A Visit to Wildly Cumbria!

The name says it all really! Wildly Rural, a fabulous nursery right on the coast of Cumbria. After the recent glimpse of summer that we’ve had I’d hope that my visit would be on an equally sunny day but that wasn’t meant to be. Its wet and windy and I see where the Wildly comes from in their name. It’s a very exposed position and you just know that these plants will be tough enough to cope with anything!

Earlier in the year I’d agreed with David, the nursery owner, to pay a visit to discuss my choice of grasses as well as the quantity.  We are looking at around 200 individual plants but this depends on many factors, such as the size of the plants, and thus the corresponding pot size as well as the nature of the grass variety; how bulky they are. David will split some plants so we can have different sizes of the same grass to give a greater textural difference. That’s the sort of advice which is invaluable when you’re creating a show garden.

I need to think more laterally about how the plants will work together, less of a grid and more of a tapestry – how poetic! I’ve got to believe that everything will be OK on the day and realise that specific decisions cannot be made this early. I was aiming to create a set planting plan but the look I’m going for means that until I see how the plants will work together I can only work out rough percentages. We set a date for my next visit when I’ll bring along some of my perennials to set them out on the nursery floor with the grasses to work out how far apart they’ll need to be positioned from each other to create the look I’m aiming for. If some grasses are wide I may be able to set them quite far apart and therefore need fewer. David gives me a very handy hint; plant the grasses that sit along path edges at an angle so that the heart of the grass is directed towards the person walking past. Try it, it works!

Finally we decide on some specific grass species with some in reserve just in case and then I have to put my trust in Mother Nature!