Be a Plant Passporter…or not?
So despite this program being several years in, there still seems to be some confusion about whether one has to be a plant passporter or not. We are. We talked
News
Plant Collecting or Clutter?
I have a bit of a collecting habit, for plants that is. I love plants almost to the exclusion of all else and consequently find myself seeking out those rarities
Making marks
Making marks is all part of the design process. Typically I start work with pencils and graphite markers on tracing paper as the first step, sometimes working with coloured crayons
Design in this time of COVID-19
In the face of a global shut down and a great deal of fear and uncertainty one is faced with how one will respond and sometimes confronted with one’s worst
Allotmenteering
Almost 10 years ago I took on a rather weedy overgrown allotment plot, no.25. It’s down at the bottom of the plot of about 100 allotments. Shaded until around 11am
APHA, Plant Passporting and new restrictions
From 14th December 2019 new restrictions came into force to ensure all plants moving about the EU (and the UK) carry what is called a plant passport. This is a
Continue readingAPHA, Plant Passporting and new restrictions
Plants: Amaryllis or Hippeastrum?
In the miserable dark days of winter a wonderful addition to the ‘houseplant’ frenzy is the Amaryllis or Hippeastrum. Often gifted in a box with the typical brillant reds and
Should Garden Designers work for free?
This is a thorny topic and one I find myself contemplating at least once a year. Over the last decade of being a full time professional garden designer I have
Is there anyone out there reading this?
I’m having a disappointingly quiet couple of design months, so to keep things motivating I am re-looking at newsletters and blog posts and GDPR (dull dull dull) and according to
Plants: Grape Vines
More than a little chuffed and excited with the grapevine this year. It’s 4 th year here and thus far a tiny bunch has appeared each of the previous 2
Plants: Iris
I’m sure you know by now I love an Iris, especially a Bearded one in all it’s forms. It’s dividing time now and I am busy digging and dividing and
RECIPE: Soft Set Gooseberry Jam – or Fridge Jam
After making Sarah Raven’s wonderful soft set Apricot jam earlier in the year I have been playing about with the ‘soft set’ method on other jams. Our goosberry bushes have
Continue readingRECIPE: Soft Set Gooseberry Jam – or Fridge Jam
Review: Colour Your Garden – Jacqueline van der Kloet
This is one of those books that looks pretty uninspiring and a ‘wade through’ read, on a first flip through the images are a bit ‘so what’, no instagram candy
Continue readingReview: Colour Your Garden – Jacqueline van der Kloet
Planning for summer bulbs
Winter is not even over and Spring a longed for moment that is a good month and a half away but NOW is the time to plan those summer bulb
A time to plan
In these dark winter days I find myself planning many things, sometimes gardens in their entirety mostly it’s planting or work schedules for the year to come but then there
Recipe – Rhubarb, Date and Ginger chutney
It’s January the time for clearing out and cleaning down and generally getting ready for the seasons to come. I will admit our freezer has been rather bulging with excess
Bare roots
In September there is always a wild rush to plant while the soil is still warm enough for plants to get a start with settling in before winter but
Hippeasturm (Amaryllis)
Late in the winter when it’s still dark as all hell and even the mornings are murky darkness, one plant brings me such joy. Bursting with unseasonal vigour and vivid
Making : A wreath for Christmas
I know I know it’s OCTOBER, how can I be talking about the BIG season so soon? we haven’t even had Halloween yet! I have a reason and good one
Book Review: Secret Gardens of East Anglia – Barbara Segall
I love a good book and can slew through one in a few hours if hooked. I read a lot of books, sometimes having 3 or 4 on the go
Continue readingBook Review: Secret Gardens of East Anglia – Barbara Segall
Recipe: Green tomato chutney
You know the old saying ‘when life gives you lemons….make lemonade‘ well when nature hands you a series of Mill’s periods* resulting in a surge of tomato blight you make
Plant of the Month – August – Dahlia
There are so many things to say about Dahlia selecting and growing. It’s not just the luscious gorgeous-ness of the flower nor the vibrancy of available colours nor the elegant
Monthly MUST do’s – August
There are many many wonderful blogs and articles and books about what to do by season and I reccomend you read one on a regular basis until you get into
Recipe : Gooseberry & lemon Curd
As you will have guessed by now I am an avid Gooseberry devorer always on the lookout for new ways of preparing them. This summer a new addition to the
Plant of the Month – July – Helenium
I am a recent convert to Helenium I must admit but since finding them am an avid fan. They are one of those wonderful daisy shapes that looks good coming
Plant of the Month – June – Salvia
I wouldn’t have said I was an enthusiast before I started writing this but it turns out I am rather fond of the Salvia family. Oddly I don’t much like
Recipe: set point
Set point for jams and curds is such an arbitrary thing for the home cook, at least it is for me!. Even with my sugar thermometer it is never exact.
