a lawn can be tailored to suit the area to be covered and its usage.

Freshly mown grass feels good underfoot and smells lovely.

Grass releases oxygen, so it’s good for the environment. It’s also wildlife friendly.

BUT…

A fair amount of hard work is needed to keep it looking good.

Sunshine and good drainage are both required, so you need to ensure the site is suitable (see here, here).

Lawns need mowing at least once and sometimes twice a week, apart from in the depths of winter, and regular edging.

A lawn will turn brown and straw-like in prolonged dry weather and needs spring and autumn feeds to keep it healthy and green.

To remove the build-up of thatch a lawn needs annual scarifying.

You may have to treat a lawn for moss, weeds, and pests and diseases.

A lawn may need restorative work where it receives heavy use.

Paths

Just like lawns, paths vary according to their position and use. If a path simply links one place to another, such as the house to the garage, it can be straight and functional. If, however, it’s intended to lead the eye into the garden and encourage you to enter and explore the space, it plays a large part in the design of the garden as a whole. Depending on your overall plan for the garden, it could still be straight, leading you directly to one spot, or it could meander and become a point of interest in itself. The materials that are used to create a path should reflect its purpose.

Concrete, paving stones, bricks, gravel and bark chippings, or a combination of these, are all commonly used to make paths, and all produce a different result (see here). For a heavily used path that leads to the utility area of a garden, such as the dustbins or washing line, a hardwearing material is most suitable, whereas a path that winds through a shrub border is more for decoration than day-to-day use and might be more attractive surfaced with bark chippings. Depending on what they’re made from, paths can be high maintenance (gravel) or low maintenance (concrete or paving).

Paths: the pros and cons

A path serves a practical purpose, allowing you to go from A to B without wearing out the lawn and while keeping your feet clean and dry.

It can also be a wonderful design feature, particularly a winding path. It can create a vista and, with careful siting of a seat, give you somewhere to enjoy a moment of relaxing contemplation.

A well-designed path can create an illusion of width or make the garden seem longer.

The surfacing can be used to create interesting effects – for example, it can bring light to a dark area.

BUT…

Paths need careful attention in both siting and laying. If you don’t plan carefully, it could mean you lay the path in the wrong place and end up walking on the lawn after all.

A path that is too wide, made of the wrong material or badly placed, can dominate the garden or make it seem cramped or unattractive.

Paved paths need laying properly with a hardcore foundation, so that there’s no chance of them lifting or settling (see here). Paths made from loose materials such as gravel are easier to lay but still need thorough preparation.

You need to check a path regularly to make sure frost damage isn’t making the sides crumble away.

Regular sweeping, cleaning and sometimes weeding are necessary.

Greener driveways

Where an outdoor surface gets a lot of heavy wear, such as a driveway, you may be tempted to install a large area of concrete or paving at the expense of your front garden. However, be aware that this results in loss of habitat for wildlife and increases the risk of flooding. This is because all the rain that falls on the hard surface either runs straight into the drains, which could overflow, or sits on the top, rather than being absorbed by the soil and vegetation. A hybrid surface (see here) is much better for the environment and is less likely to cause flooding. If you do opt for a hard surface after all you could install a green roof to compensate (see here).

Patios

The word ‘patio’ was originally used to describe an inner courtyard, surrounded by the living quarters of a building. Today, it is used more generally to refer to an outdoor seating area that is usually attached to the back or side of a house and is frequently paved.

Patios are a very popular way to extend the living space into the garden. Most are built with the idea of providing an alfresco dining area and so should be large enough to fit a table and chairs with ease. They can be very simple or more complex, with walls, raised planters, steps and other decorative details. The most popular material for patios is paving, because it’s versatile, flat and long lasting, but other materials, including brick, wood or gravel, are perfectly acceptable, depending on the effect you want to achieve (see here).

The most convenient place to build a patio is beside the house. This allows for easy access from the kitchen and other rooms, and encourages you to use the patio on every suitable occasion. However, it’s important to take into account shelter, privacy, sun and shade when deciding on its position. It’s no good having a beautiful patio that’s in the shade from four o’clock in the afternoon and receives the full blast of all the cold winds. While you can create some form of screening to reduce the effects of wind, you will feel the lack of sun on all but the very hottest of days.

