Wildlife gardening

A few scribblings on creating a White Garden

Categories Acid-loving plants, Alpine, annuals, Architectural Plants, Autumn garden, Bedding, Bulbs, Camellias, Clematis, Climbing plants, conifers, container gardening, Dahlias, David Austin roses, evergreen perennial, Evergreen shrubs, Exotic, Flowering Cherry, Fragrant plants, General comment, Hellebore, herbaceous, Hydrangea, Iris, Magnolia, Mediterranean Garden, Mottisfont Abbey, National Trust Gardens, Ornamental trees, Rhododendron & Azalea, RHS WIsley, Roses, Seasonal colour, shade, Shrubs, Sissinghurst Castle, Snowdrops (Galanthus), Spring Garden, Summer garden, Trees, Trees for smaller gardens, White Garden, Wildlife gardening, Winter Garden, Wisteria, Woodland Garden2 Comments on A few scribblings on creating a White Garden

  Creating a White Garden Straight out of the block, I'm talking about green. And grey, silver, and variegation. We'll get to white but a few thoughts first. ‘Green is the backdrop to the garden but in its range of shades and textures, green has much more to offer as any foreground interest. Grey dims,…

Continue reading ➞ A few scribblings on creating a White Garden

Remembrance of An East Sussex Odyssey and the jewel in the crown, Great Dixter (2018)

Categories Architectural Plants, Bulbs, colour, conifers, Cottage Garden, Cutting Garden, Dry Garden, Exotic, Flowering Cherry, Fragrant plants, Fruit Trees, Garden Design, General comment, Great Dixter, herbaceous, Kitchen Garden, Magnolia, Mediterranean Garden, Open to the public, Organic Gardening, Organic pest control, Ornamental trees, Seasonal colour, shade, spring flowering, Spring Garden, Travel broadens the mind, Tropical, Vegetables, Wildlife gardening, Woodland Garden1 Comment on Remembrance of An East Sussex Odyssey and the jewel in the crown, Great Dixter (2018)

  An impossibly bright day, just like today, but taking us back two years to 2018 and a late spring coming back after the Beast from the East chilled (froze) the country over several weeks. Too bright for really good photography but a pleasure to remember. Enjoy. Well this time I'll let the pictures do…

Continue reading ➞ Remembrance of An East Sussex Odyssey and the jewel in the crown, Great Dixter (2018)

Forest Bathing … because for the great many of us, we simply can’t at the moment

Categories General comment, Open to the public, Spring Garden, Trees, Wildlife gardening, Wisteria, Woodland GardenLeave a Comment on Forest Bathing … because for the great many of us, we simply can’t at the moment

Reprising a spring walk in Surrey last year, around Ranmore Common, through some glorious woodland. Forest bathing - simply being calm and quiet amongst the trees, breathing deeply, moving slowly. De-stressing. There was such a beautiful light filtering through the emerging foilage, the structure of the trees not yet obscured. Birdsong and unaccountably very few…

Continue reading ➞ Forest Bathing … because for the great many of us, we simply can’t at the moment

Explaining a little about fertilisers; What N:P:K means; the benefits of Organic Matter, mulches & green manure – and making your own compost & manure brews. Some steps towards Organic Gardening

Categories Bee Friendly Plants, Composting, container gardening, General comment, jobs to do in ..., Organic Gardening, Pest control, Roses, Spring Garden, Wildlife gardening2 Comments on Explaining a little about fertilisers; What N:P:K means; the benefits of Organic Matter, mulches & green manure – and making your own compost & manure brews. Some steps towards Organic Gardening

I had quite a few ideas about gardening that I believed wholeheartedly but quite without foundation - that is before I started my formal horticultural training. One of these truths was that there was no such thing as the over-use of fertilisers. A little more would surely provide extra benefit. Well, no, it turned out.…

Continue reading ➞ Explaining a little about fertilisers; What N:P:K means; the benefits of Organic Matter, mulches & green manure – and making your own compost & manure brews. Some steps towards Organic Gardening

Colour on a dull day, just not today: A banquet-kaleidoscope-smorgasbord-gallimaufry of early Spring colour and scent … (or Where’s Thug?)

