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Island Blend
After a very busy spring and early summer focussing my attention on my clients garden projects it has been refreshing to meet up with an old friend and horticultural inspiration, Oliver Mathews....
View ArticleShould I go or should I stay?
How sad that someone should think of selling their house because they cannot manage their much beloved garden anymore! This was the sentiment sadly told to me by a client recently. Flooding, a new...
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From Eyesore to heavenly haven by Sue Lupton
Creating a terraced garden on a steep coastal site in Totland proved a challenge for designer Chris Barnes and landscaper Miles Norris. Clients Mike Oldham and Lesley Forde had lived in the house for...
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In praise of Native Hedging
Yesterday as I stepped out of my back door, bin in hand, to make my usual short trip to the Compost heap, I stopped dead in my tracks as a whisper of red flitted before my eyes. In a moment it was...
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Riding high
Inspired by a trip to Hilliers last February and wanting to develop further creative ideas for Winter gardens I have planned and planted a large border high on winter impact for South Riding, the home...
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" The silver apples of the moon, The golden apples of the sun"
When a grand old tree comes to the end of its life it is always a sad day. But turning that beloved tree into an inspirational wood carving, capturing the spirit of both the tree but also of the place...
View ArticleGarden Consultations - are they worth it?
Unexpectedly for a bleak December day I received an email request for a Garden Consultation from a keen gardener who felt 'she had lost her way'. Now this type of request for the help of a Garden...
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The Wise Old Sage
I have to thank Irenethegardener for introducing me to the Kitchen Diaries of Nigel Slater as a birthday present last year. Fitting then that at the end of 2010, on the night when the autobiographical...
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Alien Escapees
Funny how a simple cliff top walk can trigger thoughts of far off places. Plants do that to me....whilst my companions are gazing sky or seawards there I am eyes cast to the ground, observing this or...
View ArticleCourtyard Schemings 1
Whilst I am suitably proud of my front garden I have to acknowledge that it is to my rear door, through an enclosed entrance courtyard that most visitors approach my house. Whilst not quite being for...
View ArticleCourtyard Schemings 2
A crowbar is not your obvious gardening tool but it became a recent essential ally. Removing ivy from my garage wall had turned into a nightmarish wrestling match of huge proportions. One week, one...
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A flowering Spring Meadow or The Lawn must go!
What a difference a day makes! Glorious sunshine yesterday and warmth on my back. Set out an outdoor potting station as I couldn't resist the feel of the sun on my face. Caught up with the last of my...
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Humbled by Harakeke or Weaving with Flax
Many of us grow Phormium tenax or Phormium cookianum plants in our gardens. The coloured cultivars are almost ubiquitous now in many a planting scheme and have been arguably 'over-used'. Also, the...
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The Libertines
This cold winter may have dampened or even chilled our willingness to try growing tender or border-line tender plants in our gardens. So maybe now is the time to take stock of those that have stood...
View ArticleJust one of those rainy days....
Early start. Meeting a big plant delivery from mainland at Clients Walled Garden. New nervous driver first time to Isle of Wight. Misty murking morning, first rain in ages. He is late! So squidged...
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Courtyard Musings 3 - 'Firing the Imagination'
Have spent this glorious weekend 'pimping' my courtyard fired up after my recent trip to Morocco. If you want to learn about Courtyard Gardens then Morocco is definitely the place to go. I was blown...
View ArticleTo Blog or Not?
Met up with 'The Gardening Girls'* for a pub supper last night. Amongst our various affectionate catch-ups - holidays taken, deaths in the garden, deaths out of the garden etc., we somehow got on to...
View ArticleMum's the word
Saturday's Guardian ran a timely feature 'All about my mother' by Dominic Murphy where he talks to three high-profile gardeners and their mums about what they've learned from each other. And what...
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Go on have a clear out....
Since letting go of my old Nursery to concentrate on garden design I have had to really wrestle with my propagation compulsions. But a recent water bill plus a bout of random and regular trips away...
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JANUARY
Saturday, 8th JanuaryWet, wild, windy and more wet. Everywhere has become a watery experience from the squelch underfoot to the running rivulets winding along roads, carving tracks down gravel paths,...
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Log piles
Wednesday, January 13thYesterday son Joe and Tom came to do the tree work on our stand of Sycamores. The plan is to crown lift and thin every year or so, trim the fallen branches and then log the...
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The First Frost
Tuesday 19th January- The first Frost The first real frost of the winter. Cold but bright! Yay! The Echiums outside my front window are wilting in response, their giant leaves drooping earthwards. But...
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Red delight......
My cycle route to Yarmouth was wild and very windy this morning as the remnants of Storm Jonas hit our shores. Head down, battling against the wind my eye was...
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Snowdrops and Snowflakes
When the snowdrops appear in Della's woodland and adjacent garden at Hill Cottage my neighbours and I breathe a collective sigh. It marks the beginning of the end of winter for many who are just...
View ArticleAir traffic control at Bird Station 1
Last week the RSPB invited garden owners to take part in 'The Great Garden Birdwatch' as part of their gathering of statistics. We duly downloaded the App to take part and added our list of regular...
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