Ask the Expert: Julie Moir Messervy

Answers to your gardening questions from our experts

Evergreen shrubs , the classical go - to screen out for grounding , will camouflage a concrete wall year - round — but they can often be as humdrum in appearance as the wall itself ! add up interest group by interplanting evergreens with flowering perennials or deciduous shrubs . Allow a few industrial plant to make a height where their flush will be visible from indoors , or where their perfume can waft in through the windowpane on a summer evening .

The root word systems of evergreen plant tend to be smaller than those of deciduous trees , and most , especially the dwarf varieties , will do no equipment casualty to your innovation . you may also paint the foundation a decent color , to create a more finished feel .

Excellent question . Many veg works , like bush bean , bread , or pea grown on a tuteur are truly beautiful in the ornamental bed , but they go forth a gawk hole once their season is past . I hint a nursery layer of late - season flowering yearbook . As soon as a vacancy opens up in your cosmetic edible garden , scoop up an annual and transfer it into the empty space .

Alternatively , you could use container plants , such as a potted banana tree plant or elephant spike , and then move the plant indoors after frost .

Check with your local engineer as different types of infected and leaching fields may have specific limitations . Typically , you may plant herbaceous plants directly on top of leaching but avoid trees and shrub or plant with woody halt or luggage compartment .

true descent can be comforting – they ply a sentience of order and reassuring isotropy — but you ’re right to look for ways to keep them from becoming rigid and boring . Without alter the hardscape of your thou , you’re able to soften straight lines by adding plants that create grain and campaign . search for billowing forms that might blow in the wind – shrub willows , for example , or ornamental grasses – or plant with soft foliage like Elia ’ ears , and allow groundcovers to spill over the edge of walkways and patio .

A barque mulch or tamped ground path is the easiest to install and least expensive — but mind in snowy or rainy climate ! You might before long be track so much dirt into the house that you ’ll find yourself give to re - do the pathway . Peastone is a adorable alternative — attractive , permeable , and intimate . Be certain to instal edging that will keep those little pebble from migrating into your lawn .

Choose the arena that you wait at the most – from the kitchen window , or where you sit when the kids are play outdoors . A minor improvement where you ’ll appreciate it most will encourage you to do more in other areas of the K .

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