12.04. 2017

NATIONAL GARDEN SCHEME

Now here is an event that I look forward to each year and I can’t express how grateful I am to all the private garden owners who are brave enough to open their gardens to the public in order to raise money for charity.  I admire their courage  - firstly, because it must be scary to invite your garden to be trampled by hordes of visitors when you have spent so much time, often years nurturing and working hard on your beloved plot. Secondly, you are exposing your labour of love to unwelcome comments and criticism as there are always people who think it’s appropriate to show their disapproval. Thankfully most visitors are very respectful and grateful to keep their comments for themselves. 

I thoroughly enjoy visiting local gardens nurtured by their owners and have learned many tricks from skilled and very knowledgeable amateur gardeners this way. I’ve also met professional gardeners while visiting grand schemes and private estates gardens via this scheme. Thanks to this scheme, I’ve had the privilege to visit gardens designed by Christopher Bradley Hole, Dan Pearson and Tom Stuart Smith, all heroes of mine.

So I encourage you to check this link out list of gardens open to the public over the next few weekends.

20.03.2017

LOG WALLS

I like a pile of logs! Log walls have started to feature regularly in my gardens as an ornamental feature in their own right. Logs piled in an orderly manner are attractive and can anchor an area, add texture in the simplest, pared down but yet effective manner. The logs in this picture were sourced from a local tree surgeon, it was just a question of finding a tree surgeon with very particular attention to detail so that the logs had already been sorted in sizes and neatly stored in his yard. I have previously spent hours sorting logs so that they sit well together…never again!

I love the contrast between natural material and their neat arrangement which turns the pile into a feature.  I, of course, also love the fact that I know it will provide shelter to millions of insects (think stag beetles, habitat preservation, etc) and some small mammals. Which of course in my view adds a lot of value and makes them even more desirable as long as the logs are sourced locally (ideally on the developed site) and from a well managed forest.

02.02.2017

WINTER GARDENS

Gardens look great in winter.  Well, they should anyway. If yours doesn't, here are some tips to let the magic in...

• Get the structure right.  My gardens have a high ratio of herbaceous and deciduous trees but I always try to get the bone of the garden right with a few strategically placed structural evergreens so that the garden doesn’t look dead in the deep of winter.
   
• Don’t cut everything back, retain some seedheads standing tall and proud throughout the winter. Ornamental grasses, perennials such as Verbenas, and shrubs such as Hydrangeas look great even after the flowers have died and very elegant under a layer of frost. Plus they are a valuable food source for birds and provide an overwintering home for ladybirds and lacewings.
   
• Attractive bark and silhouette. Choose some trees that look great even after they’ve lost all their leaves such as betula utilis var. jacquemontii, which will brighten up any garden with their brilliant white stems and slender, elegant silhouettes. Multi- stemmed Amelanchier and Acers will also provide interest and look like sculptures. Dogwoods are excellent if you have a large garden and can plant them en mass somewhere with their bright coloured bare stems (as per picture here).
   
• Introduce fragrance. Some shrubs are a must (for large gardens only): Viburnum bodnantse “Dawn”, Sarcococca confusa and hookeriana and Hamamelis x intermedia and mollis will surprise and entice you with their exquisite fragrance when all your senses seem to have gone numb with the cold.
   
• Get inspiration. Some gardens reveal their true inner beauty on cold and bright winter days. They are worth visiting even when it’s freezing: Hyde Hall in Essex, Anglesey Abbey and Bressingham Gardens (where this picture was taken) in Cambridgeshire.

02.01.2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM STONEHENGE

We came to the West Country for a few days for some much needed exercise and to dust the cobwebs away post-Christmas and before going back to school.  

02.12.16

FEAR AND LOVE

For once I felt like I had my finger on the pulse when I managed to squeeze a visit to the Design Museum in its new location on High Street Kensington last Sunday. This in itself felt very good, being one of the first few discovering the new museum , but the real treat was the inspired Fear and Love exhibition #FearandLove designed by Sam Jacob Studio.

This brilliant exhibition is such a perfect choice to mark the re-opening of the museum. It sets the tone and gives you a taste of what to expect. I will certainly be keeping a close eye on the future exhibitions program. Its title Fear and Love and its timing are just perfect, genius really, in these strange post Brexit/ Trump times and you leave with plenty to think about.

13.04.16

PAINTING THE MODERN GARDEN

https://www.royalacademy.org.uk

23.03.16

BLACK HOSE

Finally a hose that's not orange or bright green, and a hose holder that you don't need to hide away.