Liquid sunshine is a wonderful tonic for the garden bringing forth abundant growth in all areas of the landscape. After the long dry period up to the end of May growth was starting to suffer but holding its own, flowering was prolific on Lantanas, Pentas, roses to name but a few; the rain will 'finish' the first flush of flower and new growth will be produced. This is a good time to prune the dead flower heads on Pentas and Lantana and other similar plants as it will encourage new growth and initiate flower production for the next flush. The Pentas and Lantana – especially the latter – have shown their true value during the spring being a riot of colours and should be used as such around the garden; as a ground cover they are invaluable and produce several flowerings throughout the year, they also reduce weed growth. Be careful however not to over-plant in too large a mass to avoid creating a large bare area of 'nothing' when they are not in flower. Diversity of flowering time and colour goes a long way in keeping the garden in a 'flowering mode'.

I am a great believer in using ground cover plants not only to add interest and flower but simply to control weed growth in the most active part of the growing season; I have never been a great fan of using the mulch approach especially when the chippings are ungainly in size and visually unattractive. The size of mulch used in gardens is such that breakdown into humus is rare and invariably the mulch is raked up and removed. Weed control in the flower beds and lawn areas increases maintenance and therefore cost if using a landscape company to maintain the property. With proper maintenance practices weed growth should be kept under control especially on those short lived weeds that germinate and produce seed in a very short period of time – ephemerals – and can have their seeds disseminated by wind or animals in and around the garden.

A combination of plantings using flower, leaf shape and colour, seed, fruit and bark colour enhances the appearance of any garden, and when the mix incorporates ground covers with perennials and shrubs the overall coverage of the plantings is adequate for most of the bed to benefit. Such coverage in itself will help in the reduction of weed growth, whilst allowing the foundation plantings the benefit of uptake of water and nutrients with little competition.

When maintenance is based on an as and when required approach, tasks become more obvious each week, and the art of observation should in time be honed to quick recognition of problems as soon as they appear. For example, pests are quite prevalent during new growth periods when foliage is soft and lush; diseases can be found during wet and humid periods. Pruning should be an occasional task not a 'weekly' one especially for flowering plants. Pruning not only creates a good foundation for future growth and therefore ongoing pruning material, but the very act creates a good shape and removal of dead dying or diseased wood, very much like an annual physical it helps keep the plant healthy in the environment.

Properties that have an area of land that is not 'cultivated' can be made attractive by creating a woodland or wild garden which though having an appearance of being uncultivated can be controlled to achieve an added dimension to the property. With the use of endemics and naturalised material plus some introduced plants the area can be transformed into a place of interest by using similar techniques to laying out the garden. Plants such as Dodonea viscosa – Jamaica Dogwood will grow well on barren hillsides and poor soil, whilst Myrica cerifera – Wax Myrtle will grow in damp areas; erigeron darrellianus – Darrells Fleabane grows on banks and cuttings and has an attractive white flower; Chiococca bermudiana – Snowberry grows in many areas as an under-planting attracting avian activity with its white berries.

Lawns too can be labour intensive or kept at a reasonably low level of maintenance if the lawn consists of one grass type and is kept weed free. Lawns with a single grass type are far easier to maintain both from a cutting perspective and weed control. Grass type should be determined by the function of the grass and to some extent the location. Mixed grass lawns are difficult to control with regard to weed growth as certain chemicals can have an adverse effect on other grasses; another problem as to uniformity of height is the variance between grasses as to their individual height of cut for the best appearance.

For hard wearing lawns that will require heavy pedestrian traffic is a totally different need than one for simply aesthetic effect. Height of mowing cut varies greatly between the three summer lawn grasses, viz, Bermuda, Zoysia and St. Augustine Floratem (forget about common St. Augustine it is being ravaged by chinch bug).

Keeping plants healthy especially trees will reduce the need for unnecessary pruning which on large trees is a specialised job and should only be carried out by a professional tree surgeon. Placement of plantings can also be a costly exercise if the location proves to be the wrong area and damage by roots of over-hanging branches dictates removal of the tree when at a mature size. Planting hedges too close to the road or boundary will increase the need for pruning so plant three to four feet from the line which allows plants to grow well and flower before pruning is needed. Ensure a good depth of soil when planting, plants and lawns as good soil depth will encourage roots to 'go down' and search for water; shallow soil depth will encourage surface growing roots which during drought periods will suffer and the need to irrigate becomes evident and time consuming.

Design will dictate to some degree maintenance, especially once the garden has become established and plants 'grow in', it is important therefore to recognize that the garden is not a static entity and is constantly evolving and growing. A garden like any project needs planning, it is not that we plan to fail we just fail to plan!

griffm@northrock.bm