Border in miniature

I have never watered the borders, even in the driest summer. Occasionally I have watered peas and beans - when they were desperate. But, however wise you are about water, you do have to water containers, even on wet days, because good ones have to be packed with plants to look good.

Mine are needing less and less water because in recent years I have gone over to very drought-tolerant plants like scented-leaved geraniums. These come in such a variety of leaf shapes and I create textures with lots of different ones. They flourish and never seem to flag and they overwinter as cuttings.

I have also started using more fleshy-leaved succulents including house leeks (or sempervivums), echeverias and aeoniums.

My compost is soil-based John Innes No 3 with added grit. This mix is heavier, quite important in our squallier summer climate, and more moisture retentive than peat. The only other treatment is a ten-day feeding regime with that well-known, potash-rich tomato food in the red plastic container. Potash promotes flower and also toughens up foliage and stems, making them less sappy. A couple of water butts usually supply the water and bigger containers are best. Lots of small ones look messy and they take more water. Lug your large container into place before you fill it, though!

This year I have dedicated one 3ft-wide, circular galvanised planter to herbs - gathered from garden centres and supermarkets - and it's looking fantastic. I have mixed together lots of different low-growing thymes including the tiny golden-leaved lemon-scented (Thymus citriodorus). I've also used the silver and white variegated Silver Posie', the grey-green common thyme (Thymus vulgaris Compactus') and the golden-green Bertram Anderson' among others.

Marjorams are similar mound formers but with bigger leaves. There are golden forms, including Origanum vulgare Aureum', and the delicate green and cream variegated County Cream'. The daintier-leaved thymes and oreganos are supported by larger-leaved sages, all forms of Salvia officinalis. The usual form has sage-green leaves. But I have also added the dusky purple Purpurascens', the golden-variegated Icterine', the round-leaved Berrgarten' and the purple, cream and green Tricolor'.

Three basils - a green, a purple and a cream and green variegated one - wrestle for space with several, pink-flowered chives (Allium schoenoprasum) and parsley plants. I have added short lavenders too, including the tufted-topped Regal Splendour' and the dark-purple English lavender Hidcote'. It works well this blend of mainly green with touches of silver, purple and gold. But the added extra ingredient are the sword-shaped chives. They contrast with the mound formers and set the whole thing off. Without them the container would be bland. Often the addition of a grass has the same effect.

It's an interesting exercise making a container. It's really a border in miniature and you should always aim for a blend of textures using toning foliage in differing shapes. Then add some spiky verticals and select a common colour theme. In this case, it's the pinks and purples from the flowering lavenders, thymes and chives. Cuttings of all herbs can be taken in midsummer and all you need is a seed tray full of damp horticultural sand to plunge them in. Pot them up and overwinter them - somewhere out of heavy rain and hard weather.