The Pylon Garden

In September 2021, I decided to greatly expand the planting area. The aim was to have a relatively low maintenance planted area. The great challenge is to create a visually attrative garden under high voltage cables and a great big pylon.

The area featured on this page is actually two quite distinct area in terms of planting style and care.

The main area is a gravel area, with gabion pillars and three intersecting paths. The planting cannot have trees as they would not be allowed to be more than four metres (I think).

The seond area is linear in layout, featuring herbaceous perennials and some low rounded shrubs, this planting sheme does not have gravel mulch and is slighly higher in maintenance demands.

The Gabbions

You cant hide a pylon. I have said before that having a great big ugly pylon in your garden is a bit like having a big spot on your face. After a while you dont notice it, but everyone else can see it. It is not until you look in the mirror again that you see it, and in the case of the garden, when I look at a photograph of the garden; there it is, the electrical monstrosity.

I used three gabions filled with stone from the farmyard next door to create a visual distraction, this is reinforced by the intersection of three paths. The paths were defined by having a larger grade of stone than the planted area, and the plants. The gravel I used is caller Sperrin Mix, it is grey with warmer purplish tones.

The Plants

The approach to planting was to select a few plants for structure, some for foliage colour, a few big leafy statement plants. The add a layer of low growing spreading plants to cover the gravel. To fill the gaps, vertical plants and flowering perennials.

I have repeated plants but I do not plant in drifts. Sometimes I will get a number of similar but not identical plants and repeat them throughout the planted area: Kniphoifa varieites, low growing Phormiums and a pink flowered osteospermum seedling.

Plants in the gravel area

The Linear Bed

The linear part of the bed preceded the gravel area by a few months.

It is a slightly higher maintenance area as there are no weed barriers or permanent mulches used. It is much more traditional, a mix of herbaceous perennials and shrubs, and bird feeder!

When establishing the bed, I used cardboard covered with grass clippings to help reduce the need for weeding.

I usually need to weed the area every couple of months and add an bulky organic mulch once a tear, inwinter or early spring.

Plants in the linear bed

See how the areas have evolved