In city centres and pedestrian areas local councils have been showing good taste in planting annuals in barrier boxes, ornamental tubs and even hanging baskets.
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This is often the only way to add colour and greenery to such busy places.
Beds of dwarf conifers and shrubs as a centrepiece to give year round appeal is about as ‘council’ as agapanthus planting.
But, if annuals are planted around the edges of such spots they take on a totally different appeal which can be changed by the seasonal planting of annuals.
Roundabouts and banks on the verges of roads are often planted out with annuals as well as in municipal gardens. I am an unashamed apostle of floral display beds because the public like and respond to flowers and horticultural showmanship.
In such gardens, when I worked for a local council, we used the most garish colours that could be obtained for floral designs and would make even the great art masters turn pale.
We created complex floral elaborations which not only gained favourable comments from landscape designers, but also were much appreciated by the general public.
The work involved in creating a display in a park began by removing the old plants, often at their peak, to allow the following display time to grow.
Next came the preparing of beds, the digging, the fertilising and soaking the soil the day before planting. Then ordering quality plants in the right quantities.
When it came to planting we would mark out the designs on the beds with string (sometimes by eye) and plant out the seedlings. The beds were then watered and lightly hoed to keep them aerated and weed free.
The removal of flower buds to allow the seedlings to cover all the bare earth between them as well as pinching back others to form an attractive shape is one of the secrets of success.
These masterpieces of colour are often the results of many hours of planning. Sadly, some councils are replacing annual displays beds with roses or returning them to grass.
I suspect less working hours and the cost of labor and plants are the main reasons for their change.
Flower beds can be financially wasteful and at times may lack flare and imagination, but when constructed by trained gardeners with pride in their work, annual beds are well worth the monetary costs for they give so much pleasure to so many people.
“Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful, they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul”. (Luther A. Burbank, 1849-1926, one of the pioneers of agricultural science)
Diary
Monthly: The Australian Plant Society meet at the Max Fry Hall on Gorge Rd, Trevallyn, Launceston at 7.30pm on the fourth Tuesday of the month except for December and January. Visitors are welcome to attend the meeting at no charge.
Information on the APST can be obtained from its website at www.apstasnorth.org
Monthly: The Launceston Horticultural Society meet at the Windmill Hill Hall, High Street, Launceston at 8pm on the third Wednesday of the month. Visitors are welcome.
A delicious homemade supper is provided.
Monthly: The Launceston Orchid Society meet at the Newnham Uniting Church Hall, George Town Road, Launceston at 7pm on the third Thursday of the month except for December and January. Visitors are most welcome.