Edibles for the back of the border.
Surely not, I hear you say. Who grows edibles at the back of their borders? Often forgotten, some edibles provide the perfect backdrop to our borders.
For beauty I am going to surprise you with my all time favourite edible within the herbaceous border; asparagus. Most of us are put off by the years of waiting prior to a crop, or the fact you assume they will take up lots of space. Scrub all your preconceptions away and consider this plant as a beautiful screening device for an ugly bit of fence or garden wall – the foliage is delicate, wispy and detracts the eye nicely from a potential eyesore.
Many years ago in late summer I was fruit picking with my daughter and we passed fields of glorious foliage and I felt compelled to investigate what crop this could be, my delight at finding it was a mere asparagus solved my conundrum of trying to locate a screening plant for an ugly repair to my garden wall, and at just about 5 foot tall, this seemed perfect.
After a while I started incorporating asparagus into my client’s gardens. Perfect for that smaller, not so deep border in a town garden. I often paired it with verbena, oregano and sage for a maintenance free border.
While we’re talking about the rear of the border, have you ever considered growing the humble fennel? There are delicious bronze varieties that don’t grow as high as their green cousins, but both can be shoe horned inbetween shrubs to provide a nice texture contrast. I rarely harvest the bulbs but the seeds are glorious addition to my kitchen cupboards.
One year, while waiting for a potato vine to find its feet I planted some spotty bolotto beans to romp up the trellising. Not only were the scarlet flowers plentiful, but the bean pods were a speckled red, adding to flash of colour after the annuals had done their stuff. Then I dried the beans and stored them in my kitchen to pop into stews throughout the winter; I suspect this was my family’s favourite crop.
Living at the top of a hill provides us with some pretty windy sites, so screening with tall plants that don’t take up the whole garden with their width is a tricky ask. Bamboo just invades everywhere and trees shade our small town gardens too much. Also you want light during the winter months when the sun is low in the sky, so how about trying Jerusalem artichokes? They grow up to 10 foot high plus they don’t mind at all if you chop them down a few feet during the growing season. They produce cheerful bright yellow sun flower type blooms and their sturdy stems withstand the windy battering West Hill experiences. They are easy to grow in our soil and have the all time advantage of needing very little attention.
So now you can plan those gaps lurking by your fences and walls with something that is not only pretty but can be consumed as well.
l Nancy Kirk is a retired gardener who provides bespoke gardening lessons in your own garden. Packages start at £250.
westhillgardenoracle@gmail.com
The Whistler 