Our speaker, Richard Arnott is a relatively ‘new’ speaker on the circuit but came highly recommended by a couple of local clubs. Also we were well aware of his excellent contributions to ‘The Listing’ which pops through your door at regular intervals. We were not disappointed – Richard came armed with beautiful plants, excellent reference books and a splendid visual presentation which included informative, colourful and relevant ‘pictureboards’ with multiple images.
After training at the Cambridge Botanic Gardens Richard set up his business as a ‘hands on’ Garden Designer some 15+ years ago and seems to be going from strength to strength. He approached his subject for the evening in a very professional but audience-friendly way. As usual I can only briefly record his recommendations but I hope that I can whet your appetite for taking a critical look at your garden at this very moment to see if improvements can be made to your autumn/winter garden.
FOLIAGE – try the multi-stemmed tree – the amelanchier – with brightly coloured leaves or the vitis coignetiae – the Crimson Glory Vine.
STEMS – grow euonymus as ground cover with cornus (dog wood) growing through – the cornus, Midnight Fire, is excellent as long as you don’t hard-prune it. Do remember the corylus (hazel) with its twisted branches. How can we forget the winter garden at Anglesey Abbey with all those silver birches, betula pendula, as well as prunus serrula and paper bark maple – the acer griseum.
FLOWERS – The old favourites must be included – galanthus (snowdrop) in drifts, of course, viburnum bodnantense Dawn with its fragrant white flowers tinted with pale pink, the equally fragrant semi-evergreen lonicera purpusii and the Christmas box – sarcocca humulis. Best of all? the helleborus – the Christmas rose!
BERRIES – the purple berries of callicarpa Profusion will impress the neighbours! Take a Wandlebury walk and enjoy the groups of euonymus europaeus Red Cascade with its lovely red fruits opening to show orange seeds. Ilex crenata – aptly-named the box holly is a useful boundary plant (use instead of box if you suffer from the dreaded blight!)
Richard’s final messages were to experiment with your garden, be ruthless with plants that are clearly out-of-place, remember form and structure, mix grasses with perennials – miscanthus with phlomis russeliana, echinacea purpurea and sedum matrona. As his hero Piet Oudolf said ‘colour is a secondary consideration’ (in autumn/winter – he should have added!)