Permanent Planting

The permanent living features of a garden influence it.

While shaping the landscape and bearing fruit, they also affect air flow, affect soil water, and make a difference to the temperature of your home. Your observations can reveal the effects of existing vegetation, and you use them to predict the effects of introducing new features.

The relative positions of permanent plants can be critical. One tree alone might flourish, but adding another close by or even elsewhere, or creating a new hedge, might upset it. Conversely, a group of trees can benefit from one another group nearby.

Trees and hedges take a long time to reach their potential, so it can take time to discover an error—and even more time to correct it. It is therefore best to plan first on paper. No matter how labourious this might seem, it won't be nearly as inconvenient as correcting ill-considered planting.