Blog

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 […]

The run-up to Christmas in December is usually a really busy month for me. Whilst most people are winding down my calender goes into overdrive with a mix of garden design work and social activities. Those savvy early bird garden design clients are queued up for me to start designing before the spring, my family […]

It’s a real surprise that the mighty Medlar tree isn’t more popular for small gardens. Not only is it a well behaved small fruit tree but it is self-fertile so produces fruits without the need of a pollinator tree. It’s also one of the only winter fruiting trees, so why aren’t they more popular? This […]

When I first started gardening many many moons ago I used to always garden barehanded. It gave me a real feeling of connection with the earth and the process of gardening. It wasn’t long though until coworkers were giving my dirt-stained hands and nails the look of horror. Looking like I’d clawed my way from […]

You may be thinking why on earth would anyone want to be out planting roses in the middle of Winter for? I’d usually agree but did you know that by planting bare root roses in winter you can save yourself a whole heap of expense and hassle next year? Saving you time and money to […]

When it comes to taking care of your lawn during winter, much of the maintenance requires preparation. Again, this isn’t an extensive amount of work, but there are a few points to take note of.  Now that the cold is seeping in, there’s no better time to hunker down with your to-do list and start […]

November is a cold month which signals the end of Autumn and the beginning of winters frosts. It’s easy to think its the end of the gardening year but if you think like that you’ll miss out on some wonderful gardening treats. It’s funny how people comment on ‘putting the garden to bed’. I never […]

A neatly mowed lawn is a quintessential component of the British garden. The majority of my design clients ask for a lawn as an essential part of their garden layout showing just how indispensable they are to homeowners. However, with peoples busy lives it can feel like a bit of a chore needing to cut […]

Artificial turf is now serious competition for real lawns in our gardens. One installer has seen a 200% year on year increase in the demand for artificial turf compared to living grass. A visit to a ‘Garden & Landscaping’ exhibition this year gave me first-hand experience of the sheer amount of artificial grass being pushed […]

I’m often asked by new and experienced gardeners how to prune fruit trees in summer. Many gardeners know of winter pruning before spring as housekeeping but summer pruning often gets overlooked. Maybe its the euphoria of long sunny days, flowers all around the garden and hazy nights watching sunsets. However, if you fail to keep […]

If you’ve started to dig around a little into the world of Garden Design or been binge-watching Gardeners’ World you’ll have come across the term Borrowed Views. Other terms like focal point or eye hook are sometimes used and it may have sparked your imagination on using these yourself in your garden. What on earth […]