Designing with Roses…

I visited the David Austin nursery in Albrighton at the end of March last year for a garden design course. Obviously designing with roses was the theme, although the principles we covered are pretty much universal.

I’ve studied design as part of my RHS training and this was a great opportunity to meet other rose-lovers, see the 2 acre David Austin gardens at a different time of year (I’d been there in October) and relate all of this specifically to using roses in a variety of ways.

Their gardens are a showcase for roses, some 800 varieties in all – English roses, old roses, species, climbers and ramblers – wall-trained, standards, shrub and bush, on pergolas and pillars and in containers too – though herbaceous planting and bulbs feature too.

Early in the year, it was good to see how their roses were spaced, trained and pruned; what work went into ground preparation (more than you can imagine!); we considered the relationship between beds, borders, paths and edging; the use of walls, pillars and pergolas to introduce height; how long views are created and used; the use of differing and complimentary materials – for paving, pillars, walls; the use of garden ornament – all without the distraction of leaf and flower. The bones of each garden design were clear to see.

Style might be referred to as matter of taste, with many general garden styles but style is also specific to each gardener and each plot. Design is more a matter of Principle, rules we can apply whichever style of gardening we prefer.

Considering such elements as scale and proportion, balance, unity, variety and contrast, rhythm and repetition, the use of focal points, revelation and surprise, line, texture and colour, which combine to make a design successful, harmonious and practical.  Not forgetting ‘time’ of course – how plants will grow and change through each season and over the years to meet one or other objective of these principles.

I’d wholeheartedly recommend a  visit up to Albrighton (near Wolverhampton) either for one of their day courses on designing, pruning or gardening with roses, or just to look around – the gardens are free to visit. The plant centre is comprehensively stocked, the staff very knowledgeable and they do a good lunch/afternoon tea!