The year in the gardens

Top to bottom, left to right: Hellebores; Allium 'Purple Sensation'; Paeonies; Heuchera 'Palace Purple' with Erigeron karvinskianus; Acer palmatum 'Sango-Kaku' with Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Golf Ball'; Achillea millefolium 'Cloth of Gold' with penstemons and clematis; Rosa 'Rhapsody in Blue'; Dicksonia antarctica; Salvia 'Amistad'.

It's been an unsettled year for gardening in London, with frequent unseasonal changes in the weather, although nothing like the challenge of last year's three month drought. An icy January gave way to a very muddy February, neither conditions ideal for getting early planting underway. Then came a long dry spring characterised by continued cold nights which inhibited growth in new plants.

Some plants thrived in the conditions: tulips came late, but very strongly once they were in flower; hellebores loved the long start to the year and paeonies were the best they've been for many years across several gardens. Acers suffered in the cold winds (and probably some waterlogging in some specimens) - I was called out to inspect and assess several Acers with withered branches - in some cases affecting as much as half an established plant. Those in sheltered sites in dappled shade seemed to fare the best.

Roses also had a good year, especially climbers heavy with blooms from June onwards. Other summer reliables such as Agapanthus and Hemerocallis had a steady, if not showstopping, year.

As summer gave way to a wet and sometimes windy autumn, leafy ferns came into their own in the damp conditions and trees showed their autumn colours early. Hylotelephiums (formerly sedums), dahlias and the tall Salvias such as 'Amistad' and 'Black and Blue' brought dramatic late colour to many gardens.

As I write this, the Nerines are just coming out, and we have the delicate blooms and sweet vanilla scents of Hamamelis, Sarcococca and Daphne odora to look forward to over winter, along with bright berries and the glossy green leaves of many evergreens.

New planting and patio in north London

Not all projects redesign the garden from scratch. This north London garden just needed a refresh. The new paving, steps and paths were installed by Graham Thompson of Creative Landscapes.

The new planting by The Urban Hedgerow is designed to integrate with existing plants such as the dramatic irises and bring bold shapes and year-round colour to this secluded garden.

The garden is generally in partial shade with the surrounding trees, but with some sunny hot spots. We planted dahlias and agapanthus in the brightest spaces and surrounded them with more dappled shade-tolerant specimens such as Paeonia ‘Bowl of Beauty’, the bright magenta flowers of Lychnis coronaria and snowy-white Allium ‘Mount Everest’.

Paeonia ‘Bowl of Beauty’, Lychnis coronaria, Penstemon ‘Alice Hindley’

We added informal edging to the beds with Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’ for that hazy lavender colour but with a plant rather more tolerant of clay soil. The dahlias provided spotlights of late summer colour, with Penstemon ‘Blackbird’, ‘Alice Hindley’ and ‘Sour Grapes’ adding a background palette.

The new Hit And Miss fence, supplied by Jacksons Fencing and installed by Creative Landscapes, provides an attractive backdrop and an ideal framework for climbers – we planted Clematis ‘Piilu’ towards the rear of the garden and C. ‘Remembrance’ behind the irises. A Trachelospermum jasminoides brings scent and white starry flowers to the fence opposite.