Plant of the Month – May – Iris
Plant of the month in May will always be an Iris for me, closely followed I will admit by a Peony. The only way to describe it is that I
Planting for a superb Spring
Winter drags on and even when the Snowdrops kick of the growing season there are still a good few weeks of often miserable weather lurking around the corner. The arrival
SGD Spring Conference – Way out West
Way out west it was too, all the way over in South Kensington on the west of London town. The best of spring days, with the sun out and the
Plant of the Month – April – Dahlia
Dahlia has become something of a byword for cool of late, bolstered in some measure by flower power gurus, Sarah Raven, Blue Carrot, the fabulous Erin at Floret and a
Recipe – Red Currant Jelly
I always have great plans for preserves and jamming as much of my produce and foraging as possible as the seasons roll around but last year everything well to hell
Gloves
I’m on the hunt again. New gloves and glovey recommendations. I run through gardening gloves like a dose of salts they never last too long with my line of work
Cultivar or Variety
Following the binomial system introduced by Carl Linnaeus in the 1700’s the they appear after the specific epithet (second term in the scientific name) almost final piece of the puzzle
Plant of the Month – December – Galanthus
December or is it really January when we expect to see those tiny white nodding heads lighting up the garden and heralding Spring, well at least the start of something
Recipe: Medlar Jelly
What is a medlar I hear you ask? Mespilus germanica is a small odd shaped fruit grown here since Roman times. A small sized roundish fruit with a rough mid
Flower Farming
Garden designing is a precarious business, at least for me as a small business, so I have been looking at other streams of income to run smoothly alongside and bring
Recipe: Crab Apple Jelly
I am a preserver, by that I mean I make use of as much produce, foraged, home grown and free as I can. From my plot (400m2), from friends as
10 things to know about doing an RHS Show Garden
1. Read the RHS manual’s before hand and then read them again. Tomes I thought, one was 90 odd pages. “No time“, “not really going to be relevant“. BUT how
Continue reading10 things to know about doing an RHS Show Garden
How do you keep Slugs and Snails off your Hosta’s?
During the build up for the RHS Tatton 2016 show one of the neighbors suggested we might be getting some questions from visitors about how we had such perfect Hostas.
Continue readingHow do you keep Slugs and Snails off your Hosta’s?
RHS Tatton – it’s almost over, dismantling the show garden
Officially we could have dismantled on Sunday but not one of us was that desperate to slog that one out. Queuing to get back onsite after the show closed was
Continue readingRHS Tatton – it’s almost over, dismantling the show garden
RHS Tatton – Judging and THE Press
Still catching up with the posts about our RHS Tatton garden, admittedly in a fairly random order! For a first timer there was quite a bit of anxiety around this.
RHS Tatton – Week 1 build
Goodness what a steep learning curve that was! RHS Tatton 2016 is well and truly over and it was mostly madness and all consuming except for the one half day
RHS Tatton – 1 week to go
I read last year that Dan Pearson and his Chelsea team did a dry run of the garden they presented, which must have been quite the feat given the size
RHS Tatton – 2 weeks to go
2 weeks today we will be onsite. EEEK Oddly I haven’t done this kind of counting down for a long time, normally I don’t need, or get, this much headspace
RHS Tatton – 3 Weeks to go
I maybe confusing some folk, when I say 3 weeks to go, this is 3 weeks until I GO to RHS Tatton, the show is open to the public from
RHS Tatton – 4 weeks to go
In fact it’s 3.5 weeks until we decamp to Cheshire and the start of the build on our garden, Inner Sanctum, at RHS Tatton. It has been quite the journey
Plant of the Month – April – Euphorbia
One of the largest plant families having around 2000 members in the genus. The plants share features such as poisonous milky white sap and unusual floral structures. The range of
Planning Planting – Tropical
I’m working on a planting scheme at the moment, for a client who loves the tropical. It’s a bit of a departure from the norm but that is what is
Plant of the Month – March, Magnolia
A remarkably ancient plants species fossil records indicate that the Magnoliacea family might be as much as 100 million years old. Unsurprisingly the plants are often beetle pollinated in
how to – Lawn
It’s early Spring and the lawn is very much on the minds of those who have them. Sometimes it’s an eager checking of dampness and growing state in anticipation of
Plant of the Month – February – Helleborus
February in the UK is often a frozen month, not so this year we’ve had the promise of rain and snow and all kinds of wintery-ness but for us Softie
Plant of the month – January – Chimonanthus praecox
January is a barren month, cold wet skies, low grey cloud sucking the colour out of everything before your very eyes. This year has been slightly brighter with the recently
Continue readingPlant of the month – January – Chimonanthus praecox
3 Fabulous winter gardens to get you out and about
Winter is usually a time of toasty fires and keeping cosy inside, 2015/16 being a bit of an exception temperature wise. That said a good winter garden has been known
Continue reading3 Fabulous winter gardens to get you out and about
TODOS – January
This is a very odd season. November was the mildest on record and December looks set to be the mildest and the wettest. Barely a chill in the air let
Plants: Tulip planting time
November, Tulip planting time, is JUST around the corner. Sarah Raven et al have huge discount on their Tulip stocks, likely for a very limited time only. This weekend is
Plants: combinations
Sometimes an unexpected combo sets you teeth on edge. Just so for this icy pink rose and the Hellianthus.
