Caxton magazines staffThere are loads of eyesores and mishaps that can be found in your garden, so we have rounded up five, to make sure that you have these garden problems solved easily! Here are clever ways to overcome common garden problems
THE PROBLEM: View from a window onto a blank wall
SOLUTION: Modern homes often have a long, narrow alleyway between the house and the boundary wall, resulting in a dismal view. Here landscaper Barry Slabbert of James Barry Garden Design created a vertical garden by using an old wooden table as a plant stand and crowding it with pots in all shapes, colours and sizes. He planted these with succulents to keep it low maintenance. A wall-mounted pot holder with maroon echeveria brings height. A metal jardinière is another way to pretty up a wall – fill it with pots of flowering annuals that spill over the edge, like alyssum and lobelia.
THE PROBLEM: Children causing havoc with your lawn?
SOLUTION: As children’s play areas are high traffic spots and usually situated in the shade, the lawn often suffers. Landscaper Neville Orsmond of Create a Landscape suggests replacing lawn in these areas with artificial turf and installing a cobble edge to separate the natural lawn from the fake. Other solutions are to lay bark chips in a play area or to create a wonderland garden with small paths beneath a canopy of trees.
READ MORE: Treehouses for kids
THE PROBLEM: Bare spot under deciduous trees
SOLUTION: Choose plants that can handle plenty of shade in summer, but will survive frost in the winter months when the trees have lost their leaves. Landscaper Neville Orsmond recommends agapanthus and wild garlic as they are very hardy and can handle severe frost; they’ll also create an attractive groundcover in the shade during the summer months. “Although they won’t flower as much as they would in full sun,” he says, “they’ll provide a lush green or variegated carpet. If you want to add some colour in between, use annuals like begonias for summer and primulas for winter.”
THE PROBLEM: A small garden with no space for herbs and veggies
SOLUTION: “Use planter boxes to grow herbs and vegetables in the space available, such as alongside a wall or even in a courtyard if it gets enough sunlight,” says garden designer Neville Orsmond. Planter boxes are easy to make and don’t take up much space. Make them 1m high so that planting and harvesting is easy. An alternative is to build a raised bed out of bricks. Add trellises for upward-growing plants, such as tomatoes and gem squash.
THE PROBLEM: A boggy corner where water accumulates
SOLUTION: Turn the waterlogged area at the bottom of a slope into a wetland or bog garden. Dig out the shape you want (1m deep is good), line it with plastic, poke a few holes in it with a garden fork and add a layer of sand and pebbles. Replace the soil and add some compost and leaf mould. Flatten slightly but don’t compact it. Fill it with water or wait for the rain. Landscaper Karen Gardelli recommends planting it with species that love wet feet, such as Louisiana iris, wild iris (Dietes bicolor), arums, dwarf papyrus (Cyperus prolifer) and bamboo reed (Elegia capensis).
