Last year, Di Johnson lost her husband, Douglas, after nearly 60 years of marriage. Their life together began as young doctors in New Guinea, and over the following six decades they built a family and shared a rich, busy life. Through it all, Di was driven by her passion for gardening and design, always finding time to create beautiful outdoor pictures, carefully combining her favourite plants to craft memorable flower borders.
As a couple, Di and Doug complemented each other perfectly, Doug growing the vegetables and Di creating magnificent garden vistas. Now in her eighties, Di continues to express her creativity despite ailing physical health.
Perfecting beautiful borders is an Olympian challenge for gardeners, requiring the greatest skill and knowledge with a difficulty rating of 9 out of 10 compared to growing vegetables for the family. Getting the colour combinations right and the flowering times to align at the right height, width and longevity to create lasting, breathtaking pictures requires progression as a gardener.
For those new to the art, it can be daunting, but Di suggests a few guiding principles:
- Select plants for their contrasting form and textural variation, not just their flower colour.
- Include grey foliage to harmonise with pastel-coloured flowers and break up the green of the other perennials.
- Consider a gradation of colour and pastel hues that transition through a border, as this can often be more pleasing to the eye and coherent than strong or abrupt colour contrasts.
- Choose perennials that flower right through our hot Australian summers. Know your flowering times to achieve a crescendo of colour over the season.
- Plant in staggered groupings to mimic nature and achieve a sense of overlapping, rather than static blocks side by side.
- Provide a firm hand when pruning – don’t be afraid to cut back hard after flowering as this is critical for dense, vigorous regrowth each season.
- Learn the individual nuances of plants, e.g. Di adds dolomite lime annually to her delphiniums for essential calcium and magnesium.
