‘The Contemporary Mixed Border’

March 6^th 2013. A talk by Jimi Blake held in Howth Yacht Club.

Hunting Brook Garden has been developed by Jimmi Blake from oak wood and former meadow over the last decade.  The site is 1,000 ft. up, on acid soil in Co. Wicklow and known to some members.

He chose to talk about the herbaceous border schemes located in open ground adjacent to his house.  Although designed on a comparatively grand scale, many of his ideas may be applied to a suburban situation.  A key idea is the repeated use of conspicuous signature plants in a border to provide rhythm and linkage.  Having selected a palette of colour and texture for a scheme, he generated the overall design directly on the ground by placing and rearranging plants before planting.  He spoke a great deal about selected individual plants, emphasising that continuous trial and error plays a part in selecting those that suit your taste and garden environment.  His slides were well labelled and facilitated many members to compile lists of modern improved varieties of much loved border plants.

This talk proved very popular and attracted an excellent turnout of members and their friend.  Jimi brought along some plants and seeds for sale.  If you were not present you missed a treat!