Topic
Case Studies
...Drive
...Foundations
Companion
Planting
...A, B, C, D, E,
...F, G, H, I, J, K,
...L, M, N, O, P, Q,
...R, S, T, U, V, W,
...X, Y, Z
...Pest Control
...using Plants
Garden Construction
Garden Design *
...How to Use the Colour Wheel Concepts for Selection of Flowers, Foliage and Flower Shape
...RHS Mixed Borders
......Bedding Plants
......Her Perennials
......Other Plants
......Camera photos of Plant supports
Garden Maintenance
Glossary
Home
Library
Offbeat Glossary
Plants
...Poisonous Plants
Soil
...Soil Nutrients
Tool Shed
Useful Data

................

Topic - Plant Photo Galleries with many
Camera Photo Galleries just before the Wildflower Family Pages

Plant with Photo Index of Ivydene Gardens
A 1,
B 1,
C 1,
D 1,
E 1,
F 1,
G 1,
H 1,
I 1,
J 1,
K 1,
L 1,
M 1,
N 1,
O 1,
P 1,
Q 1,
R 1,
S 1,
T 1,
U 1,
V 1,
W 1,
X 1
Y 1,
Z 1
Articles/Items in Ivydene Gardens


Aquatic
Bamboo
Bedding
...by Flower Shape
...Camera photos of Coleus Bedding Foliage Trial
Bulb
...Allium/ Anemone
...Autumn
...Colchicum/ Crocus
...Dahlia
...Gladiolus
...Hippeastrum/ Lily
...Late Summer
...Narcissus
...Spring
...Tulip
...Winter
Climber
...Clematis
...Climbers
Conifer
Deciduous Shrub
...Shrubs - Decid
Deciduous Tree
...Trees - Decid
Evergreen Perennial
...P-Evergreen A-L
...P-Evergreen M-Z
...Flower Shape
Evergreen Shrub
...Shrubs - Evgr
...Heather Shrub
Evergreen Tree
...Trees - Evgr
Fern
Grass
Hedging
Herbaceous
Perennial
...P -Herbaceous
...Peony
...Flower Shape
...RHS Wisley
......Mixed Border
......Other Borders
Herb
Odds and Sods
Rhododendron
Rose
...RHS Wisley A-F
...RHS Wisley G-R
...RHS Wisley S-Z
...Rose Use
...Other Roses A-F
...Other Roses G-R
...Other Roses S-Z
Soft Fruit
Top Fruit
...Apple
...Cherry
...Pear
Vegetable

Wild Flower
with its
flower colour page,
space,
Site Map page in its flower colour
NOTE Gallery
...Blue Note
...Brown Note
...Cream Note
...Green Note
...Mauve Note
...Multi-Cols Note
...Orange Note
...Pink A-G Note
...Pink H-Z Note
...Purple Note
...Red Note
...White A-D Note
...White E-P Note
...White Q-Z Note
...Yellow A-G Note
...Yellow H-Z Note
...Shrub/Tree Note
Poisonous
Wildflower Plants

............

Topic - Flower/Foliage Colour
Colour Wheel Galleries
Following your choice using Garden Style then that changes your Plant Selection Process
Garden Style
...Infill Plants
...12 Bloom Colours per Month Index
...12 Foliage Colours per Month Index
...All Plants Index
...Cultivation, Position, Use Index
...Shape, Form
Index

or
you could use these Flower Colour Wheels with number of colours
All Flowers 53
All Flowers per Month 12
with its
Explanation of
Structure of this Website with
...User Guidelines
All Bee-Pollinated Flowers per Month 12
...Index
Rock Garden and Alpine Flower Colour Wheel with number of colours
Rock Plant Flowers 53
...Rock Plant Photos

or
these Foliage Colour Wheels structures, which I have done but until I can take the photos and I am certain of the plant label's validity, these may not progress much further
All Foliage 212
All Spring Foliage 212
All Summer Foliage 212
All Autumn Foliage 212
All Winter Foliage 212

or
Flower Colour Wheel without photos, but with links to photos
12 Bloom Colours per Month Index
...All Plants Index

............

