England's Gardens

Rock garden with charming water pool feature. Alpine cool. Great use of railway sleepers and slate.

Absolutely brilliant article from Inhabitat website. Click here for the full story. There is something vaguely Franciscan about this idea and is the kind of thing that would have me hatching all kinds of pipe dreams of getting a band of brothers together to go around doing gardening works of mercy for Brighton. It's the kind of action that says, "We are going to go around doing good under the cover of darkness and there's nothing you or the council can do about it!" Regardless of whether you are an urban, suburban, or rural dweller, there is inevitably a patch of neglected turf in your neighborhood that might need a bit of TLC and greening. If you see hidden gardening potential between sidewalk cracks when others see decay and abandon, well then, you might be a budding guerrilla gardener and not even know it! The guerrila gardening phenomenon is currently sweeping the globe as folks are finding innovative ways to come together for the optimization of neglected lan...

Somebody would like me to help her lay down some slate-chippings in her front garden and it has to be said that they do make for an ideal, low maintenance garden, which you can then plant up with potted plants and have grasses or other plants sprouting up from the chippings, creating a lovely effect. Stipa tenuissima and blue grasses in particular go well with it. I think this image actually makes for a nice, visually striking garden. Lavender and Rosemary would go well with this effect too. So much potential! This is a nice effect with Hostas, a Phoenix Palm, Juniper communis, Crocosmia and ferns. The constrast of the greens and the plum chippings is really pretty. Slates come in plum, green, grey, blue, black but I think the grey, green, plum look is the nicest type.

Pulmonaria 'Diana Clare' The Telegraph have compiled a list of the 25 best Spring plants in a top 100 for all seasons. Here it is: 1 Pulmonaria 'Diana Clare' Long, silvered leaves with an apple-green cast flatter deep violet flowers, making this pulmonaria perhaps the best of all. Part shade (30cm/2ft). 2 Epimedium x versicolor 'Sulphureum' Graceful wiry stems with two-tone yellow flowers above heart-shaped, shiny green leaves. A toughie. Part shade (30cm/2ft). 3 E rysimum 'Bowles' Mauve' In flower from spring until late autumn, this bushy wallflower produces sprays of purple flowers above grey-green foliage. Sun and good drainage (75cm/2.5ft). 4 Dryopteris wallichiana Black bristly hairs contrast against bright green fronds when this handsome upright fern unfurls its croziers in late April. Good soil, shade (1.2 m/4ft). 5 Scilla siberica 'Spring Be...

Courtesy of Gardening Data, click here for Website. Using turf is the quickest way to get a lawn, but it needs careful preparation and care while it settles down. In southern UK, turves are best laid in late winter/early spring when the ground has not dried out and the growing season is approaching. They can be laid later in spring through to late summer but they will need more attention to ensure that they do not dry out. Laying them in late autumn and early winter is best avoided as the grass will be dormant and the turves can become waterlogged by winter rain. In more northern areas, the best times are early spring to mid summer. Turves should ideally be laid within 24 hours of delivery, any delay over 48 hours increases the risk of the grass turning yellow or the turf drying out before being laid - 3 days should be considered the absolute maximum in ideal conditions (not too dry, hot or sunny). Don't arrange for the turves to be delivered until the site is completely prepared...

I have just completed a mulching project for a family living in Westdene. Together we decided to mulch the sides of the garden to create a distinctive border on either side. It does look an improvement, but in total we used 24 bags of 125L bark chippings! Well, it was heavy work I can tell you and my joints are aching today, but the family are pleased with it. A good thing about it is the weed membrane and chippings cover any stones or sharp objects which children might find should they wander over to the borders, so it is decorative and safer for children. I hope to post a picture of the end result in a day or two. Don't these Ericas (Heather) look lovely.