Plants: Kniphofia
Knifophia. A robust native of South Africa usually with a red/orange flower mid to late summer (UK). Modern hybridising has brought us a wider range of colours from greens and
Garden Visit: Wimpole Hall in late summer
One of my favorite local-ish gardens is NT Wimpole Hall. At this time of the year the wonderfully wide (3m at least) herbaceous borders flanking the walled kitchen garden are
How to: Propagate and Divide bearded iris
The Process of Division As we got towards the end of dividing nearly 700 plants there was quite a rhythm to the process and it became much faster. I wonder
Garden Visit: Pensthorpe, Norfolk
Visiting a new client in Norfolk last week and took the opportunity to visit Pensthorpe Millenium Gardens, just down the road. Another delightfully dingy day brought out the zingy colours
7 rewarding later summer perennial plants
Later-ish summer perennials that go on flowering and flowering are a bonus for the gardener and for the wildlife feeding and foraging in our green spaces. The light begins to
Garden Visit: RHS Tatton
After a damp squib day at Wollerton the day before a bright breezy day at RHS Tatton Park was perfect. I went at the invitation of the RHS Tatton team
Garden Visit: Wollerton Old Hall – Summer
A damp squib of a day really but as I only had one day free, that day it had to be. I have been to Wollerton Old Hall a few
Review: The Jewel Garden
The Jewel Garden: A Story of Despair and Redemption Montagu & Sarah Don I am certainly one of the may to read this book. Monty Don looks a strapping youth
Gardening: Fasciation
Flattened, elongated shoots and flower heads that look like many stems compressed together are called fasciation. This strange-looking problem may be ugly or attractive, but is always interesting. The Forsythia
Competition – Win Rare Irises
Well it’s that time of year again for the Iris collection only this year it’s dividing time, which means satisfying lots of orders and giving some to wonderful charitable groups
Recipe : Gooseberry and Raspberry jam
This was a bit of an accident to be honest, though I suspect someone has written about it before. I was making gooseberry jam and needing to make up the
Growing Edibles in the Ornamental Garden
Do you grow edibles in your ornamental garden? It’s something I am beginning to be asked more and more when designing gardens. Sometimes there is space and a desire to
Visiting Gardens – II
I’ve been quite busy with designing and planting over the last few months, which is always good and brings an opportunity to look back at the garden visit archives here
Chimp Action
I know it’s not what one would usually expect to see on a garden design and gardening blog but behind the scenes this last couple of weeks I have been
Opinions
This is really an opinion piece about an opinion piece. This morning a rant from Guy Deakins rocked up on my FB feed http://guydeakinsgardening.com/blog/bbc-dear-god/ Someone is very unhappy about the
Visiting Gardens – I
I think as a gardener and designer one of my favorite ‘jobs’ has to be visiting gardens of others. All sorts of gardens, RHS, National Trust, NGS open gardens, Plant
Shade – a definition
Growing healthy plants in shady places is something many of us need and want to do. To do this well we first need to identify the type of shade an
Recipe : Gooseberry & Strawberry tart
Strawberries it seems go with everything, at the early end of it a friend introduced me to a Strawberry and rhubarb tart along with strawberry and rhubarb jam , both
5 Must Have Spring bulbs
Spring bulbs are planted in Autumn which is fast approaching and to have you pick of the plumpest bulbs it’s time to get into those catalogues online or otherwise. I
SketchUp: tips for users
SketchUp is a great tool for 3D modelling or block modeling. I use it all the time to work up plan drawings to show clients but also as a checker
Recipe: Gooseberry and Elderflower fool
Gooseberries and elderflower are good companions, not least because they are out in the world at the same time. We have had a bumper crop of berries this year, slightly
The joy of a Qualified Gardener
Reading this article (below) had me nodding and agreeing in the most part. I come up against the same issue time and again, in the occasional garden that I am
Recipe: Gooseberry crumble
This is first in a short series of gooseberry recipes. There’s a glut, pretty much every year and I sometimes need to be reminded of what to do with the
5 Reasons why you should employ a garden designer
Many moons ago when I was busy ripping up the world of Retail IT consulting I investigated having my postage stamp of a London garden designed by a pro. In
Continue reading5 Reasons why you should employ a garden designer
Becoming SGD Registered
There is always something new to learn and in 2009 I started out on a whole new career in horticulture and garden design. Although it wasn’t an entirely fresh start,
TODOS July
If you missed RHS Chelsea this year there’s a few more shows to visit. RHS Hampton Court Palace starts next week and will undoubtedly have some thought provoking dhow gardens
Recipe: Strawberry Jam
Glut of delicious Strawbs? Try this wonderful soft jam for the extras Ingredients: 1kg home grown Strawberries 750g Sugar with 1 sachet of Tate and Lyle pectin * – or
Nursery Visit
Visiting nurseries and gardens are one of the big pleasures of being a garden designer. Somehow there is never enough time to see all of the nurseries or all of
Newsletter