Topic - Wildlife on Plant Photo Gallery
Butterfly
Usage of Plants
by Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis and Butterfly

Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis and Butterfly usage of
Plant A-C
Plant C-M
Plant N-W
Butterfly usage of Plant

followed by all the Wild Flower Family Pages:-

There are 180 families in the Wildflowers of the UK and they have been split up into 22 Galleries to allow space for up to 100 plants per gallery.

Each plant named in each of the Wildflower Family Pages may have a link to:-

its Plant Description Page in its Common Name in one of those Wildflower Plant Galleries and will have links

to external sites to purchase the plant or seed in its Botanical Name,

to see photos in its Flowering Months and

to read habitat details in its Habitat Column.

 

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
PAGE MENU 1
(o)Adder's Tongue
Amaranth
(o)Arrow-Grass
(o)Arum
(o)Balsam
Bamboo
(o)Barberry
(o)Bedstraw
(o)Beech
(o)Bellflower
(o)Bindweed
(o)Birch
(o)Birds-Nest
(o)Birthwort
(o)Bogbean
(o)Bog Myrtle
(o)Borage
(o)Box
(o)Broomrape
(o)Buckthorn
(o)Buddleia
(o)Bur-reed
(o)Buttercup
(o)Butterwort
(o)Cornel (Dogwood)
(o)Crowberry
(o)Crucifer (Cabbage/Mustard) 1
(o)Crucifer (Cabbage/Mustard) 2
Cypress
(o)Daffodil
(o)Daisy
(o)Daisy Cudweeds
(o)Daisy Chamomiles
(o)Daisy Thistle
(o)Daisy Catsears (o)Daisy Hawkweeds
(o)Daisy Hawksbeards
(o)Daphne
(o)Diapensia
(o)Dock Bistorts
(o)Dock Sorrels

 

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
PAGE MENU 2
(o)Clubmoss
(o)Duckweed
(o)Eel-Grass
(o)Elm
(o)Filmy Fern
(o)Horsetail
(o)Polypody
Quillwort
(o)Royal Fern
(o)Figwort - Mulleins
(o)Figwort - Speedwells
(o)Flax
(o)Flowering-Rush
(o)Frog-bit
(o)Fumitory
(o)Gentian
(o)Geranium
(o)Glassworts
(o)Gooseberry
(o)Goosefoot
(o)Grass 1
(o)Grass 2
(o)Grass 3
(o)Grass Soft Bromes 1
(o)Grass Soft Bromes 2
(o)Grass Soft Bromes 3 (o)Hazel
(o)Heath
(o)Hemp
(o)Herb-Paris
(o)Holly
(o)Honeysuckle
(o)Horned-Pondweed
(o)Hornwort
(o)Iris
(o)Ivy
(o)Jacobs Ladder
(o)Lily
(o)Lily Garlic
(o)Lime
(o)Lobelia
(o)Loosestrife
(o)Mallow
(o)Maple
(o)Mares-tail
(o)Marsh Pennywort
(o)Melon (Gourd/Cucumber)
 

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
PAGE MENU 3
(o)Mesem-bryanthemum
(o)Mignonette
(o)Milkwort
(o)Mistletoe
(o)Moschatel
Naiad
(o)Nettle
(o)Nightshade
(o)Oleaster
(o)Olive
(o)Orchid 1
(o)Orchid 2
(o)Orchid 3
(o)Orchid 4
(o)Parnassus-Grass
(o)Peaflower
(o)Peaflower Clover 1
(o)Peaflower Clover 2
(o)Peaflower Clover 3
(o)Peaflower Vetches/Peas
Peony
(o)Periwinkle
Pillwort
Pine
(o)Pink 1
(o)Pink 2
Pipewort
(o)Pitcher-Plant
(o)Plantain
(o)Pondweed
(o)Poppy
(o)Primrose
(o)Purslane
Rannock Rush
(o)Reedmace
(o)Rockrose
(o)Rose 1
(o)Rose 2
(o)Rose 3
(o)Rose 4
(o)Rush
(o)Rush Woodrushes
(o)Saint Johns Wort
Saltmarsh Grasses
(o)Sandalwood
(o)Saxifrage
 

