What’s looking good at the moment (here in Yorkshire and on the Spanish coast)

This month, I’ve been enjoying seeing spring arrive in both the UK and Spain, it has been interesting to compare the differences, both in terms of how much further advanced the flowering season is in Spain and also seeing the differences in which plants thrive. I’ve been out renovating a garden in Spain (in the Costa Calida), so I’ve seen the bright pink bracts on the Bougainvillea starting to appear, along with the first flowers on geraniums and pelargoniums (yet to make an appearance in the UK).

Stopping by the roadside to look at the yellow and purple haze seen from the car. There were sowthistles (Sonchus tenerrimus), similar looking to dandelions, daisies (Glebionia coronaria), purple bugloss (Echium plantagineum). Mallow (Malva sylvestris) and Lysimachia arvensis (commonly known as Scarlet pimpernel with its red flowers but sometimes in comes in blue like this one).

Back in Yorkshire the woodland floor is starting to wake up, covered with bright yellow lesser celandine (Ficaria verna)and white woodland anemones (Anemone nemorosa). The leaves on the wild garlic are starting to appear, the flowers and the familiar scent, that pervades the air while out on a walk, will be a little longer. In the garden Narcissus and crocuses abound, taking over from the snowdrops, as they start to fade. The deep intensely purple hellebores are still providing colour, offset by the lemon yellow primroses(Primula vulgaris) and cowslips (Primula veris).

Garden trends 

Rather than talk about trends this month I thought I would write about planning what you want to do with your garden. How you (and I) would like to make the most of it this summer. Particularly as we are approaching Easter, this is typically garden centres and DIY shops busiest weekend of the year. The time we all rush out, at least in the UK, to buy plants and think about new garden furniture, plants and projects.

One thing to think about, while waiting for the temperature to rise, is outdoor seating areas. Is there a current one that could do with a little sprucing up, or is it time to add a chair or two, or even think about an additional seating areas in the garden? Whether enjoying a balcony, a courtyard or a larger garden, having an outdoor living space has become increasingly important, a brief chance to reconnect with nature. From a chair to enjoy a morning cup of coffee on, a dining area with anything from a small bistro set to a lounge area with comfy sofas and a coffee table.

It is worth thinking about what works best in your garden, one multiple use area to start the day with coffee, that then morphs into an office or relaxed reading zoneand finally converts into a dining space. Do you want more than one area, to follow the sun around the garden throughout the day, or space to create a shady nook to escape the midday heat. Personally, I like to be able to enjoy the garden from different angles. For example, a main dining or living area that enjoy views down the garden and a bench or bistro set nestled amongst the planting, to be up close and personal.

Where the sun falls in the garden is an important consideration when creating seating areas but so are personal preferences. Is there a view across the valley or over the roof tops that you like to sit and soak up? Or do you prefer to be cocooned amongst the plants, watching the bees flit from flower to flower? Not to mention furniture preferences, from upright dining chairs to relaxed and comfortable sofas to sink in to. Any way to be able to extend spent time outside, surrounded by greenery and plenty of scented plants has to be a good thing.

Garden aftercare and development

All the recent sun has certainly encouraged my garden and client’s gardens to put on a spurt, which has encouraged the weeds as well.

• Dividing up perennials: Perennials such as irises or hemerocallis, that have outgrown their space in the borders can be divided up. Putting one clump back and using the remaining clump(s) to create new plants for other areas in the garden or to give to friends.

• Sowing seeds: Annuals can still be sown, if they haven’t already. Many gardening books talk about sowing annuals such as sweetpeas outside from April but living in Yorkshire I still keep them under glass for a little longer. Allowing time for any frosts to pass.

• Planning for the Easter weekend: I’m planning to spend part of this weekend with a few gardening books. I’m currently planning a redevelopment of the borders so I’m thinking about which new plants I want to add. With Easter not far away, it is always good to have a list before heading off to the garden centre or local nursery. They are really good at putting pretty displays on by the entrance to side track and entice. I like to have a reminder of what I was thinking in the first place, what is the colour scheme I am planning or which seasons am I missing some colour from. There is a good chance I will add one or two extra plants into the basket but the original mission will still be accomplished.

• Weeding: It is a good time to go round the garden and hoe off any weeds, something that is easier to do at the moment while there are still gaps in between the plants. before the perennials start growing in earnest.

What I’m working on

I’ve been out to the nurseries, looking at trees and shrubs for inspiration. Now that I’ve moved onto working on the planting plan for the garden in the nature reserve. The main garden will have a naturalistic feel with plenty of woodland planting. The existing trees (apart from two small apple trees, one has died and the second is struggling) will all stay. There will be a play area underneath for the kids, surrounded by woodland planting. Further trees and lots of shrubs are going to be added, partly to enhance the woodland feel, but also to provide privacy from the right of way behind the wall (as the garden slopes down, the footpath is almost level with the top of the wall).

The evening sun reaches the top of the garden, creating the perfect spot for a gin and tonic, surrounding the area with foliage will provide some much needed privacy. The plan is to create pockets of privacy, stopping passers by from seeing everything but not completely hiding the existing stone wall, it is a thing of beauty in its own right. There will also be wildflower turf to create meadow areas through which paths will be mown. The aim is to minimise the amount of hard landscaping.

In Spain I’ve been renovating my mother in law’s garden, at her holiday property. The first job was to clear a way into the house. The magenta or red of Bougainvillea against a brilliant white building and the vibrant blue sky looks stunning. However, it grows at a fairly fast rate (it can grow around two centimetres a day) and has some very nasty long thorns on it. It continues around the property and all of it needed pruning, as did the Oleander that lines the garden wall. Once it had been untangled from the air conditioning unit and the gutter, the Bougainvillea, as did most of the shrubs, needed a fair amount of rejuvenative (taking out the dead branches and reducing the height) pruning before giving them some much needed shape.

In the future, they will be creating arches over the windows and the height has been raised (before the work began, even I could hit my head on the branches) to create shady arches over the path, to provide shelter in the heat of the summer. Everything else has been pruned and the dead plants, along with an old table and rusty garden umbrella have all gone to the Eco Park (recycling centre). New plants and compost have been added, with a predominantly purple colour scheme. A local landscaping company were contracted to reduce the height on the taller branches, remove the dead trees and rotting leaves. I thought I’d raked up a lot but they removed mountains of them.

They’ve laid new gravel too, once the old furniture and the leaves had been removed from the path, there wasn’t a lot of gravel left. It was a crash course in horticultural Spanish I wasn’t expecting! If you’ve ever in need of plants or landscaping near Murcia I highly recommend going to see Pedro and his team at Jose Serrano Garcia Garden Centre, El Saladillo (near Camposol). Super friendly and very knowledgeable. There is now a garden maintenance contract in place to keep it looking good and Pedro is going to replace the irrigation system.

I’ll be having a long lie down, after working long hours to complete it all in a short space of time.

Camilla Grayley is an experienced garden designer, speaker and writer based in York. She designs gardens and delivers garden consultancy services for clients in Yorkshire and across the UK. Get in touch if you’d like help planning your garden for 2025 on 07887 926095 or info@camillagrayleydesign.com