There’s a lot to do when you run your own business. CEO to Tea Girl my pension chap told me. How TRUE. So in between dashing off to clients, scouring
Roses
I’m not a Rose aficionado in the same way I am an Iris aficionado despite my name(s) and my Mother’s passion for roses that saw the full length of one
Iris
It’s usually May that’s my busy month with Iris but this year it’s all been a bit delayed with a sudden cold snap and then the winds and then the
TODOS – June
Getting in earlier this month. For us this is a month of watering, weather permitting, staking veg and sometimes cut flowers, cutting flowers, planting biennials for next spring, cooing over
RHS Chelsea 2015
A great spectacle as ever from the RHS and the BBC. Chelsea flower show seems to be being taken over by the media and their coverage, gardens are no longer
TODOS – May
Yet another frantic month, but soon we can sit back with a glass of something cool and admire the results of the last couple of back breaking months. May however
I was infuriated and disappointed by a Guardian piece from Ed Cumming. Following Dan Pearson on his return to Chelsea he reported remarks that seemed to show a rather disdainful
Eventing
Winter swept past and suddenly summer is looming large. There are a plethora of gardens to be visited and the best shows on earth to be trawled around, unless of
TODOS – April
March screeched to an end and then the wind howled around the house for what seemed like an age. Spring seemed in full retreat until late last week, now it’s
TODOS March
I hope your February was as busy as mine? pruning Wisteria, completing winter prunes on the Apple and Pear family, including quinces there. Chopping back herbaceous perennials that withstood the
Growing a Cutting Garden – WK4 Arranging
On paper, having grown enough flowers to fill several small shops we now need to know what to do with them. This for me has always been one of the
Growing a Cutting Garden – WK3 Maintenance
The most challenging week of the course so far. Maintenance and planning are crucial to this type of gardening. Miss a sowing period and in some cases you’ve had it
Growing a Cutting Garden – WK2 Plant Palettes
I had forgotten how much time these information packed courses demand if one is to make the absolute most of the teacher and their time. Unplanned interruptions for me in
Continue readingGrowing a Cutting Garden – WK2 Plant Palettes
TODOS – January
January is a DOING month or perhaps that should be a ‘not doing’ month, giving up all one’s vices is a common occurrence post Seasonal excess of December. Still there
Growing a Cutting Garden – WK1 Planning
Week one of the The Cutting Garden course from My-Garden-School went well. I find I am working for myself, out on a freezing morning surveying my current plots. Being a
Cut Flower gardening
Keeping to the ‘Slight Edge‘ approach, continual study, expansion of personal experience and knowledge is vital as a designer. This January I’ve been asked to follow, and blog about, another
Fallopia japonica, Japanese knotweed – now the subject of asbos
Sending dread in to the hearts of gardeners and house buyers alike now residential land owners upon which the dreaded vegetation grows can be faced with an antisocial behavior order
Continue readingFallopia japonica, Japanese knotweed – now the subject of asbos
Autumn leafage
It’s not just the whole tree or shrub that can provide vibrant tones through the dim ming light of autumn the carpets of falling leaves makes a patchwork on the
Autumn
Sometimes there is surprising Autumn finery on common trees and shrubs
Dahlia
August, well almost September is the time of Dahlia’s big and blousey through to pom pom and petite. They are making a come back into gardens and editorials but really for
Them and Us ?
John Wyer of Bowles & Wyer set up a curious debate in the recent SGD Garden Design Journal. Having attended a cross industry event (APL, BALI and SGD members) he reported that the
Causing a ruckus over at The Guardian
I feel quite strongly about this topic and was lucky enough to write a short piece for the Guardian Blog this month on it. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2014/jun/18/chelsea-flower-show-gardens It’s not so much about
Spread the word about Transformation…
Having our work transform peoples lives is a happy part of the work of a garden designer, or course we hope it’s for the better as people find outside spaces
Topiary and mounds of green
Nothing is quite as satisfying as a finished clipped specimen of topiary, only slightly more satisfying is the springy green-ness of it as it starts to flourish forth in the
Planning views
A well planned series of textures and colours can light up a view along a garden walk. Here the Euphoria griffithii is set off against the lime green Euphorbia
Weed It
Waging war against weeds is a determined pass time at the advent of Spring. This year is no different. As the soil warms up further after winter barely moved
Rain Garden II
With all the current government infighting over whose ‘fault’ all the current flooding is this video provides a rather succinct and practical set of ideas about what could be done
Winter Scent
I make regular visits to a variety of gardens not only to see new and exciting designs, layouts, materials in situ and planting combos but also to see how they
Rain Garden I
With all the terrible flooding the UK has been experiencing my thoughts have turned increasingly to what can be done to moderate and reduce the damage caused by the torrential
Mistletoe – ’tis the season and all that!