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
PAGE MENU 4
Seaheath
(o)Sea Lavender
(o)Sedge Rush-like
(o)Sedges Carex 1
(o)Sedges Carex 2
(o)Sedges Carex 3
(o)Sedges Carex 4
(o)Spindle-Tree
(o)Spurge
(o)Stonecrop
(o)Sundew
(o)Tamarisk
Tassel Pondweed
(o)Teasel
(o)Thyme 1
(o)Thyme 2
(o)Umbellifer 1
(o)Umbellifer 2
(o)Valerian
(o)Verbena
(o)Violet
(o)Water Fern
(o)Waterlily
(o)Water Milfoil
(o)Water Plantain
(o)Water Starwort
Waterwort
(o)Willow
(o)Willow-Herb
(o)Wintergreen
(o)Wood-Sorrel
(o)Yam
(o)Yew

Ivydene Gardens Garden Design:
The Soil

Garden Design Pages

Introduction
Site Map
Before You Start
Designing for a Purpose
Questionnaire
Site Survey
The Design Itself
Broad Design
Low Maintenance Style
Cottage Garden Style
Wildlife Garden Style
Japanese Garden Style
Hard and Soft Landscaping
Detailed Design
The Soil *
Changing the Microclimate
Plant Selection
The Colour Wheel
Plant Quantities
Companion Planting
Bibliography and further Design Concepts

 

 

See Explanation of Structure of this Website with User Guidelines to aid your use of this website.

 

heather pictureThe most important element to consider, when starting a planting plan, is the soil (See Soil Section for further details). Soil provides anchorage for plant roots and holds the water and nutrients that are necessary for maintaining life. It is made up of numerous elements.

Rock Particles

All soils except peat are mineral soils formed from rock particles. They have been ground out of the rocks on the planet’s surface by the relentless action of rain, wind and frost. The size and shape of the particles vary according to the parent rock and the weather action, so that different types of soil are formed: clay, silt, sand and chalk. Each type of soil has different qualities of aeration, drainage and nutrient holding capacity.

Humus

The product of decayed and decaying plants and animals, humus or ‘organic matter’ is the magic ingredient which gives fertility to the soil. Humus improves the structure of the soil, making it dark brown and crumbly. It holds moisture without impeding drainage and is home to a wide range of bacteria and other micro-organisms that help the gardener by breaking down organic matter to release plant nutrients. Earthworms thrive in humus-rich soils, and their movement through the soil aids drainage and aeration.

The proportion of humus to mineral particles varies in different soils. It can be added to poor soil in the form of well-rotted manure, compost or leaf mould.

Water

Entering the soil by precipitation (rain and snowfall), by absorption upwards from the underground water table and by seepage from rivers, lakes and ponds, water is lost from the soil through natural drainage, through evaporation and through plants taking it up through their roots. Plants need access to water for their food-making process of photosynthesis.

Air

Plants breathe through their roots, using the air trapped between the particles of rock and humus. Without air soil becomes waterlogged, suffocating plant roots. The living organisms in the soil, on which plants depend, also need air.

Acid and Alkaline Soil

Soil with a high lime or chalk content is alkaline (7.5-9). When lime is not present, it is neutral or acid(5.5-6.5). Peat is acid, as are most clay soils. Acidity and alkalinity is measured in terms of the soil’s pH.

Neutral or nearly neutral (6.5-7.5) soils are ideal for most plants. At this pH level nutrients are readily available. Some plants prefer alkaline soil and a few will only thrive in acid soils (See Plants section).

Types of Soil

  • Clay Soil - Slow to dry out after rain. A lump squeezed in the hand feels dense, sticky and pliable like the clay used in pottery. Clay soils are known as ‘heavy’ soils. Clay can be acid, neutral or alkaline.
  • Sandy Soil - Dries out quickly. Disintegrates when handled. Sandy soils are ‘light’. Nutrients and lime are washed away, so sandy soils tend to be acid.
  • Peaty Soil - Holds water like a sponge. Usually acid and not very fertile.
  • Chalky Soil - Drains rapidly washing nutrients away. Very alkaline; the white parent rock is often close to the surface.
  • Limestone Soil - Drains rapidly. Numerous stones are present, from tiny ones to large rocks. Alkaline but less so than chalk.
  • Perfect Garden Soil - The best all-purpose soil is known as loam. It is a balanced mixture of clay and sand with plenty of humus and is neither acid nor alkaline. Soils are usually described in terms of their relationship to this ideal, for instance sandy loam, clay loam, silty loam.

