garden design Archives - Fleet, Hartley Wintney, Odiham McCarthy Holden Estate Agents

How to keep your greenery thriving during late-summer getaways

August 21, 2024 by Sam Holden

Create a holiday haven for your plants and they will prosper, says Sam Wylie-Harris.

Whether you’re making the most of late-summer bloomers, or letting your houseplants sun themselves in the open air, chances are your greenery is glowing.

Only what if you’re escaping to your happy place in the sun?

As Julian Palphramand, head of plants at British Garden Centres points out: “Summer holidays bring visions of relaxation and adventure – but for devoted plant parents, the concern of leaving behind beloved plants can cast a shadow.”

“However, with a little preparation, your indoor and outdoor potted plants can thrive while you’re soaking up the sun on your getaway.”

To ensure your container garden and houseplants continue to flourish during your absence, here’s his comprehensive guide for lending a hand to green fingers…

Indoor houseplants

Ensure your houseplants thrive on your holiday with some pre-departure planning…

“Watering is paramount, so we recommend self-watering systems for convenience, or enlist a trusted friend or neighbour to water your plants once a week,” advises Palphramand.

“Light and humidity are also crucial for plant health whilst you are away. Move your plants to receive indirect sunlight so you don’t scorch delicate leaves.”

“To create a mini-humid microclimate, group your plants together,” says Palphramand. “You can also place a tray filled with pebbles and water near them to increase moisture levels.”

Before you leave, he says to adjust your feeding schedule to avoid overfeeding while you’re away. “Consider using slow-release fertilisers for a gradual nutrient supply.

“Inspect your plants thoroughly for signs of pests or diseases before you leave the house, and treat any issues promptly to prevent them from spreading in your absence.”

When returning from your holiday, give your plants some extra TLC, underlines Palphramand. “Remove dead leaves, prune overgrown branches, and check for any signs of stress or damage.”

Outdoor plants

Pre-holiday TLC…

Before you pack your bags, dedicate some time to ensuring your container plants are in peak condition, highlights Palphramand. “A healthy plant is better equipped to handle the stress of your absence.”

Feed: Give your plants a final meal with a feed rich in potash, says Palphramand. “Potash promotes flower and fruit development, ensuring your plants continue to produce vibrant blooms or delicious edibles while you’re away.”

Deadheading: “Remove spent flowers and wilting foliage before you go on holiday. This not only improves the overall appearance of your plants, but also encourages them to put their energy into new growth instead of sustaining old blooms.”

Prune on your return: Resist the urge to prune extensively before your trip, warns Palphramand. “Pruning can stress plants, making them more susceptible to dehydration during your absence – save any major pruning tasks for when you return.”

Managing whilst away…

Shade: Anticipate hot spells and relocate your hanging baskets, window boxes and containers to a sheltered area with indirect sunlight, suggests Palphramand. “This will help prevent them from drying out too quickly.”

Cluster together: “Group your potted plants together to create a microclimate, where plants benefit from each other’s humidity and provide some mutual shade.”

Placement: While seeking shade, he says to avoid placing your containers directly against walls, fences, or under trees. “These locations might block essential rainfall.”

Watering: “Water is the lifeblood of your plants, and potted plants will require more watering compared to in-ground plants, notes Palphramand.

“The day before your departure, give your plants a thorough drenching. Water generously until water flows out the drainage holes.

“This creates a deep reservoir of moisture for your plants to tap into while you’re away. Fill your water butt before you leave.

“This provides a natural source of water for your plants, especially if a lucky rain shower arrives during your absence.”

Self-watering planters: Consider investing in self-watering planters, recommends Palphramand.

“These containers feature built-in reservoirs that automatically supply water to the plant’s roots as needed.

“They offer peace of mind and are perfect for extended getaways.”

Mulch: “Apply a layer of mulch (bark chippings, gravel, or slate chippings) around the base of your potted plants.

“Mulch acts like a mini blanket, helping to retain moisture in the soil and reducing evaporation – this can significantly extend the time between watering sessions while you are away.”

Delegate plant care: If you’re planning a longer holiday, he says to enlist the help of a trusted family member, friend or neighbour.

“Ask them to check on your plants every few days, especially during hot weather, and give them a quick watering if needed.”

Group thirsty plants together: “If you have plants with similar water requirements, group them together.” He continues. “This makes it easier to water them efficiently and ensures plants with higher water needs benefit from the increased humidity created by their neighbours.”

Look at the weather before you go: Keep an eye on weather forecasts for your area. “If heavy rain is predicted, consider moving your plants to a sheltered location to prevent them from becoming waterlogged.”