Many things have been written a about this most beloved of parasitic plants. I’ve been working in a couple of gardens with newly establishing clumps, one hand sown, one bird
Spring Bulbs – well tulips to be precise
It’s planting time. Buying time is well and truly over unless you are not to fussed about what you’ll be displaying in the spring. On occasion I am one of
Blogging
Apparently, according to the lovely Darren Rowse of ProBlogger in a recent posting, I should be aiming to post every day. Yikes. I say YIKES. I don’t know about you but
Moving….
I’m one of those wanderlust folks who don’t stay too long in one place. Putting down roots for me is about a 5-7 years exercise though it has been less
The Joy of it
I was recently given Joy Larcom’s Vegetable gardening book which in all honesty filled me with the groan of the worthy. A book with no pictures?! Pages and pages of
Bit of a face lift and some garden inspirations
Sitting on a rustic – read rickety – bench as the breeze catches the tall willowy grasses. Reminds me of being a child and imagining I could ‘see’ the wind
Continue readingBit of a face lift and some garden inspirations
Quiet words
Long long ago when I was a small child I couldn’t quite fathom my Mother’s obsessive Friday night engagement with a chap talking gardens. Gardner’s World then was presented by
Water, Water everywhere…..
Well not exactly in fact nowhere at all in our neck of the woods for the last 6 or so weeks. Of course after last years deluge the ground is
CPD and an open mind
Last week I headed North for a day of talks on keeping business profitable. The Society of Garden Designers runs regular if somewhat oddly topic-ed half and one day seminars as
The Collector (Nerd)
As well as being a Garden Designer I, like many others, am fairly fanatical about plants. So much so that a few years back I started collecting the apparently unpopular
Planning & the noxious weed
Getting involved with garden projects where there is an aspect of planning involved can be a time consuming but usually an interesting aspect of being a Garden Designer. I spend
Was the Chelsea Centenary a bit passe?
There were rumbles on the show ground on Tuesday. Several trade stands, nurseries and designer folk muttering that it was all ‘a bit old hat’, ‘seen it all before‘, ‘too safe‘,
Fur and feathers are flying
Chelsea 2013 heralded the 100th year of the now infamous show down at the river in SW3. Much was made of it in the run up, ticket prices were up
it’s Chelsea Week
I’ve said this to a few non-horti friends and they look blankly at me as if I am peaking another language, which in their world I probably am. Chelsea week
Havens of the East
I’ve been meaning to head to Hyde Hall for longer than I care to share, it’s been on the ever growing list and because it’s not all THAT far away
rga_8926.jpg
The road, or path in this case, less travelled. Pine woods banking the North Norfolk coast at Wells-next-the-Sea. Made up of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), Maritime pine(Pinus pinaster) and Corsican
rga_8926.jpg
The road, or path in this case, less travelled. Pine woods banking the North Norfolk coast at Wells-next-the-Sea. Made up of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), Maritime pine(Pinus pinaster) and Corsican
Coastal Trees
The road, or path in this case, less travelled. Pine woods banking the North Norfolk coast at Wells-next-the-Sea. Made up of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), Maritime pine(Pinus pinaster) and Corsican
Green stuff
Well we have all been waiting for the spring to arrive and FINALLY after weeks of freezing cold, miserable and not so miserable days it finally arrive with a whoosh
ORCHIDS
I must admit to being the most terrible Orchid killer. I’ve been given several over the last few years and all have died except the last, a Cimbidium. Perhaps this
The Chop
At the beginning of Autumn it is easy to tell myself that the grasses and herbaceous perennials with good seed heads and strongish stems will look good throughout the winter
Seeds
It’s about that time of year when people who love their gardens and the process of growing start getting a bit antsy about the weather. Not being able to get
February and Hippeastrum
I am feeling slightly flat today having missed posting yesterday. ‘One a month’ was the original mantra, I missed Jan 2013 by a whisker of activity. Ho Hum, not going
Bloggers Block
Well 2013 turns out to be the year I get white page fear, writers block..whatever you call it. In the last few weeks, well it’s been lurking for months tell
2012 skids to a close
It’s been a roller coaster of a year 2012 though on the whole as many ups as downs. It started brilliantly well and sort of coasted in a bit from
Noticing
The thing about doing something over and over and over again is that you begin to notice more and more and more of the detail. Take driving to work. I
What do YOU do when you’re not designing?
