Magnificent Magnolias

One of my favourite moments in the year is when the Magnolias start to flower. Along with wisteria, Magnolias herald the new season of sunny warm days and having been modestly hidden in the garden for months, they suddenly show themselves everywhere with their amazing pinky white cup and star shaped blooms.

Magnolias are unimaginably old, going back 100 million years to the Tertiary Period to a time when the Arctic Circle had a European climate and Magnolias, Ginkgo and Liriodendron grew there. They are among the most primitive of flowering plants and fossils have been discovered in rocks from the Cretaceous period. Their simple shape with thick petals and stiff anthers together with their powerful scent are adapted to pollination by larger insects. However, once the dramatic climate change happened and the polar ice cap expanded these plants were of course destroyed, however, in China, eastern North America and Japan they survived.

Named after a French botanist and noted horticulturist, Pierre Magnol, who died in 1715, there was only actually one species of Magnolia in Britain at that time, the Magnolia viginiana, now not common in gardens.

Later during the late 18^th Century Sir Joseph Banks introduced another species Magnolia denudata in 1780. A beautiful variety of Magnolia, it grows wild in China. The flowers grow on bare branches in early spring and have been the inspiration for many paintings. They were often planted in temple gardens and were seen by Buddhists as a symbol of purity. The flowers are considered a delicacy dipped in flour and fried. The only problem with this specimen is that the flowers are easily damaged by frost although the tree is resistant to cold.

It was not until the 20^th Century that many of the magnolias we see today were introduced by two British men, Ernest ‘Chinese’ Wilson and George Forrest. They were sponsored plant collectors backed by wealthy horticulturalists.

Ernest Wilson also introduced a great many new species widely grown today, including Magnolia wilsonii, and Magnolia sinensis, sadly he died young but no other plant hunter ever introduced as many species as he did.

One of my favourites, a large specimen, which can be seen growing outside the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath, is Magnolia grandiflora. This wonderful plant comes from the river valleys of southeastern America and grows in warmer climes as a freestanding tree. During the summer months large creamy white flowers hide amongst the glossy evergreen bronze-backed leaves. Vita Sackville-West wrote that they reminded her of ‘great white pigeons settling among dark leaves’. The scent is quite lemony and strong and Native Americans believed that sleeping beneath one of these trees would overpower them! They grow well in large containers, and are good for giving all year round interest, they do need watering and feeding however as it’s easy to forget about them as they need little attention.

Another great favourite of mine is Magnolia x soulangiana. Named after Chevalier Etienne Soulange-Bodin (died in 1946), he was the founding director of the Royal Institute of Horticulture near Paris. In a very early experiment Magnolia liliiflora was crossed with Magnolia denudata and the new hybrid was much praised and named Magnolia soulangiana. Over a hundred distinct cultivars have been created since. Most recognisable being those with flowers stained pinkish-purple on the outside and white on the inside but there are also very dark pink varieties as well as pure white. This Magnolia is really quite hardy and can cope with temperatures down to -20F; it flowers in early spring and covers an otherwise naked tree with lots of flowers.

A popular smaller tree, which I think works well in front gardens is the Magnolia stellata, it grows to around two metres in height with a slightly larger spread and is hardy, needing neutral or acid soil and is very early flowering, which is a bonus. The buds are flushed pink and it flowers well. If they get frosted whilst in bud or flowering it will simply grow a new crop to replace the old.

A good place to see a wide range of Magnolias is the Botanical Gardens at Victoria Park. There are some breathtaking trees of every size and variety and generally the cherry blossom is out at the same time, making for a wonderful spring visit with plenty of opportunities to get the camera out! Otherwise a walk around Bath will reveal that there are so many amazing trees in the city, normally un-noticeable until this time of year.

Colour your garden

I am a huge fan of colour in the garden, whether it is from the planting or the structures such as fences and gates, furniture and timber structures as well as walls. Colour can either perk up a grey day, of which we have had far too many lately, or it can be enhanced and illuminated by bright summer days.

Paint is an important garden material and I think much overlooked. Colour can add depth, interest, focus and contrast to any garden provided you have the relevant surfaces available to be painted. We do have a British tendency to be reserved about the colours we use in our gardens and tend to shy away from bold colours, but rather than go the whole hog and paint everything blue, adding accents and emphasising particular features or furniture can transform a dull space into something far more individual and exciting.

Exterior paint is most widely used on walls and furniture but paint can also be used on fencing and garden buildings. There is an amazing range of colours available for either timber or masonry, but the masonry paint colours tend to be slightly more restricted at the bolder end of the colour spectrum.