 

 

Previous Page....Next Page

.

Glossary for Page

Humus The chemically complex organic residue of decayed vegetable matter in soil. Also often used to describe partly decayed matter such as leaf mould or compost.

Manure Bulky organic and plant waste, generally from herbivorous animals such as horses.

Compost 1) A potting medium comprising a mixture of loam, sand, peat, leaf mould, or other ingredients. 2) an organic material, rich in humus, formed by decomposed plant remains, and other organic matter, used as a soil improver or mulch.

Leaf mould Fibrous, flaky material derived from decomposed leaves, used as an ingredient in potting media and as a soil improver.

pH A measure of alkalinity or acidity, used horticulturally to refer to soils. The scale measures from 1 to 14; pH 7 is neutral, above 7 is alkaline, and below 7 acid .

Acid (of soil) With a pH value of less than 7. Any substance that breaks down in water to leave a sour corrosive solution. Acid soil is the chemical opposite of alkaline soil.

Alkaline (of soil) With a pH value of more than 7. An alkali is a mineral salt that occurs in dry or arid soils. Alkaline is used to describe such soils. The term comes from chemistry, where an alkali forms a soluble base or solution of a base (a base being a chemical compound).

Loam A term used for soil of medium texture, often easily worked, that contains more or less equal parts of sand, silt, and clay, and is usually rich in humus. If the proportion of one ingredient is high, the term may be qualified as silt loam, clay loam, or sandy loam.
Bailey's Raised and Allotment Soil is a blend of Norfolk topsoil and peat-free compost. This product provides a high-quality, growing media to kick-start plant development, aid moisture retention and make the soil easier to work with.

 

 

Site design and content copyright ©December 2006. Page structure amended October 2012. Garden Design Summary added to each page April 2017. Chris Garnons-Williams.
 

DISCLAIMER: Links to external sites are provided as a courtesy to visitors. Ivydene Horticultural Services are not responsible for the content and/or quality of external web sites linked from this site.  

 

The 3 rows below provide a

Garden Design Work-flow Diagram

indicating which pages in this site help with each respective section:-

 

rhododendronpeaceflos1a1

When you buy a house, you would not paint your toilet in a Gaugin Style with many colours without thinking that you wanted Magnolia paint colour in the rest of the house, because it would look out of place.

This design process hopefully persuades you to think as carefully about your use and enjoyment of the garden as you do about your lounge, kitchen and bedroom and prepare plans that will be acceptable to the whole family.

The most important design consideration is who and how long per week is maintenance on the garden going to be done. One hour-garden by Joanna Smith book helps in this part of the design process.

If you decide that you would like to redesign all or only a part of your garden

then ----->

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

otherwise

It might be useful to read the following pages in this Design Topic:

This page followed by these:-
Introduction
Before You Start
Designing for a Purpose
Questionnaire
Site Survey

|
|
V

 

 

You may decide to simply add more plants to your existing beds

like plants to Rock Gardens using
Rock Plant Flowers 53
...Rock Plant Photos Galleries.

|
|
V

Then, you can decide on the Garden Style that you wish to use in your garden, so these pages in this Design Topic may help:

The Design Itself
Broad Design
Low Maintenance Style
Cottage Garden Style
Wildlife Garden Style
Japanese Garden Style

Additional Garden Design Concepts have been written using the beds at Wisley to provide examples:-

Using the Mixed Border, Jubilee Rose Garden and Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden in the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Garden at Wisley for examples, I am still creating The Mixed Borders Garden Design Topic . The Mixed Borders Garden Design topic may help you in planning your garden, especially if you decide to show your garden to the public - i.e Make plant labels visible in your garden to aid your own plant sales.