It’s a common question from friends and family and the answer is, “well quite a lot actually!”. Every small business has to balance marketing, self promotion and business management, some
What is happening to our tree-scapes?
We have several large Aesculus hippocastanum, Horse Chestnut, in the park next to the house, well we had several, in the last 4 years 2 have gone. First there was
Have you seen the Olympic-scapes?
Olympic-Scapes? well the Olympic Landscapes of course! The Games were not the only draw for this summers BIG event in the East of the city of London. I suspect Mr
Can you learning the art of planting online?
I participated in an online planting course for My-Garden-School several weeks ago, excited but somewhat sceptical I embarked on the 4 week Planting with Grasses course under the guidance of
Continue readingCan you learning the art of planting online?
Allotmenteering
I have an allotment. The main reason was to have somewhere to grow the burgeoning collection of Iris that I was aquiring. Lots of other National Collections are held on
Butterflies
TV is a marvellous thing one can suddenly see the most unexpected things and be inspired to do something. Regular presenter Mike Dilger was hunting down a rare British butterfly, read
Plant Catalogue time
It’s that time of year when plant catalogue have begun dropping through the letter box, well they’ve been dropping through for a good few weeks now but I find time
Online Studies with Michael King at MGS
I’m taking a short course in Planting Design with Grasses via the not-so-new-now-but-fairly-revolutionary-way-to-study My-Garden-School school. There are tons and tons of courses so it’s quite hard to chose just one
Law and Liability for Garden Designers
I studied this rather dry topic at college and was sufficiently terrified following the seminars to do plenty of reading. Following up 2 years later to update on new legislation
Garden Visit – Barrington Court
On a whim a couple of weeks ago I went ‘nursery trawling’ in the south west-ish of England. I collect Iris, specifically Miniature Tall Bearded iris but of late I
Tree Preservation Order – what is it and what’s new in 2012
Perhaps not the most thrilling of topics, unless of course you’re subject to one or more on trees in your garden and in this case they may not be thrilling
Continue readingTree Preservation Order – what is it and what’s new in 2012
Cottesbrooke Plant Fair
Eeeek I have been a bit lax, some might say busy, I would say a bit caught up in the moment with exhausted patches in between. Ok Doing too much
Todos June
This is a busy month and rather than list all the things you should, could, would be doing how about just letting it all go a bit wild and sitting
Wisely Herbarium
Last Friday I was lucky enough to enter to rarified world of the RHS’s Wisely herbarium. A group organised by the British Iris Society we gathered for a talk by
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2012
Well as the dust settles following the hype of Chelsea Flower Show week I have finally found some time to sit inside and write a few words but mostly share
TODOs May
Really?, Already? May? Time flies at this time of gardening year it all seems to come at once. I have been busy gardening for myself and for clients and I
TODOS April
Assailed by a never ending list of things todo I keep a master list for garden tasks in the kitchen, mostly scribbled on my latest Gardener’s World calendar but some
Miserable day at Great Dixter
Well it said light showers and it was wrong, it fair tipped it down over Great Dixter from noon to 2pm today. A short spell of sunshine between two large
Grasses
OK so it maybe a tad early in mid-spring to be dividing grasses but as we are now in drought, officially (since 5th April) I thought I’d risk it. I
Snow & Blossom
I am certain many gardeners are staring with trepidation at the weather forecast every evening as the Spring reverts to ‘normal’. WHY? well snow, snow, snow and the dread frost.
Lawn, or is that TURF?
Spring has sprung and the grass is growing. What more could you want? well an informal presentation on the ins and outs of lawn care might be nice! I will
Media
Totally thrilled to be in the Guardian this weekend. Yes that’s right THE Guardian newspaper! A big Thank You to Jane Perrone for the opportunity. Putting together a planting plan
Mulch
A bit more on being waterwise. Cardboard Mulch. I love it. I first came across it watch Alys Fowler’s You Tube segments on her allotment. She referred to it at some
Drought and being a bit more waterwise….
So there it is from April 5th we, in the South that is, will be in an official hosepipe ban. Drought has officially hit (21st Feb 2012) due in the
Growing Garlic this year?
On a whim at the end of last year I planted a bag of garlic that I purchased from the clearout tray at Homebase. Jamie Oliver‘s latest packaged item announced
Where are you chitting your potatoes?
