Scottish gardening tips for a newbie

[PerpetualStudent]

In 2020 we inherited my late grandmother-in-law’s house and beautiful garden in central Scotland. Having lived most of my adult life in London flats, gardening beyond cutting the lawn and growing a few herbs is pretty new to me. It’s a really well-cultivated garden for the most part - a lawn, beautiful borders and some fruit trees at the front (East-facing) a walled border round the back and side (pretty shady) and a wild flower sort of meadow/area and DH’s veg patch at the back (west-facing). After almost 2 years of no real work it’s started to go from delightfully rustic to just neglected, and I’ve made a resolution for 2022 to give it some proper TLC.

Could anyone recommend any books or social media accounts that might help? I’m looking for things specific to the climate, and just basics of what jobs to do when in a garden.

Ideas for plants for the shady walled border and out 3 dilapidated window boxes in the front also especially welcomed! And finally any top tips for getting kids (age 4 & 6) involved/occupied whilst gardening would be great!

Also my in-laws (who still officially own the property) are very big eco warriors so would not welcome the use of lots of harsh chemicals, extreme changes or the introduction of too many non-native species. If they had their way they would literally rewild it to more forest but some compromise is needed!

Thanks in advance x

I found Brilliant & Wild: a garden in a day by Lucy Bellamy absolutely insanely brilliant in my last garden. It suggests loads of plants that do their thing and attract nature but can literally be cut back once a year (better for wildlife, better for you!). People were wowed by my gorgeous borders and it really helped sell our old house.

PLUS really did attract delightful bees and butterflies, I noticed such a shift.

Watching with interest! I need advice to keep on top of ours scotland too. Googling this book, sounds amazing.

It’s honestly really good, it sort of was the thing that got me over the hump from ‘novice gardener’ into ‘person with lovely garden’, and when I sold my house to a busy friend, I didn’t feel guilty that the garden would overwhelm her, because I know it only needs a bit of a weed and tidy a couple of times a year.

Woh now that is impressive!

I have a garden in the SouthWest of Scotland, we’re not there all the time so plants have to mostly look after themselves. It can be wet, but also has the advantage of the Gulf Stream so not much frost.
Hydrangeas, Hellebores, Leycesteria Formosa, viburnum and a wide variety of ferns do very well in the shade.
Wild flower meadows are a bit hit and miss, depending on how wet it’s been.

Oh I forgot azaleas, beautiful plants!

FB sites My Scottish Garden and Tom’s Hidden Garden are great for anyone gardening in the Scottish climate

@Gardeniafleur

I found Brilliant & Wild: a garden in a day by Lucy Bellamy absolutely insanely brilliant in my last garden. It suggests loads of plants that do their thing and attract nature but can literally be cut back once a year (better for wildlife, better for you!). People were wowed by my gorgeous borders and it really helped sell our old house.

PLUS really did attract delightful bees and butterflies, I noticed such a shift.

Are you sure she did in a day and not a year?

Looking at the preview on Amazon, it seems she takes it for granted that you have sun? Not much for a garden in shade? Is that fair?

Thanks so much all, this is really useful! Looking forward to joining the groups, reading the book and making 2022 my year of gardening

I’m not sure I have ever judged a gardening book by fairness to be honest. Is that a thing? awkward surely if comparing e.g. book on sissinghurst or stourhead to own small patch?

Yes, the principle is that you can pretty much garden one day a year. I think, though don’t know, that it was to help people like me, who had no time at the time and whose alternatives were sad dead grass patches, which is what I had. It def looked better with a bit more time spent on it, what doesn’t, but the principle did hold.

I extended the theory by buying all the plants in one day from one nursery, then planting them all on one other single day. I had babies at the time so it was bliss to have some nice things like nempeta and alliums that were soon covered in bees and needed little input from me.

OP, other things that worked brilliantly for me were hydrangea and those hardy geranium that spread out. Crabapple tree and Rowan incredibly pretty.

OP, Glendoick garden centre (between Perth and Dundee) publish free booklets called "The 100 best plants for Scotland".
They're written by the owner, who comes from several generations of plant collectors and breeders. They also develop their own new hybrid rhododendrons and azaleas.
Well worth a visit for advice and inspiration!

Placemarking for ideas! As I realise quite a few things in the garden here have to go and I'm not sure what to replace them with. Also in Scotland. There will be plenty of work with stuff that doesn't need to go, so low maintenance would be great.

@Gardeniafleur No, I was asking if my assessment was fair, not whether the book was! In other words am I right in my assessment that it didn’t offer much help for those of us gardening in the shade?

My comment on timescale is that the book I found was actually entitled”Brilliant and Wild, a garden from scratch in a year” rather than “Brilliant and Wild, a garden in a day”. Same author so I guessed it was the book you meant.

I think you’d probably be best off getting a book specifically about gardening in the shade tbh!

@Gardeniafleur

I think you’d probably be best off getting a book specifically about gardening in the shade tbh!

I was interested in the wildlife aspect. Don’t think there’s any book entitled Shade Gardening for Wildlife”

Watch beechgrove garden on bbc. It’s filmed in Scotland and takes into account the daylight and climate. And is also beautifully calming.

I’ve got the beautiful and wild book above, it’s great for sunny spots! But no, there’s not much for shade…

@MereDintofPandiculation. Try beth chatto

That’s gardening in shade, not wildlife gardening in shade.

I’m not in a desperate search for a book on shade plants, I was just commenting on/asking a question about a particular book.

Fair enough @MereDintofPandiculation - I was just thinking that anything that you plant will help encourage pollinators and wildlife as would a pond. My shady bit of the garden is a popular frog and newt hangout. Underneath the hostas.

Yes watch lots and lots of Beechgrove - I think they have a good selection of back episodes on the iplayer. If you also watch Gardeners World add about a month to anything Monty Don does in the spring.