Piet Oudolf

Plucky or preposterous, but I find myself incredulously in disagreement with the infinitely eminent Piet Oudolf. According to my garden guru, colour in the garden is only an added extra1. Quite remarkable, as his designs with their distinctively striking streams of colour are legendary. According to Oudolf, colour sets the mood in the garden, but remains a secondary dimension where good planting should be able to look interesting in a [...]

Time to concede. The central heating is now on and warm wooly jumpers have made their comeback. Quite unbelievably, winter with its festivities is almost on our doorstep. The barrage of ‘merry’ adverts has long started, with vast ranges of seasonal wares ubiquitously on offer. Imminently, we’ll be treated to that pinnacle of seasonal delights; chronic Christmas jingles blaring from all places retail. Yet, despite the expeditious onslaught of colder [...]

Intentions to restoring native wildflowers in our field & garden originated from Sarah Raven’s report on Gardener’s World back in 2008. Years, and many gardening projects later, plans for the field are still on the back burner.  However, talk of Raven’s new book on wildflowers rejuvenated plans. She kindly agreed to an interview, where she shared her passion, enthusiasm and vast knowledge on the subject. This is the first of [...]

With the dogus in tow, one very determined gardener hustled down the motorway to attend the last open day of the year, at the renowned Crocus nursery. As Crocus is not open to the public, with sole access to their wares available online, the open days are normally a prominent fixture in my calendar. Our garden is simply chock-full of delightful Crocus horticultural offspring, and offspring thereof. Consequently, being able [...]

Everyone has their clandestine vices; mine is reading the Daily Mail. Something, which prior to this heroic disclosure, was very much kept under the radar. The daily digestion thereof, requires limited mental aptitude and its content certainly not to be accepted as gospel. However, the entertainment value is priceless and this week was no different. As expected, the focus of current coverage is the imminent Royal wedding of Prince William [...]

Often, it is difficult to pin point, the exact, reasons as to why we like or dislike something. It is no secret, that I much admire, the natural or prairie-planting style. The impact of this style of gardening is staggering beautiful, and I just love all of it! Breaking that down, is more difficult. However, as I am keen to incorporate elements of this style into our borders, assessing and [...]

With Spring not even at our doorstep, bringing up the subject of late summer/autumn colour, may seem barmy. I realise we currently have Crocusses, Daffodils and Narcissi on the brain, but just bear with me. The highlight for all gardeners is seeing their work fruition into beautiful blooming bounty. We all work hard to ensure borders start early and finish as late as is naturally possible. During the flowering season, [...]