{"id":8947,"date":"2026-07-14T09:23:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T08:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/?p=8947"},"modified":"2026-07-14T14:42:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T13:42:33","slug":"bordering-on-insanity-creating-an-all-year-round-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/?p=8947","title":{"rendered":"Bordering on Insanity – creating an all-year-round border\u2019, by Timothy Walker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On 8 July, Grayshott Gardeners enjoyed an informative and entertaining talk by Timothy Walker, who began his career as a trainee at the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and later became its director. He now lectures in plant biology at Somerville College, Oxford, and at Pembroke, Hereford and Worcester Colleges. Between 1992 and 2000, Oxford Botanic Garden won four gold medals at Chelsea. Timothy has also published books and travelled worldwide as a lecturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He focused on the \u201cback border\u201d in his Oxford garden, explaining that creating a border is a personal process shaped by the plants and colours you enjoy. While the soil should be hidden by planting, he recommended adding stepping stones so plants can be tended without being damaged. He also warned that it is easy to underestimate how tall plants will grow, making staking essential to prevent a domino effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said it was a good idea to cut down spring plants (Wimbledon Chop) to make way for the autumn plants, and you can (contrary to some) move dormant plants if you feel if they are in the wrong place.  He stated that the same went for spring bulbs which can be planted after Christmas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stressing the importance of caring for the soil, he said that weeds should be \u2018double dug\u2019 to remove them completely. He also recommended making your own compost and adding nitrogen, such as sulphate of ammonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said it is helpful to have a plan when planting a border, considering the view from the house and how sunlight moves across it during the day. He also advised considering the spirit of the place, such as a beautiful building near the garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timothy concluded his talk saying that although the colours were up to you, you needed harmony, contrast, layers and colour.  Making a border was about making pictures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The evening ended with questions from the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On 8 July, Grayshott Gardeners enjoyed an informative and entertaining talk by Timothy Walker, who began his career as a trainee at the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and later became its director. He now lectures in plant biology at Somerville College, Oxford, and at Pembroke, Hereford and Worcester Colleges. Between 1992 and 2000, Oxford … Continue reading Bordering on Insanity – creating an all-year-round border\u2019, by Timothy Walker<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2372,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"two_page_speed":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grayshott-gardeners-activities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8947"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8951,"href":"https:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8947\/revisions\/8951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}