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The Question I Get Asked Most (And My Honest Answer)

How do you know which plants will actually survive in my garden?
Here’s the truth: I don’t,  not with 100% certainty anyway.
I’ve had a row of beautiful trees that are all doing well, they’re in the right soil, position, apect, light everything is just right.  I put a watering system on them for the times I’m not around, are too busy or just forget to ensure they look great as I do use my own garden to show clients so it needs to look just right.  Then one day one of them just started to look a little ‘jaded’ I gave it a feed, I checked the soil I did everything but it never quite recovered, it didn’t die but it ruined the row of perfect trees.  But here is the thing, not everything is perfect, some things are more beautiful in their imperfection and even the best gardeners still can’t control nature.

What I do know is soil, aspect, microclimate, and 20+years of watching what thrives where. But every garden is different.  What I also know that if you don’t give your plants the basic care they’re starting from a very low base in terms of survive and thrive rates, good soil, water and nutrients are the basics which we all need, I always say to clients who tell me that they’re new plants aren’t doing well, when asked if they watered them, usually I get a similar answer ‘Well it was raining quite a bit’ .  Well did you actually check the plant was getting the water, was it in a spot that it didn’t get rain, was the plant actually getting the moisture it needed, do check.  You wouldn’t leave your dog without water and expect him to thrive, would you ?
Last week, a customer’s ‘impossible’ Japanese maple flourished in full sun while her ‘guaranteed’ lavender sulked in what should have been perfect conditions. Why?  Honestly I don’t know I checked everything but sometimes these things just go against everything that I’ve been taught.
It’s been a fantastic summer but it has been challenging in the garden, watering has been a necessity with the dry days and somewhat unusual lack of rain.  Autumn came earlier than usual too with some trees, especially ones that have been planted this year and are under a little stress, with the Autumn colouring coming quicker than the norm.
My Honest Answer: I give you the best odds based on experience, but gardens aren’t spreadsheets. They’re living experiments. And sometimes the most beautiful surprises come from the plants that shouldn’t work but do.
If you have questions about your trees and plants, are unsure if they are in the best possible place or they’re just not doing as well as they should, we are here to give what help we can.  If you need to know the best feed for your plants and when to feed them, please do ask.  We are here to help and Ian and I have a good deal of experience and knowledge but we do sometimes need to call on our fountain of all knowledge Grandpa (Peter is Ian’s dad) who has been gardening since before both of us were born and has created some of the finest gardens in the country.

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