England's Gardens

Before: This area of a large garden of a historic house in the Preston Park area of Brighton has been transformed in a matter of days. Hedera helix (Ivy) had been on the rampage for a long time in this section towards the entrance of the garden. England's Gardens set about digging and weeding the area, clearing bags of leaves and removing Ivy. After: The area has been cleared and weeded. The Narcissus (Daffodils) which had sprouted up for Spring should now be a lot more visible when they bloom, now that the Ivy has been cleared. Also revealed were some lovely ferns amid the ground cover as well as the decorative brick and slate pathway and border hidden by the dead leaves and Ivy. Today we were joined by a feathered friend who was investigating the scene following the clearance, clearly eager to find some tasty worms in the fresh soil we had uncovered!

Try Tulipa 'Jan Reus' for instant hot colour in your garden... According to Val Bourne of The Telegraph tulips should be planted after the end of October once temperatures fall. Her article continues however... But if you missed your chance this year, there is another way to have tulips in the garden now: seek out ready-grown potfuls and sink them into the borders. They will do well (even in shade) and Beth Chatto has been using this system for years. The most colourful tulips are the Triumphs - a group bred in Holland for the cut-flower trade. Excellent late-April varieties include the dark chrysanthemum crimson 'Jan Reus', the purple-veined white 'Shirley' and the beetroot-purple 'Negrita'. Tulipa 'Shirley' They come in a wide rainbow of colours, but a limited colour scheme probably works best in the garden. Add a few May-flowering tulips to follow on. Next year pot your own tulips between early November and late December. Place about nine t...

Cercis chinensis 'Avondale' - Chinese Redbud Courtesy of The Telegraph Cercis chinensis 'Avondale’ , a form of the Chinese redbud, makes a large shrub or small tree, with masses of purple-pink pea flowers on the bare shoots in late March and April. The leaves then unfurl; they are very big, heart-shaped, pale green in colour and turn yellow in autumn. This plant is hardy, happiest in full sun or partial shade, and likes a fertile, moist but well-drained soil. Halesia carolina is one of the choicest of all spring shrubs (or small trees), having adorable, nodding, pure white snowdrop flowers in late spring, once the plant has a few years on the clock. These are ¾in long, and hang in clusters of three or five on short stalks. These flowers turn into 2in-long, pear-shaped fruit with four wings and a tail. When fully ripe, these are brown, chiming well with the leaves, which yellow in autumn. Halesias like a sheltered spot in sun or part shade in neutral or acid soil. Chaenomel...

The Magnolia season is upon us in the UK. Wakehurst Place in East Sussex is home to some magnificent magnolias, as seen in the picture above. Courtesy of BBC Gardening , here are the basics on the resplendent Magnolia genus. Common Name: Magnolia Genus: Magnolia Species: liliiflora Cultivar: 'Nigra' Skill Level: Experienced Exposure: Full sun , Partial shade Hardiness: Hardy Soil type: Well-drained/light , Acidic Height: 300cm Spread: 240cm Flowering period: April to June

I saw this tree today at Nyman's Gardens , Handcross, Sussex and thought it was beautiful. H/T to University of Arkansas for information on this wonderful plant. 'The Chinese dogwood comes into bloom in mid-May and lasting until early June. It is a 20-foot tall, twiggy, round-headed tree that is small enough to be accommodated in even the most crowded garden. Its flowers appear three weeks after those of the native dogwood. The blooms are pointed on the end instead of bobbed off like our native dogwood, giving the appearance of white four-pointed stars against the dense green background foliage. The individual petals -- actually modified leaves called bracts -- are usually 2- to 2 1/2 inches long and about one-third as wide. They begin as a beautiful light green and gradually change to bright white as the flowers open. In the autumn, the Chinese dogwood produces round ping-pong size clusters of red fruit on drooping peduncles that add another dimension of beauty to the tre...

People say that Buddleja is the best plant for getting wildlife and butterflies into your garden. I recently took a trip over to my parents house and they showed me the Everlasting Wallflower, latin name, Vanessa cardui. Tens of painted lady butterflies are now swarming into my parents garden, because they absolutely adore this plant. If you like butterflies in your garden, get it!

Clematis 'Josephine' Great article from Garden Forum on pruning Clematis. Pruning is one garden job that confuses many gardeners. And pruning clematis/how to prune clematis is certainly one area that has heads scratching all over the world. You don't have to prune clematis. Pruning can be restricted to: 1) the plants are out-growing their allotted space; 2) the flowers are produced too high up to enjoy. Pruning in the latter case can even be avoided by retraining and tying shoots lower down on the support - say just above ground level. These shoots produce their flowers much lower down. Training shoots horizontally not only keeps the flowers within eye level, but provides better coverage of the support, and the reduced flow of sap encourages even more flowers. Clematis can be divided into three groups when it comes to the subject of pruning, depending on when they flower. Group 1 Early-flowering species clematis (such as Clematis montana, C. macropetala and C. alpina), Th...

I've seen this shrub around Brighton and it has really grown on me. Not literally, of course. It is called Ribes sanguineum, known as Red Flowering Current. Looks great at this time of year and sweet fragrance. Here is the Wikipedia info ... 'It is a deciduous shrub growing to 4m tall. The bark is dark brownish-grey with prominent paler brown lenticels. The leaves are 2-7 cm long and broad, palmately lobed with five lobes; when young in spring, they have a strong resinous scent. The flowers are produced in early spring at the same time as the leaves emerge, on racemes 3-7 cm long of 5-30 flowers; each flower is 5-10 mm diameter, with five red or pink petals. The fruit is dark purple oval berry 1 cm long, edible but with an insipid taste. It is a very popular garden shrub, grown for its brightly colored and scented flowers in early spring. Numerous cultivars have been selected with flowers ranging from white to dark red. It was introduced into cultivation by David Douglas. Na...

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