Planting plan for your garden in Nieuwegein

With a planting plan you choose which plant goes where. The work is in the question of why there. A border often disappoints because the plant did not suit the spot. The rest of the garden work, from paving to trees, is on the page about garden landscaping and paving.

Soil first, then the plant

Before I went into construction, I spent seven years in agronomy. That is where I learned to read the ground: which soil sits where, what holds water and which plant takes hold in which spot. I bring that knowledge into the garden.

In practice that means I dig a hole. Clay sticks to the spade and holds water. Sand runs through your fingers and dries out in summer. Then I look at the sun: how long it stays on the spot and what a wall or a tree leaves of it. A border by a north wall is a different border from a corner in full sun, even if they are three metres apart.

What I choose for each spot

For each spot I choose which plant goes there and tell you why. I look at how tall and wide it gets when fully grown, because a shrub that gets too big is a pruning job in three years. I look at when it flowers and what it does in winter.

A garden that shows something all year starts with the plants that stay: evergreen shrubs, a hedge or a tree. Around them go perennials, ornamental grasses and bulbs. A few kinds in larger groups look less busy than one of everything, and they are easier to look after.

Advice on upkeep

With the plants we choose, you get advice on what to do with them. What to prune and when. What to leave alone. In the first season new plants need more water than later. And how to keep weeds in check without standing in the border every weekend. What a low-maintenance garden really asks of you is in the article on laying out a low-maintenance garden.

Pruning is a craft of its own. With some species you cannot cut back into old wood, because nothing grows back from it. You can see that kind of garden at topiary and tree work in a front garden, where conifers were brought back into shape. If you would rather hand over the upkeep, I do garden maintenance per visit or a few times a year: pruning, weeding, keeping the borders tidy and taking the garden waste away.

From choice to border

I lay the borders as well, so the plants we choose also end up in the ground. Who supplies the material, we agree beforehand. What that looks like you can see at the paving with paths and borders around the house: brick paths, white gravel as an edge and new planting in the borders. If a new fence is going in as well, I take it into account, because it decides where the shade falls. How that work goes is described under having a fence installed.

Laying artificial grass

If grass is difficult in a spot, for example in a small back garden where it will not grow anyway, I can also lay artificial grass. The work is in the base: old soil out, sand levelled, weed membrane underneath and the grass laid tight, so water can drain away.

It has drawbacks. In full sun artificial grass gets hot, and the soil life underneath has a hard time. I would rather say so up front.

How it works

Send me a few photos of the garden and tell me how much time you want to spend on it. I come and look, dig a hole and check the sun. After that I choose the plants and lay the borders. If you have a corner where nothing will grow, I will tell you what the cause is.

Want to know what suits your garden? Send a message through the contact page.