Paint extends the range of colours and textures available. A painted background colour on a wall can harmonize a group of plants. A painted highlight on furniture can provide an accent to a colour composition. The natural solution is to use gloss paint on furniture, to enhance the highlight, and matt paint on walls, to allow planting to become the highlight. Ordinary emulsion paint works well out of doors. To avoid everything looking too brand new, sandpaper can distress the texture and create a more worn look, which might appeal to some people, particularly where the garden is older and more established.



There are also coloured lime-washes available to use on older buildings particularly in conservation areas or on listed buildings where often it is more appropriate to use natural materials, these come in a range of colours from various suppliers.

A coat of the right coloured paint can transform an old structure and immediately help it to blend in with a new garden. This can work particularly well with old sheds and fencing, or stonework. Likewise, colour in the garden is often associated with minimalist gardens, using large blocks of bold colour with minimal planting.


I have been hugely inspired by architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis and his picturesque village at Portmeirion in North Wales.

Roy Strong, in Garden Party said:

“Clough, one knows from Portmeirion, was never afraid of colour. The buildings are colour-washed ochre, terracotta, primrose, a dusky blue.” The greeny-turquoise of his ironwork in the garden recurs on houses. “How many people ever think of linking house and garden colour-wise? He reminds any gardener that colour is not only flowers. It is what comes out of the paint pot, and the possibilities for the imaginative are limitless” (Roy Strong, Garden Party, 2000).

A walk around Portmeirion on a sunny day is rather like being dipped in a paint pot of intriguing and wonderful colours. Everywhere it is possible to add colour, there it is. Either in the buildings, the sculpture, the many architectural features, the palette is predominantly strong and capable of coping with the elements of north Wales whilst at the same time mimicking a very strong Mediterranean influence.

Bold splashes of rich colour abound, blues and ochres, turquoise and yellow. Often colours are deliberately gradiented (lighter toward the top) as a forced-perspective trick. Sometimes multiple colours are painted on the same wall to create the illusion of grandeur. The entire effect is dazzling and stimulating.

On a much smaller scale, there is a lot of inspiration to be had from these techniques and which can be applied to the smaller garden with stunning results. Whether you paint a wall a bold colour and plant contrasting-coloured plants in front of it, or simply paint a bench and allow the colours to shine out.

As Sir Clough Williams-Ellis wrote in Portmeirion: The Place and Its Meaning (1963) “design and colour really do matter profoundly to all of us as a powerful source of pleasure, if we will but use our eyes as we ought.”

The wonderful world of Wisteria

As spring approaches, I am starting to really look forward to my journey back from work, which takes in several magnificent Wisterias, one of which covers a huge Georgian house and is truly amazing.

I remember as a young child, I loved staying with my aunt in Sussex. The house was covered with a vast Wisteria, which I could climb into as the trunk and branches was so huge. Now, whenever I catch a whiff of the beautiful perfume I am transported back to my younger days.

The most important thing to remember about Wisteria is to always stay one step ahead of it, in other words, do not let it get out of control or it will wind its way up drainpipes, and into roofs and anywhere it can reach. I have spent too many hours up very tall ladders retrieving wayward wisterias from the upper reaches of various houses in Bath! If possible keep them where you can at least reasonably reach them safely from a short ladder – or get someone in to prune who is unafraid of heights!

Wisteria is a genus of woody vines that originate from Japan, China and Korea as well as the eastern USA. The most commonly found varieties include Wisteria sinensis, Chinese Wisteria and Wisteria floribunda, Japanese Wisteria. They are generally fully hardy but you might find that early flower buds can be damaged by frosts.

They do need something strong and secure to grow on. Over time the stems and branches get very thick and will crush trellis or thinner timber structures. They benefit from having a strong pergola structure or metal framework. It is worth thinking ahead when you plan a Wisteria and imagining how it will look in several years time, therefore do give it plenty of space as well as support.

They like to be planted with their roots in the cool and preferably on a sunny wall where they will reach the warmth, make sure to include plenty of rotted manure or compost and add an annual mulch as they like their food, and will benefit from feeding with liquid feed in the spring. Prune Wisteria first in January or February, cutting back the long whippy growth to two buds and take out any dead bits. It can sometimes be quite hard to determine what is dead and what is not dead at this time of year, but anything without any dark buds on is normally dead.

You can also assess whether the wire or framework is holding up and re-tie in anything. I prefer to use tarred string for this job, as it is soft and yet strong and is not damaging to the stems, it also lasts a few seasons before needing to be replaced. Using wire to tie in often results in the wisteria growing around the wire and this can damage the plant.