Two varieties this year, Pentland Javelin, recommended a one of the best ‘doers‘ by a good friend who is a bit of a Vegetable growing aficionado and Pink Fir Apple
Inspirations from a Walled Garden – Wimpole Hall
I know I have banged on about Wimpole Hall on several occasions, it is my ‘local’ NT garden after all but it remains an inspiring place to go and is
Continue readingInspirations from a Walled Garden – Wimpole Hall
When are you cleaning you green house or cold frame this winter?
Probably not the most glamorous of tasks completed each year but one worth investing some time and elbow grease in is cleaning stuff. That’s cleaning your tools , soaping down
Continue readingWhen are you cleaning you green house or cold frame this winter?
RHS London Plant and Design show – Horticulture Halls 14/15th Feb 2012
Not having been to this RHS show before I was delighted to find out it was free to members, I knew that membership card would come in handy one day.
Continue readingRHS London Plant and Design show – Horticulture Halls 14/15th Feb 2012
Snow and the brick path – a cautionary tale
So the South East has been hit by more than a little flurry of snow and much to our collective joy it happened on a Sunday so that one and
Galanthus – more on the imminent SNOWDROP season
Since my last slightly concerned post about my teeny ‘collection’ of the White Gold they have finally begun to spring forth to much excitement and daily watching, although this fails
Continue readingGalanthus – more on the imminent SNOWDROP season
How well do you know your Postie?
Well I have seen my postie most days for the last few years, he’s a friendly sort but professional. Always business like not stopping to chat but he’s busy I
How do you clean YOUR garden tools?
Bit of a nerdy topic I will fess up to but really I am curious I have watched numerous YouTube videos espousing the virtues of one brand or another of
Social Networking – I’m sure I said…but then maybe I haven’t?
I have convinced myself that I blogged about setting up a Facebook page. But on searching find I have done nothing of the sort. This year one firm resolution is
Continue readingSocial Networking – I’m sure I said…but then maybe I haven’t?
2012 and all that Jazz
So as the new year approaches it’s time for me at least to get down to the business of setting some goals, making some lists and doing some planning. I
Galanthus
I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the rather special Galanthus I purchased last year, they have been residing in a shady spot and are tucked up under a layer
Slant EU –
I was quite astounded and impressed to receive individual feedback on designs submitted to the Slant EU competition. That it was incredibly positive made it even better. After much faffing
RHS Seed list 2012
The RHS process a diverse range of seeds from plants cultivated in their gardens. The list is extensive, i.e pages and pages and pages long and has all manner of
Homeowner Contract (domestic JCLI)
The SGD launched two new template contracts for domestic garden works at the recent autumn conference. The first a consultancy agreement for homeowners to appoint their garden designer and the
SGD autumn conference
Society of Garden Designers Autumn Conference – What are gardens for? For those that could not attend you missed a goodie! Annoying as that is to hear sometimes it’s just
And the winner is…..
Slant EU announced it’s winners and High Commended entrants. Well worth looking through the diverse answers to the brief. Shall be sharpening pencils and outlandish ideas for 2012! Winning Designs
Slant EU, a competition
Excitingly I entered a new design competition last week, SLANT EU. Deadline was a bit crazy, in my timeline but with plenty of cups of Rooibos and some steady scheduling
A Cotswold Day with Dan Pearson & Mary Keen
It was all a bit last minute to be honest and the inner cynic faffed about whether I should afford this day in the Gloucestershire countryside, wandering round the country
Sketching. Is it over rated in Garden Design
I came across this site – http://www.urbansketchers.org/ which champions and displays some incredible sketch works from 100 keen contributors in 30 countries of the world. It says “.. Some are architects and
Continue readingSketching. Is it over rated in Garden Design
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion – August 2011
One can read about and be inspired by gardens and people working in the landscape around them but nothing beats actually going and sitting in it, walking through it, touching
Language of Flowers
I just read a wonderful fiction novel called the Language of Flowers. So captivating was the storyline that I stayed up half the night and lounged in bed the following
Woottens of Wenhaston
I had spoken to Michael a few months ago about Snow Fiddler an MTB we are searching down for the collection and had been impressed with the monthly (?) emails
Blanket Weeding
Wandering along the local riverbank at the crack of a sparrows the other morning I noticed, how could I fail to!, the deep blankets of, well, of blanket weed coating
Chelsea – a different viewpoint
This year I worked on a trade stand at Chelsea Flower show. It’s a very different viewpoint but also a very familiar one. I flipped around the many beautiful gardens
A little star of a plant – Cirsium rivulare ‘Atropurpureum’
At a recent NGS open day we were inundated with the question ‘what IS that plant’. Now being a novice NGS-er I was not prepared with the Latin and Common
Continue readingA little star of a plant – Cirsium rivulare ‘Atropurpureum’
Hybridising Iris
We have had a collection of beautiful little Miniature Tall Bearded Iris for about 2.5 years now and this year we are doing so hybridising, just for fun to see
The Single Digg
I’m sure lots of you know all about single digging, that is as opposed to the dreaded double digging or ‘ bastard trenching’ as my RHS tutor once called it!