Well, here is a picture of me standing beside our silver gilt award design for City College Brighton and Hove. It certainly was a fun day going to Hampton Court and it was the first time I had ever been to a design show. Hopefully I will go again next year if I can make it. Well done again to City College for winning this prestigious award. I believe the college are enrolling during the summer for the NVQ and OCN Horticulture and Garden Design courses and I thoroughly recommend them. If you are interested check out www.ccb.ac.uk

This is 1980s pop sensation The Smiths, with lead singer and all round musical genius Morrissey holding his beloved gladioli. Now rock history has never suggested Morrissey took an NVQ at a horticulture college but he clearly had some favourite plants. They're in the shops now and have been flowering in gardens since mid July. Avid pop fans will recall the young Stephen Morrissey singing This Charming Man on Top of the Pops with these striking flowers swirling around his body. Courtesy of the BBC, here are the facts. Common Name: Gladiolus Genus: Gladiolus Skill Level: Experienced Exposure: Full sun Hardiness: Half Hardy Soil type: Well-drained/light , Clay/heavy , Acidic , Chalky/alkaline Height: 110cm Spread: 30cm Flowering period: July to August

Well, I have just come back from Dublin with a friend and though I forgot to take my camera I got this image of the Botanic Gardens. The glass houses are impressive too as is the Rose Garden and the Japanese rockery. Surprisingly, perhaps, it was free entry which was refreshing and the grounds are big enough to walk around for a good hour or two. A truly lovely day out. If you're ever in Dublin check it out. And its true, the Guinness is better there.

Yes, the summer is in full swing and we've experienced (on TV, most of us) the joys, highs and lows of the RHS Flower Shows and gardens of extraordinary designers. Chelsea was great and Hampton Court was superb. But is it all over? No! For there is another RHS show at Tatton Park on 18-22nd July. Maybe the reason I hadn't heard of it is because it is in the North, so we don't get to see much of it on TV. Maybe I'm just new to the gardening scene and am ignorant. Still the BBC is covering it on Thursday July 21st and Friday July 22nd on BBC2 and I expect it will be very good indeed. How exciting!

Well, I was wandering around Brighton today and came across this delightful front garden. Against the brilliant white of the house a clever designer has planted a vintage wooden container with bulging lavender springing from within, supporting the base of a beautiful olive tree. The floor is white slate and pebbles with flecks of black and grey sprinkled around. I thought it was so nice I would put it on the blog. Hope you like it too.

The National Gardens Scheme (NGS) have been involved in a recent series, still running I believe on the process by which members of the public are allowed into their excellent 'Yellow Book'. The Yellow Book contains over a hundred gardens nationwide which are deemed good enough to be advertised in the prestigious guide. The Garden House, linked to this blog, is just one such garden. The book is available on amazon and in all good book retailers. I know Sussex Stationers has a copy too. Even more useful, if you are only interested in gardens local to your area is the Yellow Book for Sussex, cheaper at just 50p. You'll discover there are so many beautiful gardens to see for free in Brighton and the surrounding area that you'll give up on all the grand, well known ones. Well, its possible. Click the link below for NGS Gardens for Charity. http://www.ngs.org.uk

Good link on BBC Gardenings latest offering, giving us grewat tips on how to grow strawberries in your garden. How delightful! See the link below: www.bbc.co.uk/gardening

These are before and after shots of a garden I maintained today. The Fatsia japonica and beautiful hydranga were under attack from the deadly (not really) Dead Nettle weed, which, as a matter of fact, smells rather pungent and bad when you uproot it, or even get too close to it. The top picture shows how happy Fatsia and Hydrangea are now that they have room to breathe. The family for whom I maintained the garden are hoping to plant Thyme and other herbs in the area I have cleared. I wish them good luck in this endeavour.

Browsing Garden Tales, an interesting website by a Dublin gardening enthusiast, I noticed his love for Gardens Illustrated. I managed to pick up a copy for a pound at Hampton Court. It's a great BBC magazine with stunning pictures of plants and gardens, some of which will take your breath away. This month has some beautiful pictures of Great Dixter. It's quite pricey at £3.85, but if you're going to buy one gardening magazine a month, its a notch up from Gardener's World.