RHS Mixed Borders

as well as from

Garden Style

|
|
V

In choosing your style, there are other considerations to take into account like

If you suffer from hay fever, then bee-pollinated plants and very little grass would be useful

|
|
V

 

 

Then, view these Garden Design Pages in this order or any order you want


Hard and Soft Landscaping
Detailed Design
The Soil
Changing the Microclimate
Plant Selection
The Colour Wheel
Plant Quantities
Companion Planting
Bibliography and further Design Concepts

before

choosing 1 of these different Plant selection Methods:-

 

1. Choose a plant from 1 of 53 flower colours in the Colour Wheel Gallery.

 

2. Choose a plant from 1 of 12 flower colours in each month of the year from 12 Bloom Colours per Month Index Gallery.

 

3. Choose a plant from 1 of 6 flower colours per month for each type of plant:-

Aquatic
Bedding
Bulb
Climber
Conifer
Deciduous Shrub
Deciduous Tree
Evergreen Perennial
Evergreen Shrub
Evergreen Tree
Hedging
Herbaceous Perennial
Herb
Odds and Sods
Rhododendron
Rose
Soft Fruit
Top Fruit
Wild Flower

 

4. Choose a plant from its Flower Shape:-

Shape, Form
Index
Flower Shape

 

5. Choose a plant from its foliage:-

Bamboo
Conifer
Fern
Grass
Vegetable

 

6. There are 6 Plant Selection Levels including Bee Pollinated Plants for Hay Fever Sufferers in
Plants Topic.

 

7. Your chosen Garden Style then changes your Plant Selection Process:-

Garden Style
...Infill Plants
...12 Bloom Colours per Month Index
...12 Foliage Colours per Month Index
...All Plants Index
...Cultivation, Position, Use Index
...Shape, Form
Index

I have moved on in March 2016 to create the Garden Style and the other design galleries for the New Plant Selection Process number 7.

Bee-Pollinated Plants information in this website using the Bee-Pollinated Bloom in Month Colour Wheel Gallery:-

Besides the plants in the
British Floral Sources of importance to Honey Bees
and
Bee Pollinated Plants for Hay Fever Sufferers
the following 3 sets of Bee-pollinated plants are suitable for Hay-fever Sufferers; except for the 2 grasses in the second list:-

  • The Bee-pollinated Bloom in Month gallery compares the photos from 13 flower colours per month for many plants from the other Galleries, by clicking on the 1 in the relevant Flower per month Colour in the Colour Wheel down on the right of its pages,
  • the Bee-pollinated Index Gallery provides the tabular index of another 264 plants with the relevant colour in that respective month:-
    • 51 ANNUALS
    • 2 ANNUAL - VEGETABLE
    • 4 AQUATIC PLANTS
    • 11 BIENNIALS
    • 21 BULBS, CORMS, OR RHIZOMES
    • 4 CLIMBERS
    • 31 DECIDUOUS SHRUBS
    • 26 DECIDUOUS TREES
    • 9 EVERGREEN PERENNIALS
    • 22 EVERGREEN SHRUBS
    • 2 EVERGREEN TREES
    • 2 GRASSES which cause hayfever
    • 4 SEMI-EVERGREEN SHRUBS
    • 66 HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS
    • 9 PERENNIAL HERBS
      followed by
  • Click on these extra bee-pollinated plant names:-

 

 

 

THE 2 EUREKA EFFECT PAGES FOR UNDERSTANDING SOIL AND HOW PLANTS INTERACT WITH IT OUT OF 15,000:-


Explanation of Structure of this Website with User Guidelines Page for those photo galleries with Photos (of either ones I have taken myself or others which have been loaned only for use on this website from external sources)

 

or

 

when I do not have my own or ones from mail-order nursery photos , then from March 2016, if you want to start from the uppermost design levels through to your choice of cultivated and wildflower plants to change your Plant Selection Process then use the following galleries:-