Patios: the pros and cons

A patio provides additional space for rest, relaxation and entertaining.

A seating area near the house gives you a vantage point from which to enjoy the rest of the garden.

Patios dry off quickly after rain, meaning you can go outside without getting wet or muddy, or damaging the grass.

A paved area can provide the ideal place for a small child to play on a warm day, under the watchful eye of a parent near by.

A patio can form part of the overall design of the garden, providing structure and form, especially through the winter.

BUT…

The better-quality or more unusual paving materials can be expensive.

Paving must be properly laid with a fall to allow drainage and a good foundation (see here). If you don’t do this yourself, it can be costly.

Seating areas need careful siting to avoid too much sun/shade/overlooking.

A patio will need cleaning, sweeping, and possibly weeding and moss and algae treatment.

Paving may deteriorate, especially if it has been badly laid. It can also become unstable and uneven, eventually creating a trip hazard.

Inexpensive, poor-quality materials will discolour over time.

Unless it’s on the level, a patio will need railings or some sort of barrier as a safety measure.

Terraces

A terrace can be a level area created on a hillside, a raised seating area, a patio on a rooftop or even a large balcony. The word has many connotations, but in a garden situation it usually refers to a raised, flat seating area: a patio that sits at the top of a sloping garden could easily be called a terrace.

Like a patio, a terrace can be constructed from a range of materials depending on its situation and use. Privacy, shelter and comfort are also equally important on a terrace. If, however, the terrace is an integral part of the house – for example, if it’s built above some ground-floor rooms – its design will be dictated by building constraints.

Roof gardens

A roof garden is a definite plus in a crowded city or town, but it can be created anywhere and provides a uniquely private and secluded space. Even so, there are some very important practical considerations that must be taken into account before building one, as the last thing you want is for the roof to tumble into the sitting room or the water that you’re giving your plants to find its way into the neighbour’s house. It makes sense to have a structural engineer assess the space to ensure it’s safe and have it designed and built by a professional who has had experience of such projects.

Decking

A deck is basically a patio or terrace made from wood. In countries where wood is readily available, it has always been a popular material for using in the garden. For example, wooden verandas are traditional and commonplace in Australia and many parts of the United States, where they complement the wooden houses to which they are attached. Decking is an extension of this idea and is particularly suited to waterside houses or homes that have a garden that slopes away from the house.

Decking: the pros and cons

Decking can be set at almost any level without too much difficulty. The framework rests on legs that can be made shorter or longer as necessary.

Wood is warm to the touch and very soft and tactile.

When correctly treated, wood is long lasting and ages beautifully. It can also be stained to match other structures in the garden.

There are numerous possible patterns when it comes to laying the planks: herringbone, geometric, squares, diagonals, to name but a few.

It’s a cheap, easy alternative to paving and can be fitted over the top of an existing paved area to save digging it up.

BUT…

Wood bleaches in the sun and when not properly pre-treated it can twist and buckle as it ages.

If damaged, it breaks up and splinters, which can cause injury.

Wood becomes very smooth with use, which makes it slippery, especially when wet. A deck that’s in constant shade will need cleaning with a pressure washer now and then and may need to have chicken wire tacked over the surface so it can be walked on safely. That said, you’ll bounce if you fall on decking, but you won’t on slippery York stone!

Decking requires annual cleaning and regular maintenance to ensure that it stays safe.

It may need treating every year with a preservative to stop it from decaying and may fall prey to wood-eating insects.

In recent years, ‘decking’ has come to refer to a particular type of surface built from narrowish planks that have longitudinal ridges cut into them. This is usually surrounded by a banister arrangement of some sort and supported on strong beams and uprights. However, a deck can be made from any sort of wood and it can be arranged in a variety of ways (see here). It’s extremely versatile and is a wonderful way of creating a level seating area on any patch of land, no matter how uneven. It can be built against a building to give access over a low area without resorting to steps, and may have several levels to provide extra interest and make the space appear larger (see here and here).

Designing and planning

Creating a new area of lawn or hard landscaping can seem like a daunting task, particularly when it involves reorganizing other elements in the garden, as is often the case. First, familiarize yourself with the space, do some research into design and practical issues and then do a few sketches and scale drawings – a systematic approach will really help to focus the mind.

