The idea that an old, clapped-out garden can have beauty is sometimes lost on enthusiastic homeowners, keen to sweep everything away and make their mark. Like ruins, a relaxed and unfussed-over garden has huge appeal for smaller creatures, and therefore makes stewarding that space far more rewarding.
Photography by Jim Powell.
The derelict garden around a broken-down, Victorian townhouse was the imagined setting for designer Cleve West’s emotionally-engaging show garden at Chelsea this year. Or when the old terracotta paving with edging that is not spic-and-span provides further shelter in its cracks and crevices.
Yes, this is a gold-medal winning show garden, viewed from the turf around its perimeter. Unhappy with the wasteful nature of these events, Cleve had vowed only to return if it was for charity, and ideally with an installation that would not be financed through its fundraising.
Rubble substrates are no longer an unusual sight at the Chelsea Flower Show. More likely to invoke a sharp intake of breath is the sight of dark, plumped up loam between plants.
Yucca elephantipes, clinging on through thick and thin by a bench made of repurposed stone and brick, and the kind of collapsed wisteria that birds, mammals and insects love for its shelter.
According to British entomologist George McGavin, one third of Europe’s rarest insects live in decaying wood.
Crevice dwellers such as Erigeron karvinskianus thrive in broken concrete and brick (or elegant old steps), while pockets of earth provide enough nutrients for red orach (Atriplex hortensis), mint and common valerian.
An irresistible spot for birds and insects, with slowly rotting wood, native wildflowers (shown here: Jack by the Hedge or Aliaria petiola) and water with perching places.
Fragments of wall make steps, or an idea of them. A variety of levels, volumes, and hard materials, some nicely crumbling will attract more animal life.
A foxglove about to take off, pollinator-magnets comfrey and dandelion, and a rusty old grille that provides an easy shelter for invertebrates.
For these species it is critical that their over-wintering sites are undisturbed,” Buglife explains.
A rather beautiful old radiator, nestled between Valeriana pyrenaica, Atherium (lady fern) and Symphytum officinale (common comfrey).