Categories Abstract Photograpy, Acid-loving plants, Alpine, Architectural Plants, Bedding, Bulbs, Camellias, Climbing plants, colour, Fragrant plants, General comment, Hellebore, herbaceous, Japanese Maples (Acers), Magnolia, Ornamental trees, RHS WIsley, Roses, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Seasonal colour, spring flowering, Spring Garden, Trees for smaller gardens, White Garden, Wildlife gardening, Winter Garden, Woodland GardenLeave a Comment on Colour on a dull day, just not today: A banquet-kaleidoscope-smorgasbord-gallimaufry of early Spring colour and scent … (or Where’s Thug?)

  Another look through the Teddington Gardener Archives, mid-March 2016, and as the title says, a jumble of images, woodland and glasshouse, Wisley and Kew and a welcome reminder of Thug, the Petersham Cat, still missed.   Ah, well, you've got me - one huge gallery of images and barely a note to cover the…

Continue reading ➞ Colour on a dull day, just not today: A banquet-kaleidoscope-smorgasbord-gallimaufry of early Spring colour and scent … (or Where’s Thug?)

Kew Gardens – the Woodland Gardens providing welcome shade, dappled and deep and a rich tapestry of leaf, flower & fragrance

Categories Architectural Plants, Climbing plants, Fragrant plants, General comment, Grasses, herbaceous, Open to the public, Orchids, Plants for a shady garden?, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Seasonal colour, Summer garden, Wildlife gardening1 Comment on Kew Gardens – the Woodland Gardens providing welcome shade, dappled and deep and a rich tapestry of leaf, flower & fragrance

A reprisals of a piece from June 2015 at Kew Gardens, as I am hosting a Shade-themed workshop today and have rescheduled several pieces to fill out the subject and which will form the basis of my updated notes. A talk on the beauty and possibilities of gardening in the shade - indeed on a…

Continue reading ➞ Kew Gardens – the Woodland Gardens providing welcome shade, dappled and deep and a rich tapestry of leaf, flower & fragrance

Forest Bathing …

Categories General comment, Spring Garden, Trees, Wildlife gardening, Wisteria, Woodland Garden2 Comments on Forest Bathing …

Enjoying the natural beauty of Surrey today, with a 12 mile walk and picnic - beautiful scenery - Beech and Oak woodland, chalk downland, a stretch along the North Downs Way, Denbies Wine Estate, lunch with a view right over to The Shard and Canary Wharf - 30 miles away maybe? Some beautiful houses in…

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Winter Border Workshop at Petersham Nurseries

Categories Architectural Plants, Bulbs, Camellias, Clematis, climbing plant, colour, conifers, container gardening, David Austin roses, Dry Garden, evergreen perennial, Evergreen shrubs, Exotic, Flowering Cherry, Fragrant plants, Fruit Trees, General comment, Grasses, Hellebore, herbaceous, Hydrangea, Japanese Maples (Acers), Magnolia, Mediterranean Garden, Mottisfont Abbey, November, Ornamental trees, Petersham Nurseries, Plants for a shady garden?, Rhododendron & Azalea, RHS WIsley, Roses, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Savill Garden, Seasonal colour, Seeds, shade, Shrubs, Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Snowdrops (Galanthus), The Savill Garden, Trees, Trees for smaller gardens, Vegetables, Water gardening, White Garden, Wildlife gardening, Winter Garden, witch hazel, Woodland Garden1 Comment on Winter Border Workshop at Petersham Nurseries

I have a workshop this week where we will delve into turning our gardens, in the chill months ahead, into winter borders filled with interesting plants, colours and textures. Anchor plants with attractive foliage, the tracery and silhouettes of seedheads and dried stems and flower heads, and ornamental fruit, evergreen shrubs with scented flowers for…

Continue reading ➞ Winter Border Workshop at Petersham Nurseries

Hampton Court Flower Show Part Four – more gardens … more nurseries … just more!

Categories annuals, Architectural Plants, Art in the landscape, Bedding, Bulbs, Clematis, Climbing plants, colour, container gardening, Cottage Garden, Cutting Garden, Dahlias, dark foliage plants, Dry Garden, evergreen perennial, Exotic, floristry, Flower Shows, Garden Design, General comment, herbaceous, Hydrangea, late summer border, Open to the public, Orchids, Ornamental trees, Seasonal colour, Seeds, shade, Shrubs, Summer garden, Tropical, White Garden, Wildlife gardeningLeave a Comment on Hampton Court Flower Show Part Four – more gardens … more nurseries … just more!