A Garden to Inspire You: English Garden Rooms

The garden, newly installed in November 2009.

The garden the following summer.

The English Walled Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden features six different garden “rooms”, paying homage to the contributions of English gardens over the centuries. English gardens mix annuals with perennials and appeal to the senses, and the sound of water plays an important role. This concept of garden rooms inspired our clients, who came to us to create a similar outdoor setting to enjoy at the home in which they have lived many years.

The current backyard consisted of a three-foot high, raised timber retaining wall along one side facing the street, planted with a tall, unsightly hedge. The yard was mostly an expanse of lawn, with some shrubs and perennials. Our clients no longer wanted the old deck against the house, but wanted to keep a large shed, and needed an inconspicuous dog run for the four-legged member of their family. They also wanted a new picket fence along the side facing the street, and a tall white privacy fence for the remaining two sides of the backyard.

Nature’s Perspective removed the timber wall and the old deck, and moved the shed to a corner of the property by the gate leading to the alley. The fenced dog run was placed in the side, back corner of the house, between their house and the neighbor’s fence, away from view. We designed three different “rooms” in the garden using natural clay pavers and natural bluestone, connecting them with a clay paver walk. The Pergola Room will house a lounging area and have an outdoor chandelier. The Dining Room seats a table for six, and also has a seat wall for additional seating. The Multi-Use Room is off to the side of the Dining Room, accommodating the grill and providing room for larger gatherings.

The Pergola Room is surrounded with boxwoods, and wisteria and clematis vines will climb up and bloom over the pergola. The Dining Room is screened from the street with tall yews,  and hydrangeas will bloom here on summer dining occasions. Elsewhere, weeping crabapples, river birches, a tree lilac, shrub roses, and lilacs were installed, bringing texture and seasonal interest. Finally, a palette of 150 perennials and over 300 spring-flowering bulbs will emerge each year, eventually covering the space with delightful blooms from spring to frost.

A three-foot basalt column water feature adds the lovely sound of water. Colorful perennials planted outside the new white fence serve to delight passersby, heightening the charm of this pleasure-filled English garden.

Click on the layout above to enlarge.

Plant Minor Bulbs for Spring Color, Deer/Rabbit Resistance

The most commonly used spring flowering bulbs are the ‘major bulbs’ such as daffodils, tulips and hyacinths. However, there is a whole group of ‘minor bulbs’ that provide such reliable color that most gardens would benefit from including them when planning for early spring color. The bulbs are tiny and the plants are small, rarely more than six inches in height, so a large number of bulbs are needed in order to make a visual impact.

The term ‘bulb’ includes a variety of plants with a large storage root (or stem) from which the plant grows every year. These little wonders of nature require only moisture and rising temperatures to end their dormancy and begin to grow. This means that bulbs are generally an easy and fool-proof garden plant. Minor bulbs also tend to be very resistant to deer and rabbit damage.

Minor bulbs should be planted during the fall, in drifts or masses, about 3”-4” deep. They can be planted in flower beds or shrub beds where they’ll emerge and bloom before the perennials get started and before deciduous plants leaf out.

Some of the prettiest minor bulbs, listed in order of the appearance in a garden, are:

Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) Snowdrops do well in our area and emerge very early. The small three-segmented, drooping white flowers are 5” tall and stand out dramatically above their silver-green foliage. (March)

Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) is another early bloomer. The solitary, yellow buttercup-shaped flowers grow 6” tall and are surrounded by bright green bracts that look like a collar around the blossom. (March)

Glory of the Snow (Chionodoxas) are low growing plants, reaching 4-6” high with grass-like leaves that appear the same time as the flowers. The blue star shaped flowers face upwards and has a central white eye, lasting two weeks or more. (March/April)

Crocus (Crocus) naturalize exceptionally well, creating an expanding carpet of bright colors as the years go by. Their purples, lavenders, whites and yellows are a clear signal that spring in on its way. These are the only minor bulbs that we’ve listed that the rabbits eat. (March/April)

Scilla (Scilla siberica), also called ‘Squill’, this vivid blue flower is about 5” tall. You can see some strikingly beautiful and very large drifts in many North Shore gardens where they have been naturalizing for many years. Some varieties are available in pink and white, but the blues are spring time knock-outs. (April)

Windflower (Anemone) is a charming border plant with daisy-like flowers that comes in a variety of blues, pinks, violets and white. The foliage resembles parsley and the plant stands about 6” tall. (April)

Grape Hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) is the largest of the minor bulbs with tiny deep blue flowers densely clustered like miniature grapes on a firm stalk. The flower cluster is about 5” long and the plant grows to 7” or 8”. They are long lasting and produce a striking effect when planted in drifts. (April-May)