  • Create and input all plants known by Amateur Gardening inserted into their Sanders' Encyclopaedia from their edition published in 1960 (originally published by them in 1895) into these
    • Stage 1 - Garden Style Index Gallery,
      then
    • Stage 2 - Infill Plants Index Gallery being the only gallery from these 7 with photos (from Wikimedia Commons) ,
      then
    • Stage 3 - All Plants Index Gallery with each plant species in its own Plant Type Page followed by choice from Stage 4a, 4b, 4c and/or 4d REMEMBERING THE CONSTRAINTS ON THE SELECTION FROM THE CHOICES MADE IN STAGES 1 AND 2
    • Stage 4a - 12 Bloom Colours per Month Index Gallery,
    • Stage 4b - 12 Foliage Colours per Month Index Gallery with
    • Stage 4c - Cultivation, Position, Use Index Gallery and
    • Stage 4d - Shape, Form Index Gallery
    • Unfortunately, if you want to have 100's of choices on selection of plants from 1000's of 1200 pixels wide by up to 16,300 pixels in length webpages, which you can jump to from almost any of the pages in these 7 galleries above, you have to put up with those links to those choices being on
      • the left topic menu table,
      • the header of the middle data table and on
      • the page/index menu table on the right of every page of those galleries.

There are other pages on Plants which bloom in each month of the year in this website:-

 

 

 

Fragrant Plants adds the use of another of your 5 senses in your garden:-
Sense of Fragrance from Roy Genders

Fragrant Plants:-
Trees and Shrubs with Scented Flowers.

Trees and Shrubs with Scented Leaves.

Trees and Shrubs with Aromatic Bark.

Shrubs bearing Scented Flowers for an
Acid Soil.

Shrubs bearing Scented Flowers for a
Chalky or Limestone Soil.

Shrubs bearing Scented leaves for a
Sandy Soil.

Herbaceous Plants with Scented Flowers.

Herbaceous Plants with Scented Leaves.

Annual and Biennial Plants with Scented Flowers or Leaves.

Bulbs and Corms with Scented Flowers.

Scented Plants of Climbing and Trailing Habit.

Winter-flowering Plants with Scented Flowers.

Night-scented Flowering Plants.

Scented Aquatic Plants.

Plants with Scented Fruits.

Plants with Scented Roots.

Trees and Shrubs with Scented Wood.

Trees and Shrubs with Scented Gums.

Scented Cacti and Succulents.

Plants bearing Flowers or Leaves of Unpleasant Smell.
 

Flower Perfume Group:-

Indoloid Group.

Aminoid Group with scent - Hawthorn.

Heavy Group with scents -
Jonquil and
Lily.

Aromatic Group with scents - Almond,
Aniseed, Balsamic,
Carnation, Cinnamon, Clove,
Spicy and
Vanilla.

Violet Group.

Rose Group.

Lemon Group with scent -
Verbena.

Fruit-scented Group with scents -
Apricot,
Fruity,
Green Apple,
Orange, Pineapple,
Ripe Apple , Ripe Banana and
Ripe Plum.

Animal-scented Group with scents -
Cat,
Dog,
Ferret,
Fox,
Goat,
Human Perspiration,
Musk,
Ripe Apple and
Tom Cat.

Honey Group.

Unpleasant Smell Group with scents -
Animal,
Fetid,
Fishy,
Foxy,
Fur-like,
Garlic,
Hemlock,
Manure,
Nauseating,
Perspiration,
Petrol,
Putrid,
Rancid,
Sickly,
Skunk,
Stale Lint,
Sulphur and
Urinous.

Miscellaneous Group with scents -
Balm,
Brandy,
Cedar,
Cloying,
Cowslip,
Cucumber,
Damask Rose, Daphne,
Exotic,
Freesia,
Fur-like,
Gardenia,
Hay-like,
Heliotrope, Honeysuckle,
Hops,
Hyacinth,
Incense-like, Jasmine,
Laburnham,
Lilac,
Lily of the Valley, Meadowsweet, Mignonette,
Mint,
Mossy,
Muscat,
Muscatel,
Myrtle-like,
Newly Mown Hay, Nutmeg,
Piercing,
Primrose,
Pungent,
Resinous, Sandalwood, Sassafras,
Seductive,
Slight,
Soft,
Stephanotis,
Sulphur,
Starch,
Sweet,
Sweet-briar,
Tea-rose,
Treacle and
Very Sweet.