Category Archives: Meadows 101

Winter Garden

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Michael

Winter in Amsterdam is wet and warm. Bulbs are rising out of the ground and many grasses that should have turned to straw are still green. Clearly there is nothing to do but wait for crisp cold weather and then … Continue reading →

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Perennial Border One Year Old

Posted on June 1, 2019 by Michael

We set out the plants for this new perennial meadow border exactly one year ago. The cylindrical residential tower on the outskirts of Amsterdam is in a natural green parkland setting. The planting scheme uses grasses to link the residence … Continue reading →

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Is naturalistic planting for you?

Posted on March 15, 2019 by Michael

In comparison to a carefully planted and staked traditional herbaceous or perennial border the naturalistic style can look loose and untidy. Your personality will dictate which you prefer – order or chaos. Formal planting with plants arranged at regular intervals … Continue reading →

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Autumn Fades into Winter

Posted on October 27, 2018 by Michael

Here are the last glimpses of autumn in my Amsterdam trial gardens. As a photographer I can make carefully composed images, but this “walking video” gives you the wider view.

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Perennial Garden – Early Summer, Amsterdam

Posted on June 30, 2017 by Michael

The modern style of mixed perennial plantings uses repetition of the same plants or similar plants to create a total picture. The plants are woven together rather than being set out in contrasting blocks. Even in small gardens this effect … Continue reading →

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Excitement in the Autumn Garden

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Michael

Perennials and shrubs continue to offer up surprises and pleasure in the late autumn Perennial Meadows’ garden. Grasses making an important contribution include various cultivars of Miscanthus sinensis; some tall and dramatic, others stiffly upright and low-growing forms such as … Continue reading →

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A small geranium to complement your planting schemes in a big way

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Michael

I have just discovered that it was back in 2012 when I last wrote about Geranium tuberosum. Inspired by what I have just seem in the garden, my plan was to write something similar now, but having reread my earlier … Continue reading →

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Community Planting

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Michael

Here is the small border at the entrance to my trial gardens in Amsterdam. It has been the same for more than ten years and requires less than an hours maintenance per year. Plants live together in communities sharing the … Continue reading →

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Time to tidy up the Mixed Perennial Garden

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Michael

This was my garden ten days ago wearing its late winter clothes of dead grass “stems” and perennials with their seed heads. Normally I try and tidy the garden in late winter (February) as it catches precotious cool-season grasses and … Continue reading →

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Managing Garden Soils

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Michael

Soil Management for Perennial Meadow Planting Schemes Americans mulch and Europeans don’t and arguments rage between those that do and those that don’t. Like many generalisations there are more exceptions than truths, but apparently an over reliance on bark mulches … Continue reading →

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