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The UK has lost more than 97 per cent of its meadow habitat since the Forties. Re-creating just a fragment of this is important for wildlife and also to revive the human connection with this most natural of environments.
One man who has taken it upon himself to return to a more natural style even in our most urban landscapes is Piet Oudolf. This influential Dutch garden designer and nurseryman is a leading figure of the New Perennial movement, using bold drifts of herbaceous perennials and grasses that are chosen at least as much for their structure as for their flower colour.
Placed in harmony in a landscape using natural timber as seating, blocks of upright sculpture and open-topped arbours, the two combine to create an evocative impression. And the Cuprinol palette can help you to achieve this look.
The move to create green urban spaces is welcome and, from our own streets to strips of wasteland, communities are being inspired to take them back and re-create this seemingly easy beauty. Any flat or gently graded roof from garages to tower blocks, office spaces and even sheds can be repurposed to create informal floral-rich planting spaces.
Seen from first- and second-floor windows, these green oases have the feeling of a secret world right in our midst populated by insects and small birds.
Perhaps one of the most talked-about new green landscapes is the proposed Garden Bridge across the River Thames in the heart of London. This is likely to be at least partially influenced by the semi-natural Oudolf style, and we can hope to see trees, shrubs and masses of herbaceous perennials connecting the two banks of the city with a truly green corridor which will also use timber as a natural companion.
Whatever the scale, these meadow-like spaces popping up in the most unlikely of places make a welcome relief in our sometimes very urban worlds. Mini meadows can be created in your garden, whatever the size.
The adventurous can “go Oudolf” by mixing native and non-native plants, but reliably hardy perennials such as Achillea, Salvia and Asters combined with shrubs like Hamamelis, Amelanchier and Sarcococca will create semi-wild looking schemes with year-round interest. And Cuprinol is at hand to complement any planting.
• For more ideas on brightening your garden with colour, go to cuprinol.co.uk or visit the Cuprinol Facebook page, where you'll find a host of inspirational ways to cheer up your outdoor space
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