The growth of the cutting garden

“Homegrown not flown” is the big thing in floristry these days, from royal events to weddings to smart dinner parties. The current trend – for loose, naturalistic arrangements filled with scent and colour that look as if they have been picked fresh from the garden or hedgerow – is one of the prettiest in recent years. It is far more appealing than the uniform blooms imported from thousands of miles away that provide a scentless, out-of-season display. No nasty chemicals are applied, you can observe the seasons by their changing composition, and the very presence of the flowers will benefit the garden’s ecosystem.

A dedicated cutting garden is a win-win, providing seasonal flowers and foliage until the first frosts: from spring bulbs through cosmos, zinnias, sweet peas, gladioli, roses and scented-leaf geraniums to dahlias. It serves a practical purpose – by taking the leading stem down to a pair of leaves, from which auxiliary stems will sprout to the sides, you get a continuous crop – and creates an abundant, picturesque scene, reminiscent of grand Victorian walled gardens.

“Homegrown flowers have far better scent, shape and variety. Each stem is unique,” says Sarah Raven, whose influential book The Cutting Garden was the first of many she has written on the subject. She has since created a successful business supplying seeds, bulbs, plant supports, vases and even courses in flower growing and arranging at Perch Hill, her home in East Sussex.

Georgie Newbery, of Common Farm Flowers in Somerset, would agree. She has been a flower farmer for 15 years and, like Raven, runs courses that encourage people to take the plunge. She is firmly of the opinion that plants that bloom in a single season will always look good together. “You cannot make ugly floristry with things that flower at the same time,” she says. As long as the soil is rich, well mulched and free-draining, preferably with plenty of sun, both these experts insist that growing from seed is not difficult. “It is exactly the same as building a vegetable garden,” says Newbery.

Raven even recommends digging up part of your lawn and making a patch there, rather than constructing a whole new bed. It doesn’t have to be “allotment style”, planted in neat lines. “If it is the right size for your house and your diary,” she says – in other words, if it doesn’t overwhelm you – “and you are constantly picking it, it will go on looking fantastic for a long time.”

As for unusual foliage, Raven suggests mint to provide fresh greenery: sear it in boiling water for 10 seconds to seal the stems. While you’re in the garden with your secateurs, head for shrubs such as hydrangeas and Viburnum opulus (the guelder rose). As Newbery says, “Any flowering plant is fair game for a vase.”

Sarah Raven
Common Farm Flowers

Pictures from top: a Common Farm Flowers arrangement with viburnum; Sarah Raven’s Farmhouse Garden with Tulip ‘Bella’s Blush’, T ‘Flaming Flag’ in pots, Fritillaria persica and Euphorbia characias wulfenii ‘John Tomlinson’ (photography © Jonathan Buckley); Georgie Newbery from Common Farm Flowers; and water jugs filled with wildflowers (Getty)