Reveal what's already there

It is easy, when a garden has slipped out of hand, to imagine that the answer is to start again. To lift what is there, redesign the beds, order new plants. Sometimes that is the right thing to do. Much more often, it is not.

The garden usually knows what it wants to be

Behind the bindweed there is nearly always a rose. Under the couch grass, a clump of hardy geranium that has been there for twenty years. In the corner where nothing seems to grow, the shape of a philadelphus waiting to be released. The first work of a good visit is to see what the garden is trying to become — and to let it.

How I approach a first visit

• Walk the whole space before touching anything.
• Notice what is thriving, not only what has failed.
• Identify the bones — the shrubs, small trees and long-lived perennials.
• Clear only what is genuinely in the way of light, air or a plant that wants to grow.
• Leave decisions about new planting until the space has been given a season to show itself.

Restore before you replace

A tired garden brought carefully back to itself almost always looks more beautiful than the same garden replanted from scratch. Old plants carry the memory of a place. New ones have to learn it.

This is not a rule against fresh planting. It is a preference for patience. Watch the garden for a season. Understand what it does through the year. Then, if a new plant is needed, choose it because it belongs — not because the space felt empty in March.

Every garden is unique. The ideas shared in The Bon Blog are based on my experience working in Suffolk gardens. Your own garden may behave differently depending on its soil, aspect and local conditions.