Reading Your Garden

The same rose thrives at No. 12 and sulks at No. 14 next door. Same soil, same weather forecast, but No. 14's rose grows against a tall fence that shades it until noon and catches the wind off the field. Every garden is a patchwork of small climates, and the plant only lives in its own patch.

Start with aspect: the direction a wall, fence or slope faces. In the UK the sun stands in the south at midday, so a south-facing wall gets the most sun and soaks up warmth, a north-facing one gets little or none, east gets the morning and west the afternoon and evening. Then look at what changes it: buildings, trees and fences cast shade; walls store heat; hedges filter wind; slopes move cold air.