Every year the gardeners at Hidcote plant around 14,000 Tulips and as soon as they finish flowering they dig them all (well nearly all) of them out to make way for the summer planting. Why do they dig them out?
Everywhere you turn you can see how this Arts and Crafts garden of ‘rooms’ has been influencing gardens and garden designers ever since.
Tags: enjoy · garden design · gardening · imagination · Inspiration · Plant · striking display
One of my main reasons for visiting as a Garden Designer is to look at the Show Gardens. Malvern isn’t known as a hotbed for innovation particularly but it can provide some neat glimpses at how other designers approach a garden or planting and I particularly enjoyed chatting with Deb Bird about her garden The Nature of Nurture which particularly struck a chord as I learned much of my gardening from my parents and grandparents. Perhaps one of the most interesting ideas though came in the Schools Section, where two gardens featured greenhouses made from recycled plastic bottles.
Tags: blog · enjoy · garden design · Garden Organic · imagination · Inspiration · networking · One Pot Pledge · Plant · weather
The soil in Wiltshire, where I live changes dramatically – heading West towards Bath it is predominantly very heavy clay over sandstone, while less than a mile to the East, heading towards Chippenham the soil becomes very sandy.
The small clay particles that make it so difficult to work and so poor draining have the benefit of retaining lots of wonderful nutrients. Nutrients that plants like roses absolutely love. Sandy soil tends to see these nutrients washed away.
The secret is applying a layer of organic material about 2 inches thick every year. Then sitting back and letting the worms do all the hard work! It is important to vary the type of organic material applied so that a variety of nutrients are released. Sticking with say – spent mushroom compost will lead to the soil becoming quite acid so use well rotted farmyard manure, leaf mould, soil improver and compost.
Tags: amelioration · clay · compost · garden design · Garden Organic · gardening · mushroom compost · organic material · Plant · soil · Soil pH
Wouldn’t it be great though if instead of having to sow fresh seeds each year you just waited for the plant to come up and produce food for you? You are probably getting interested now – particularly if you have limited space and time. You heard right plant once and crop for ever!
Tags: benefit · Garden Organic · gardening · grow your own · Inspiration · lifestyle · low maintenance · money saving · One Pot Pledge · Plant · sustainable · value
In order to create a succession of sweet scented blooms throughout the summer months I now plant a further batch of seeds. These are now a few weeks behind the first batch and will flower that bit later. Repeat this process until you have used all your seeds and you will enjoy a much longer season of cut flowers!
Tags: Conservatory · Garden Organic · gardening · Inspiration · Plant
A couple of years ago Danny Boyles portrayal of the slums in Mumbai in Slumdog Millionaire bought the plight of families living in abject squalor to the eyes of the world. It was a moving film and anyone who has seen it will undoubtedly have been touched by some of the sequences. For those of us living [...]
Tags: blog · Food Inc. · garden design · Garden Organic · gardening · grow your own · Hungry for Change? · lifestyle · One Pot Pledge · Plant · Soil Association
Following on from my previous blog on the Garden Press event – it was good to see a number of nurseries and plant suppliers present, many of whom were showing new plants and seeds. This was great from an attendees perspective as I have come home laden with goodies to try out! Again sorry if [...]
Tags: benefit · CAD · garden design · gardening · grow your own · Inspiration · Plant · reduced carbon · sustainable · Vectorworks
Sweet peas are a great addition to any garden and are very straightforward to grow – however there are a couple of tips you can follow to get better plants and a longer season of scented flowers which you can bring in to the house. The first thing I do is to soak the seeds [...]
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Garden Organic are running a new campaign called One Pot Pledge where enthusiastic gardeners encourage others who perhaps haven’t tried growing their own vegetables to give it a go. With that in mind I thought I’d share a quick and easy way to make your own recycled newspaper plant pots that biodegrade directly after use.
Tags: gardening · grow your own · imagination · Inspiration · money saving · Plant · Success
My first visit to this event this year and was surrounded by well known journalists and media people all keen to see what was new in the world of gardening. I went with my Garden Network hat on – not really knowing what to expect! Here is my first take on the event – there [...]
Tags: enjoy · garden design · Garden Network · gardening · grow your own · Inspiration · low maintenance · money saving · Nemetschek · networking · opportunity · Plant · Success · sustainable