Watch How To Be A Gardener online: Episode 8 Natural Garden

Show gardens are great… at shows. But what if you want something that looks less man-made and more like nature intended? Today’s natural gardens look like the countryside did in the days before pesticides and weedkillers, when hay meadows were full of poppies, and hedgerows were bursting with primroses. But don’t get me wrong, natural gardens aren’t just left to run wild. That would be asking for weeds and brambles to take over. No, it’s more a case of using wild plants to make a garden look as if it grew all on its own. You could even create your own area of bluebell wood, full of birds and woodland wildlife, by planting grasses and wild flowers that will provide hiding places as well as food for them. But in order for the garden to look ‘right’ it still needs a spot of design.

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