Category: Blog
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Small garden design ideas
As a garden design expert, I am often asked for design ideas for smaller gardens. Be it a small front garden or postage stamp back garden, I believe you can have colour all year round even from the smallest spaces! To begin with I’d recommend that smaller spaces replace grass with borders and beds. The…
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Ask an expert: Shady borders & north facing plots
All gardens can seem daunting, but perhaps most of all shady gardens. If you aren’t familiar with all the terms you may look at the label on a plant and wonder what ‘semi-shade’ actually is and if the 4 hours of sun an area gets is enough. You may have a north facing garden but…
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Plant Snowdrops in February..? Yes Please.
We’re currently at the end of February as I write this, and in gardens all around i’ve seen snowdrops for a couple of weeks. You might be thinking “Fiddlesticks! I forgot to put in any in September. Guess I have to wait now”. You would be wrong to think that – in fact I encourage…
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How I learned to stop worrying and love my clay soil
Clay soil can be a bit of a boogeyman in horticulture sometimes. You might watch Monty Don and his lovely, loamy and free draining soil that is effortless for him to plant into and then go into your own garden and feel like you need to employ a JCB to dig a hole for a…
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5 Stand-out plants from RHS Hampton Court 2024
RHS Hampton Court 2024 has just finished, and I had a chance to visit recently whilst dodging the downpours. In those moments of dry calm weather I spent my time around the show gardens. These are my take aways from the designs I saw… There were plenty more incredible plants and combinations on display at…
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Save our wildlife: Choosing plants for pollinators this Summer
We hear the plight of the bee on a regular basis, but it isn’t just bee’s that pollinate our flowers, fruit and veg crops. Hoverflies, Moths, Beetles, Butterflies and even Wasps are essential for pollination in the UK. Almost all flowering plants are in some way attractive to pollinators, as if they weren’t, the plants…