I've totally loved Fergus Garrett's zoom talks from Great Dixter over this period of coronavirus disruption. As far as I'm concerned, they've taken these kind of talks to a whole new level, providing an insight into the processes used at Dixter to achieve the mind-blowing levels of horticultural intensity. None of us may hope to garden like this, but I've found that there's been so much to take away from them, despite my rather humbler horticultural ambitions.
For instance, I loved the talk about squeezing bulbs in between clumps of perennials, and how Ferg demonstrated, through pics of lifted bulbs, how both the growth of the bulb and the growth of the perennial have to be considered if they're going to be able to happily coexist. There were similar considerations discussed in the latest talk, about tucking annuals and perennials into gaps in mixed plantings, down to how practically how that can be achieved with minimal disruption to existing contents. I was spellbound!
Did you watch them? if so, what did you take away from these talks? If not, how much do you regret that now???
What totally new thing have you learned from Fergus Garrett's talks?
Discussion
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I have been fortunate enough to watch all four of them Michael and I think ‘spellbound’ is exactly how I felt too. I’ve found it hard to articulate to my husband just what those lectures gave me – heightened perception of shape, texture and form in my garden, a new way of seeing? I wrote pages of notes, sketched little drawings of ideas for a border and came away feeling as though I’d been given a gift. I was given a gift. I’ve been taking notes on my garden, on flowering times and expected final height/spread of my ‘anchor plants’ (oh for the hedges at Dixter!). I had planned to travel through the UK next year and attend study days at Dixter and Edinburgh Botanic. That’s not likely now but these lectures have been some pretty special consolation.
That’s a great way of describing them – as a gift. And anything that gives you a new way of seeing is priceless, isn’t it?
I liked the idea of planting Eucomis at the back of a border where they will flower tall later in summer. I had two large pots of Eucomis that were 》 10 years old. Split one up to plant in back of a shady border and divided other one back into tge two pots where they’ll grow snd flower trouble free every summer for a few years. @gregh4d
Yeah, I was really interested in this idea – using the space along the back of a wall for shade-loving things in the ‘off’ season