While natural gardens and meadow plantings may have increased in popularity in the last few years, formal gardens still have a place in our fast-paced, chaotic world.
By Hannah Stephenson
The desire to shape and square, to manipulate plants and space to attain order and create symmetry, is a subject explored by designer pals Diarmuid Gavin and Sir Terence Conran in their new book Planting, in which they share many of their secrets of planting with enthusiasts.
"Humans love order and repetition. There is symmetry to it," Gavin explains. "They like the illusion of reflection - whether it is mirrors or still ponds.
"And they have an abiding desire to control outdoor space: to clean it and to level and decorate it with familiar lines and shapes."
While many formal gardens were designed to be viewed from a distance, to create grandeur by using geometric shapes, this vista cannot be easily transferred to suburban gardens because of their less even shapes and sizes.
Aspects of formal gardens in the UK have been copied by many amateur gardeners on much smaller scales, achieving formal style with ferns or grasses, or simply by using just one colour of flowers.
"You can create your own sense of drama and theatre within the boundaries of the plot by laying out grids using evergreen shrubs," says Gavin.
Some plants are particularly easy to manipulate and clip into shape year on year, including box, yew (Taxus baccata), privet (Ligustrum lucidum), juniper, holly and berberis.
"You can make little formal hedges that may be no more than 20cm high, or you can clip hornbeam or species of lime (tilia) into very unnatural but pillar or column-like structures," Gavin explains.
In smaller spaces, such as courtyards, many gardeners place some sort of ornament in the centre of the space, such as an aquatic feature like a small fountain or bowl of still water, or an architectural plant.
Containers can also create a much more formal feel to a small garden.
"A parallel row of containers can be introduced to reinforce the geometry of a scheme, guiding the eye to a focal highlight or in the direction of a stunning vista," Gavin explains.
"Pots of beautifully-trimmed evergreen shrubs or those brimming with cascading flowers can illuminate paved courtyards, as well as being used to enhance formal entrances or walkways.
"Ornate pots and those of aged stone suit a formal garden, while traditional terracotta is classic in any garden setting. Keep the different styles as limited as possible - a single style has the greatest impact."
Plants synonymous with formal gardens, including box and privet, create structure, shape and form in pots, while topiary specimens can be made to look the same through clipping - pyramids, spheres and columns are favourites.
Tall, slim containers can be used to line and define a patio area planted with box ball topiary to provide evergreen colour, contemporary planting and architectural emphasis.
Square pots filled with plantings of the same colour (white is always a good option) and again used in repetition can bring structure to a softer, tree-filled garden.
"Large containers can become the main focal points in a formal setting. They are wonderful as structural features at the bottom of a garden and look superb if set on a raised terrace for a feeling of grandeur, defining the boundary and ownership of the land," says Gavin. "Architectural plants best serve this purpose."
You can, however, add much colour to your formal garden through container plants.
"Pelargoniums, wallflowers and matched mixed planting can be used to inject a burst of colour. Big blowsy shrubs such as hydrangeas, roses and lilacs look wonderful in a formal garden," says Gavin.
"Grow them so they are approximately the same shape and size, and position single species in repetition to restore the sense of control that is easy on the eye and definitive of formal garden design."
:: Planting by Diarmuid Gavin & Terence Conran, is published in hardback by Conran Octopus, priced £40.
Best of the bunch - Pyracantha (Firethorn)
These famously prickly evergreen shrubs are ideal for training against walls - not only to show their wonderful berries off to their best but also to deter opportunist burglars, thanks to the sharp thorns.
They can also be grown as free-standing bushes, and most will be producing berries now in varying shades of red, orange or yellow. Birds tend to leave them alone, so the berries can remain until Christmas and beyond.
The most popular is P coccinea 'Lalandel', which produces orange-red berries, while 'Orange Glow' provides excellent orange berries and 'Soleil d'Or' has yellow berries.
Plants will grow to 2.5m x 2.5m and look wonderful if trained as espaliers. They thrive in any reasonable garden soil in sun and partial shade.
Good enough to eat - Pumpkins
A pumpkin is not just for Halloween - they can make great soups and pies, and are really not difficult to grow.
These huge orange veg need a long, hot growing season to fully ripen, and are best planted in fertile, moist soil in the sun. Sow seeds indoors in April and plant out when all risk of frost has passed, protecting the young plants with cloches if the weather turns really cold. Give the plants some liquid fertiliser every two weeks and water during particularly hot or dry spells. They make a good strong root system so, once established, they are not as thirsty as courgettes.
When growing large cultivars, remove the growing tip when three fruits have set, giving them a better chance of ripening. If you only want one giant pumpkin, just leave one fruit on each plant.
Put a layer of straw or a board under the fruits to keep them clean, and let them ripen on the ground until they sound hollow when tapped.
Good varieties include 'Triple Treat', which is round and orange with tasty flesh, and 'Becky', a medium-sized variety ideal for carving. If pumpkins are fully ripened, they should develop a hard skin which will help it last in storage for months.
Three ways to... safeguard your allotment
1. Try to keep the site fully occupied - if there are neglected or vacant plots, encourage friends and neighbours to take them on. That way, a hard-pushed local authority would be less likely to sell it to developers, claiming there is no demand.
2. If your site is not thriving, take a more active role in self-management, sparking enthusiasm so that everyone pulls together and takes pride in the site. Councils offer various levels of independence, but it is in their interest to hand over some of the management as it saves them time and money.
3. Run your allotment organically, putting wildlife habitats in place.
What to do this week
:: Plant new climbers, shrubs and trees while the soil is still warm.
:: Take cuttings or save tender plants when you clear out summer containers if you have space to overwinter them.
:: Check the greenhouse heating and insulate to save heat.
:: Make sure bowls of bulbs being forced for indoor flowering don't dry out.
:: As land becomes vacant in the vegetable plot, start digging when ground conditions are good, leaving the ground rough to allow the frost to penetrate.
:: Protect strawberries potted for forcing early next year against frost by putting them in a cold frame.
:: Continue to plant biennials such as foxglove, Canterbury bells and honesty.
:: Check over brassicas for caterpillars of the cabbage white butterfly and pick off any you find.
:: Cut back asparagus foliage and weed the bed and any self-set plants before applying a layer of organic matter.
:: Once leaves have fallen, prune gooseberries.
:: Mow your lawn less frequently as growth slows down, and raise the height of the cutting blades.
:: Reduce the feeding of fish in ponds as any food not eaten will just decompose in the water.
:: Complete the pruning of climbing roses and tie them in before the autumn winds pick up.
:: Trim conifers if necessary for the last time, but don't cut into old wood.
:: Prune tall shrubs such as lavateras and Buddleia davidii, cutting them back by about half their height to tidy them up and prevent wind rock during winter. They can then be pruned hard in the spring.
:: Plant herbaceous perennials while the soil is still warm. They look best planted in groups of three or more plants.
