Lynn O’Rourke: IT doesn’t matter how many gardening articles I look at or plant names I google to see if they might work in my outdoor space, things just haven’t quite been coming together.

Published on 19/06/2012 00:00

INDOORS, I have a fairly good idea of what will work in the size and shape of house we own, but it’s another matter outside.

It’s an outdoor world that presents new challenges. (This did initially say ‘problems’ but, as I’m trying to be positive, I’m avoiding negative words. On paper at least.)

The little lavender plants I put in last year along one border have sprouted, which is all well and good, but it turns out I’ve put them so close to the edge of the border that they’ll obscure anything behind them unless something else grows even taller. I hadn’t seen that coming. Lesson one: pay attention to the height guide on the plant label instead of throwing it away in the assumption that nothing is likely to grow anyway.

And planting the last of my supermarket bargains at the base of the pear tree (because it was the only space I wouldn’t have had to spend a week weeding) was a big mistake. At first, when I spotted the broken stems, I thought something had eaten them – until I remembered the earth-covered chair I had removed from very nearby just a few days earlier. Lesson number two – do not plant anything under the tree as the children will never remember not to play there. I sense a steep learning curve ahead.

This week we take a look at a zero-carbon build in Dumfriesshire that effortlessly combines style with eco-friendly substance. Jill Mitchell started with a blank canvas with her new-build property in East Lothian and has turned it into a warm and welcoming home and we see how Glasgow-based interior designer Lee Sowerbutts has transformed his tenement flat into a style-conscious space.