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Quick Answer To convert a lawn to a no dig bed, mow the grass short, lay overlapping sheets of plain cardboard directly on top, soak it thoroughly, then cover with 10 to 15cm of compost. Plant straight into the compost or wait 6 to 12 months for full decomposition. The grass underneath dies from lack […]

When most people think about growing fruit in the UK, they immediately jump to apples, pears and maybe the odd Victoria plum if they’re feeling adventurous. I’ve been designing gardens for over 15 years now and presenting on BBC1’s Garden Rescue. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into a garden where someone’s […]

Artificial turf is now a serious competitor 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 recently gave me first-hand experience of the sheer amount of artificial grass being pushed to consumers, […]

When it comes to garden design for children, you may have seen gardens turned into playgrounds with wood chips everywhere or worse, fake grass and the obligatory swing set. However, there are many better ways to subtly design a garden that makes it exciting for children without completely removing the attraction for grown-ups! Usually, people […]

This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about starting a vegetable garden from scratch, based on my years of experience as an award-winning garden designer and what I’ve learned from growing my own veg. I’ll share the mistakes I’ve made (so you don’t have to repeat them!), the techniques that […]

Staring at your modest garden, wondering if there’s room for those magnificent trailing vines you see sprawling across allotments? Perhaps you’ve been put off by tales of pumpkins requiring acres of space, which only the hugest of pumpkins actually need. You might be concerned about whether the British weather will provide enough warmth for these […]

I don’t know of any gardener who likes cleaning up leaves, but in the autumn months, it is something that most gardeners need to tolerate. Our deciduous trees drop their leaves each autumn, providing a golden opportunity to create a soil improver by making leaf mould. Leaf mould compost is an excellent way to rid […]

If you’ve got a bare fence line or row of fence panels in your garden, you will know just how depressing and frustrating the view can be. Let’s discuss one of the most overlooked opportunities in garden design: the humble fence line. I see it time and time again in my design consultations, gardeners treating […]

Quick Answer October is prime time for planting bare root trees, shrubs and hedging, sowing garlic, onion sets and autumn broad beans, planting tulip and bluebell bulbs, sowing hardy annuals such as sweet peas and verbascum, and getting winter salad crops established under cover. It is also the month to harvest and cure pumpkins and […]

Gothic gardens aren’t about creating something frightening or forbidding. Rather, they’re about embracing the romance of shadows, the elegance of deep colours, and the theatrical beauty that comes from bold contrasts with your plant choices and landscaping design choices. These spaces evoke an atmosphere of sophisticated drama, that Gothic mystery which many of us love. […]