What are you feeding your bees this year?
This blogg post is prompted by my OCGD peer Svend Rumbold of Rumbold Ayers and his blog posting about Bees. I am often asked about wildlife friendly, bee friendly, butterfly
Constructing a Stream
One of the benefits of working in a watery side of the business is to get to really play with aspects of water that you might only do once or
Planting in Shade
Like those red busses where you have none then 3 come at once so my latest projects all seem to have varying degrees of shade planting required. I have long
Planning in those exhibitions
Always a difficult task to plan time out of the office, away from the drawing board but taking the time now is going to pay dividends when flapping about for
What are you going to feast on (and grow yourself!) this year?
So it is that time of the year when thoughts turn to the veg patch for the coming year. At least it does in our house! I have grand ideas
Continue readingWhat are you going to feast on (and grow yourself!) this year?
The Flower Shop
Where on earth did all the flower shops go? There used to be a marvellous one in the middle of town, it’s been there since I was a child and
The streams of income
Whilst I had imagined, somewhat naively it turns out, that I could make a living immediately from garden design, the reality is that this might take some time to come to
Bringing insects to your garden
UK gardens cover more than 1m hectares, which far exceeds the combined area of our nature reserves! who knew?! Sarah Raven : 2011 is the year to
Which tool for Plant Specification
After learning about the National Plant Specification resource at college it had been assigned to the ‘someday when it can be afforded’ box – currently £156+VAT subscription then £99+VAT PA
Designs
The first few weeks are under my belt now. It has been daunting and exciting and many other emotions since starting, I am on another steep learning curve which is
Wellies
the Pink hunters arrived, perfect fit and they ARE THAT Pink!
IGPOTY
I know I said I wouldn’t enter any more competitions this year but I couldn’t resist the IGPOTY final seasonal challenge. ‘Autumn Shapes’ is the title and I am sure
Professional footwear?
I have to have wellies, I have avoided them for so long as cold and uncomfortable, favouring my beloved Blundstone boots over anything really. Last month I forked out for
Standing at the bottom of a large hole
Last week I found myself standing at the bottom of a large clay hole. It will become a natural swimming pool very shortly but at that moment, last Monday as
Uncovering Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire.
The gardens at Wimpole Hall are of great note and yet it’s pedigree seemingly not well noticed. I have been visiting the estate and gardens for several years now and
Rabbit Fencing and other materials
This has been a slightly less hectic week than last week. Only slightly though. Monday saw me out in the inclement weather most of the day, fielding inappropriate footware, a
The Dorothy Clive Gardens
REFLECTIONS UPON A GARDEN VISIT – written for the SGD student writing competition 2010. The Dorothy Clive Garden, Shropshire Shropshire is glorious country. Far enough off the beaten track to be
Are your garden tools better than the latest ‘iGadget’?
Sometimes it certainly feels that way in this world of ever changing and updating machinery and gadgetry. No sooner has one bought the latest iWhatever than another pops up more
Continue readingAre your garden tools better than the latest ‘iGadget’?
Piet & Anja Oudolf at the Garden Museum
Sifting through a friends copy of the Saturday Telegraph some weeks ago I came across an article flaunting talks with legendary Piet Oudolf and Tom Stuart Smith. Ok only legendary
blog!
Moving to a new blog is quite daunting. Will readers come with me? Will I be talking to myself for weeks on end again? Can I work out the new
Garden Visit: Anglesey Abbey
With the flurry of activity surrounding the Hard Landscape portfolio and Bespoke portfolio visits to winter gardens for shots to go into the Soft Landscape portfolio have all but been
Nurseries – Orchard Dene, a Plantswoman
I enjoyed the morning of presentations from Chris Marchant of Orchard Dene nurseries. She’s the main reviewer of our soft landscape portfolios so probably someone to impress with our plant
Garden Visit: RHS Wisely
A dreary day with some drizzle greeted me at RHS Wisely which is just off the M25 south of London. Amazingly the car park was half full. School visits and
Garden Visit: The Savill
My first trip to The Savill Garden just 3 junctions North from Wisley, indeed I have never heard of it before this week! Fabulous visitor centre and plenty of new
Garden Visit: Rousham
Rousham: William Kent gardens Stunning, the sun came out finally. Blousy and suprising dahlia beds, huge and not so huge clipped box and yew, almost clouds but not quite there
Garden Visit: Blenheim
Blenheim: great tour guide who kept the information flowing and the ‘gossip’ relevant, although I notice not one mention of the rather wayward Marquis of B, best not mention him
Garden Visit: Willow Holt, Lincolnshire
End of season for the National Garden Scheme gardens really but one or two brave places are still opening to the public. Conscious of the need to ‘shoot’ some autumn