Creating Beautiful Borders

On 28th January 2025 ODGC was delighted to welcome Laura Willgoss who with her husband Jack are proprietors of Wildegoose Nursery in the Corvedale.

Starting with the blank canvas of a derelict walled garden they have created a specialist perennial nursery and display garden.

Quoting Piet Oudolf, the doyen of prairie planting Laura told us that the aim is not to paint a picture but to conduct an orchestra, our planting embodying harmony, symmetry, contrast and repetition, with different plants taking centre stage with the changing season.  Whatever border style is being created, whether prairie, cottage garden or formal bedding we were advised to decide on a simple colour palette and develop it for each season. Demonstrating with a colourful slideshow Laura showed us a spring border planted with purple Tulip ‘Continental’ contrasting with Geum ‘Tangerine and forget me nots.  These are planted in repeating clumps resembling a loose river winding through the border.  Later these will segue into Aquilegias, Iris, orange Rudbeckia and Hemerocallis.  Blue forget me nots give way to Amsonias then Salvias – S. caradonna and S. pratensis.

The focal plants are planted first, perhaps dahlias, peonies or roses.  Avoid predictability, it is undesirable to place all tall plants at the back.  Delicate airy plants, for example Verbena bonariensis or Cephalaria dipsacoides though tall are see through and may be planted in front of lower growing plants.  Sanguisorba ‘Cranberry’ is attractive in late summer, the flowers resembling large bumblebees’flitting’ through the border.  The dark foliage of some asters,‘Prairie Purple’ or ‘Lady in Black’ provide contrast throughout the seasons before their flowers take centre stage. Grasses are useful and can change the mood, Deschampsia and Pennisetum villosum are calming, Miscanthus malepartus makes a bold statement.  

 Laura showed how narrow paths wind through the borders at Wildegoose, tables and chairs are immersed within the planting rather than placed on a patio.  Beds are best viewed from the side giving a foreshortened perspective.  Plants are not cut down in winter but left as food for birds and a habitat for insects and frosted seedheads provide winter interest.

A beautifully illustrated talk gave us plenty of ideas and for more inspiration we can visit Wildegoose.njoyment.

                                                                                                         Ghislaine Arundale