Assess your garden

Whether you’re just putting in a new patio in an established garden or are designing a whole new garden from scratch, it’s a great deal easier if you begin with a definite plan. You need to start by making an assessment of the plot. Get a large piece of paper and make a rough sketch of your house and garden. Include as much information as possible, such as where windows look onto the garden and the position of doors and other access points. Once you’ve made your basic drawing, the next job is to identify some of your garden’s fixed characteristics, such as where it’s sunny and shady, windy or sheltered, and any sloping areas that you need to take into account.

Aspect and exposure

Aspect is the direction in which the garden faces – north, south, east or west, or anywhere in between. It’s crucial to be aware of a garden’s aspect because it’s fixed and affects everything in the garden. For example, the north side of your house will always be shadier than the south side, and in winter – when the sun stays fairly low in the sky all day – it will be even shadier than it is in summer. Most rain and wind will come from the south west, so that side of your house or garden will be more likely to need shelter in the form of a fence, hedge or a selection of tall, sturdy shrubs than the northeast side. However, don’t forget that the winds that come from the north and east can be very cold.

To find out the aspect, get a directional compass or watch the sun as it passes over from dawn to dusk. Mark the sunny and shady areas on your sketch. Once you know this, you can work out where it makes sense to site the seating areas and the lawn – remember, grass doesn’t thrive in heavily shaded situations. Also, wander outside on a windy day, and on a rainy one, and find the most exposed parts of the garden and those that are more sheltered. Mark the areas on your sketch, noting where a screen or two would help to decrease the effects of wind and rain.

Topography

This is just a smart way of saying what the lie of the land is like. A garden that undulates or has low and high bits is more interesting than a completely flat one, but it can throw up design challenges.

If your garden slopes, you’ll have to decide whether to work with the slope or to reduce it in some way. Usually, it’s easier, and cheaper, to work with it. Ideally, a lawn will be on the flat, but a very gentle slope is also acceptable. A lawn on uneven ground or a steep slope will be extremely difficult to mow. If you want a patio or other completely flat surface, you’ll need to create a level area, or perhaps use decking. A slope can be lessened by terracing and retaining walls (see here), but it’s a big job and you’ll most likely need to factor in mechanical assistance. Can you get a digger into your garden? If not, be prepared to think again. Measure and mark any sloping areas on your drawing (see here).

Views and eyesores

Make a note of any particularly pleasing views or any eyesores, such as the compost and dustbins. Mark places where the neighbours can see into your garden and those that are completely private. Using this information, you can plan screens or plantings that will disguise unsightly areas and draw attention to the more attractive parts.

If you have a manhole cover in your garden, try to incorporate it into a border rather than the middle of the lawn. If there is no option but for it to be centre stage, when you come to level the lawn site in preparation for sowing seed or laying turf (see here) make sure that the manhole cover is 4–5cm (1½–2in) below the final level. This way it won’t sit proud of the surface when the soil has settled.

Design considerations

If you’re naturally artistic, or have been thinking about your new garden for a long while, you may well be ready to get down to the nitty gritty of the design process straight away. If, however, you need a bit of assistance, it may help you to know that professional garden designers like to take into account certain tried and tested design principles that have been about for centuries. Many of the design ideas given here are closely related, but it’s easier to consider them separately at first.

Unity and integrity

Limit your choice of materials to two or three (or even fewer). Don’t have a wooden deck, a brick path, a paved patio and a gravel drive. If you must have lots of different materials, link them by using shades of one colour – for instance, grey slate paving, blue-grey stained decking and grey slate chippings – or use complementary colours. If you want to introduce contrast, have one contrasting element or colour, rather than many.

Also, it’s usually a good idea to select materials that complement the style of your house and surrounding buildings – is your house made of stone or brick, or is it rendered? What colours are the building materials? What is the period of the house? The materials you use don’t need to match exactly or be historically accurate, but they should try to capture or enhance the general style and feel of the surrounding buildings if possible.

About the Book

About the Author

Introduction

Introducing lawns and hard surfaces

Choosing a surface

Lawns

Paths

Patios

Terraces

Roof gardens

Decking

Designing and planning

Assess your garden

Aspect and exposure

Topography

Views and eyesores

Design considerations

Unity and integrity

Balance and contrast