Blog

June is the month in the garden where nearly everything is looking its best. Roses should now be in full bloom (especially if you’ve followed my rose pruning guide in the winter), ornamental grasses will be swaying in the breeze and your herbaceous perennials will all be bursting into flower. It’s typically a month where […]

Flower beds and borders are the staple of any garden and they come in all shapes and sizes! I get asked all the time for help when it comes to garden designing and planting flower beds. Given there are endless opportunities it can seem overwhelming as to where to start? My top 3 flower bed […]

Plants are incredibly tough things but during heat waves and summer they may need a bit more assistance in the hydration department. If you’ve recently planted new shrubs, trees or herbaceous plants then you’re going to have to help them out by watering them until they are established. Top 10 Garden Water Saving Hacks If […]

We’ve all become used to popping down to the garden centre when we need new plants. However, thanks to Corona and Covid-19 we are now much more aware of both unnecessary commercialism and our gardens. As more of us have been forced to get better acquainted with our outdoor spaces heralding the rise of the […]

I eagerly await April every year as this is the month where the majority of my garden starts to put on rapid growth. It’s a bit like each plant vying for attention to be shortlisted for that staring role! The restrictions from Coronavirus have meant as a Type 1 diabetic that I’m now in week […]

When I first started gardening many moons ago I never saw the importance of sharpening tools like secateurs. How bad can pruning cuts be from a less than perfect set of secateurs? Well pretty bad in my experience early on in my career. After using blunt snips on one poor shrub I subsequently lost it […]

Cornus is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as Dogwoods. Cornus are common shrubs here in the UK. In fact, you may have one and not even know as established Cornus lose their firey coloured stems as they turn brown and lignify over the years. Meaning […]

A gardens aspect is one of the first things I do when I’m working on new garden designs. If you ignore it you will struggle to find the correct plants, choose the best seating areas, plan paths that aren’t for example shady, damp and slippy. When designing and planting, you can accommodate virtually any aspect if […]

It’s really worrying times worldwide with the Corona outbreak but as gardeners, we know all too well that there’s plenty of tonics to be found in our gardens. This month I’m concentrating on a number of gardening activities that any gardeners, no matter how experienced can join in with. So if you’re stuck at home […]

Spring flowers show the first positive signs that spring is just around the corner. There is nothing nicer than getting through the winter and seeing a mix of spring bulbs emerging in the garden. Winter Aconites (Eranthis) and Snowdrops (Galanthus) are the very first early bird bulbs to spring up. However, both of these plants […]

Most gardeners would be hard pushed not to recognise a Hydrangea. The classic ‘Granny’s garden’ shrub with its textured leaves and massive blue, pink, white or mauve flower heads. They give a real show for months during the summer. Their flowers can then be left in situ to fade from their vibrant early summer colours […]

If you’re new to gardening it can feel daunting working out where to start and if you’re doing things the ‘right way’. It’s a process all of us gardeners, whether professional or enthusiastic amateur, can relate to. Tamsin Westhorpe is the head gardener at Stockton Bury Country garden in Hertfordshire and has written an account […]

I’m a glass half full kinda guy. I try to refuse, where possible, to let myself end up in negative cycles. The media, in particular, like to theme January as the month of personal debasement. To try and amplify the parts of your life you’re not happy with. So much so there’s now a Blue […]

It’s a sad fact that an area the size of the UK is being lost each year worldwide to deforestation. Trees are being felled and cut down at an alarming rate. Now even local UK councils are stealth tree felling claiming that their ‘maintenance’ costs outweigh trees environmental benefits. It’s all too easy for homeowners […]

We seem to have a bit of an issue with pruning as gardeners. I remember when I first started gardening that the thought of cutting off parts of the plants I’d spent ages nurturing felt horrific. I let them grow however and wherever they wanted. Just grateful they were growing. However, this laissez-faire approach always […]