Tie the stems to the framework and keep standing back to get an overview to make sure the whole plant is not too congested with growth from the previous year. Once your wisteria has finished flowering, around July or August give the long stems another trim back to five buds and tie in if necessary.

Wisteria can look stunning grown into a tree, but make sure to plant it a few feet away from the base of the trunk and on the south side of the tree. As standards they grow well in either the ground or a container. Start by putting a strong support next to the plant to train it over and prune back side-shoots eventually creating a lollipop effect. Remember that if you are using a container to start off with a cheap plastic one and move the wisteria into a bigger pot as it grows larger.

Iford Manor has some particularly fantastic wisteria planted as standards and it’s well worth visiting there in May or June to see them. They line the entranceway into the main house and lead the visitor up a path to the loggia.

Wisteria have the reputation of being tricky to grow and maintain but with a bit of know-how they certainly give back what you put in.

Shedloads of Fun

When I go to look at a new garden for a client there will inevitably be the shed conversation, and it will go like this. Me: ‘That’s a big shed, do you actually use it?’ Client (if female) not really, I don’t like it at all, its an eyesore and full of rubbish. Client (if male) oh yes, its essential to our survival, we have to have it’

There is a saying which goes something like ‘every man should have a shed’ but I think that increasingly they are moving away from being a male sanctuary and domain to becoming another space to work, study or create. Or just be and listen to the radio in peace and quiet. They are the perfect solution to modern life, a hideaway and only at the bottom of your garden.

The average shed is pretty uninspiring and generally stuffed with bikes, garden furniture, lawn mowers, broken pots and massive spiders. I do encourage clients to consider exactly what they need to store, or how they want to use their shed, as most of us nowadays do not have huge gardens with space to hide the offending structure, normally there they are plonked right in the line of sight. As humans our natural instinct is often to fill any available space we have and the shed is often a prime dumping ground.

If you are thinking about getting a new shed it is really worth thinking about what you want to do in it, is it for work or pleasure or simply to hide rubbish? Could it be used as a potting shed, a studio, an office or even a larder or spare room? The permutations are endless! You can of course add a lean-to for firewood and garden tools, increasing the storage space as needed.

It’s also worth considering whether you need utilities such as water or electricity and possibly insulation. Having any of these services vastly increases the possibilities and gives you more options.

Don’t forget to find out if you need permission for your new structure. Remember that Bath is a full of conservation areas and listed buildings so if you are in any of these areas it could be a problem, but it is easy to check this out with the planning department or fill in a Householder Development Planning questionnaire downloadable from the BANES website.

As a general rule of thumb however, the structure can

only be one storey high, with no verandas or raised platforms or balcony and there is also a maximum height of 2.5 metres within 2 metres of any boundary. However, this leaves plenty of scope for a decent sized shed.

So where do you go for your shed? They are widely available from any DIY shop or from most garden centres. However, having had years of experience in choosing and erecting sheds, I would advise that generally you get what you pay for, so it’s worth considering this as the cheaper types do not last for very long. If you have a particular size in mind you can have them made for you, thus giving you the choice of types of roof, where you want the door, windows and the type of timber. Whites of Frome are just one place which makes bespoke sheds.

It is very important to get a good strong base built, either using paving slabs or concrete, but it is important to ensure that this base is perfectly level. Sometimes it is worth marking out the size of the shed on the ground to give you a sense of how it might look. Also consider planting around it or over it with shrubs and climbers.

Sheds are also a good structure for a green roof of either sedums or wildflowers and grasses but it is worth getting expert advice on this to ensure that the roof is strong enough to take the weight of the plants and soil.

Generally sheds are boring and brown. Why not spruce yours up by painting it an interesting colour? There are masses of fantastic paint colours available for external timber. Susanne Higgins, showroom manager at Farrow & Ball in Walcot Street recommends using their exterior eggshell, and it is available in the complete range of colours. I love Dix Blue and Parma Grey, but there are lots to choose from.

With imaginative planting, maybe a place to sit and peace and quiet, it won’t just be the fairies enjoying life at the bottom of your garden.

Welcome to Bath Garden Design

Welcome to our new blog at Bath Garden Design. We hope to show some really great images of gardens we have designed and built as well as recommending new products and giving some insider tips on gardening and design. Later in the spring we will also be posting some video footage of us hard at work in the gardens of Bath showing you what we do and giving some advice on taking care of your own garden.

We will also be visiting lots of gardens again this year and will be writing about them here and showing photos of them too.

We welcome any comments or questions you might have and are more than happy to give advice anytime!