Budget Garden

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I love a good challenge. So when I was approached by friends (R&T) of a friend whose garden I look after, I promised I would have a look at their plot.

I think they are a typical family: both parents work, Mum does a 3/4 job in education, so has more time off than most of us Dad commutes to London and works long hours. Two children at school. No home help. They want to enjoy the garden but it sort of got neglected. R loves gardening but is not very knowledgeable, T sees it as a chore. They don't know where to start. Also, they don't want to spend a fortune.

Bienchen, you have your work cut out here.

This is what works for us:

• Limit time spent gardening: I come twice a month for half a day; we have all learned that Rome wasn't built in one day and as long as my clients see a difference, they are happy.
• I get help: if there is a lot of clearing to be done, I bag up the rubbish but R&T take it to the tip. If school holidays are looming, I try to arrange a slot when someone is around and will man the shredder, help with weeding, or whatever can easily be delegated. It means more work gets done in the 4 hours and money is spent on skill rather than unskilled labour. R&T also cut their grass although I maintain the edges.
• We prioritise jobs: it is vital to balance essential seasonal jobs against jobs the client would like to have done immediately. Start close to the house where effort will be noticed and gradually move along to the far end of the garden. We agreed that a bit of plot just outside their dining area was completely neglected and a complete eye sore. Tidying this and planting it up to give year round interest was a top priority much more than dealing with neglect at the bottom of the garden. Pruning those lovely big apple and pear trees which had not been touched for a few years in the first winter; this became the first job in February 2010.
• Keep what is worth keeping: we have been hanging on to most shrubs that could be renovated. Buddleia, hydrangea, fuchsia, lilac, rhododendron are all mingling in the sunny border. The sunny border will never look as good as a border designed from scratch but it is tidy and weed free, gaps have been filled and spring bulbs have been planted. By hanging on to established shrubs R&T have saved money on plants and retained a sense of maturity.
• Don't skimp on Spring bulbs: soon after I took on the budget garden, I noticed that Spring bulbs were virtually absent. The foliage for Spring bulbs arrives long before blooms make an appearance; it primes my client that "something will be happening" and the bulbs will the gap when the snow has melted and the shrubs are still bare.
• Plants need to give value for money. On the whole I chose plants with a long flowering season, plants that are reliably hardy and generally troublefree. This principle is followed losely, for example Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve' is not terribly long lived nor particularly hardy. It is cheap to replace though and gives colour for at least six months, so it got voted in.
• Because I buy wholesale, the budget garden could be stocked more cheaply.

March 2010

February 2011



April 2011





When I look at this patch now, the grasses are about 6 foot tall. Whichever month I visit, at least one plant is in flower, often more. Currently Thalyctrum and Erysimum are competing for attention.

The rest of the garden is still a work in progress. More than half of the existing borders have been renovated following the above process. The current project is to finish clearing the ground under the apple trees and to plant it up as a shady border.