With a little pre-planning and strategic care, you can return home to a flourishing haven of greenery, ready to welcome you back from your adventures, says Palphramand.

“So, pack your bags, relax, and enjoy your well-deserved holiday – your plants will be waiting for you, happy and healthy!”

Caroline Quentin: Being an actor and a gardener is not a happy combination

February 20, 2024 by John Holden

Caroline Quentin Gardening McCarthy Holden

The Men Behaving Badly and Life Begins star, who recently appeared in Sky sci-fi series The Lazarus Project, also offers a wealth of advice and tips to her 150k followers on Instagram (@cqgardens).

Her husband, Sam, does much of the filming when she invites followers into her home near Tiverton in Devon, where she makes all sorts of dishes from ingredients she has grown, and shows us what she’s up to in her two-acre garden – which features an orchard, pond, greenhouse, raised vegetable beds and a flower garden, where the magic takes place..

Now, Quentin has written – and illustrated – a new book, Drawn To The Garden. It’s part memoir, part guide, with chapters on seeds, salads, fruit and veg, water, herbs, pets and pests, memories and anecdotes meandering through each section.

Her garden, she says, is “not immaculate”. Weeds haven’t taken over, but she allows some buttercups and daisies to encourage bees.

“By my nature, I’m quite a chaotic person, so I don’t need things to be immaculate, but my vegetables are in a rotational system. I’ll mow a path through the grass rather than cut all the grass. I garden organically.”

The book also features a chapter on wellbeing, an important element to Quentin, whose mother suffered from bipolar disorder and spent periods in a psychiatric hospital, she recalls in the book.

When she was allowed to visit, she’d spend time in the hospital gardens, surrounded by marguerites, which she still loves.

“I genuinely believe that growing things, watching the birds, smelling the roses, eating the green stuff and drawing and painting, all help keep me this side of sanity and one step away from the big dark house on the hill,” she writes.

Here, she tells us more…

How much has gardening benefited your mental health?

“I consider it responsible for my wellbeing. I am by nature someone who goes up and down. I have mood swings, I get low. And if I do feel low, the first thing I turn to is my garden, or if I can’t be near my garden, the nearest open space or natural environment.”

Did you always have access to a garden?

“As a little girl, we had a long strip of suburban terraced house lawn. It was not really a gardening space. Nobody in my house was particularly interested in gardening.

“I wouldn’t say I was a gardener when I was young but at primary school, I’d put a seed on a bit of blotting paper or a bulb in a jam jar with water underneath and it was fascinating. The whole optimism about growing things is always a good thing.”

What was your garden in Devon like when you first moved there?

“It was a derelict property, with just a field and a trickle of stream at the bottom. There was no garden. That was about 17 years ago.

“I put the pond in first because I knew when you put water into a garden, nature comes, and that was what I was most interested in. It was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done with a garden. I swim in it too.”

How do you juggle your acting career with looking after the garden?

“You tend to film in the summer months, and gardening obviously happens a lot in the summer months as well. So I tend to be in the greenhouse in January, February and March, getting everything ready, sowing my seeds, getting the garden ready, and then suddenly the phone will ring and I’ll need to be away from the garden when everything needs to go in and be planted out. Being an actor and a gardener is not really a happy combination. The time balance is somehow wrong.

“I’m filming two dramas this year. I do get homesick. I’m really bad at being away from home, which is weird given that I do it for 90% of my life. But it’s a small price to pay for what has been a very enjoyable career.”

Do you have help?

“Sam will water for me, but he’s not a gardener. Anthony (her gardener) has helped me over the years. He comes in for a morning a week.”

How do you maintain your wellbeing in the garden?

“I hug trees, I talk to trees, I spend as much time as I can in woodland. They call it forest bathing. It’s a deeply rooted human thing to want to be in the shade or dappled light of a tree on a summer’s day.

“I don’t formally meditate, but I do have a process where I try to breathe well when I’m outside if I’m feeling stressed or trying to learn some lines and they’re not going in, or there’s too much to do. I do a little bit of yoga every day. In the summer, I can do that outside and get my breathing organised to just slow my heart rate down and breathe in some good air.”

What’s next?

“I’m planning to downsize and start a new garden (in Devon). My children (Will and Rose) have left home and we have a big house and big plot of land. I’m getting older and maybe it’s time for me to start thinking about a garden for someone in their 60s. I want to make my next garden as well, I don’t want to inherit one. At the moment I’m fixated on having bees. So I’m thinking of an orchard with bees in it, and possibly some wildflowers.”

What will you take from your old garden to your new garden?

“Probably water. What’s brought me the most joy is watching swallows over the pond on a summer’s evening. I would definitely grow apples again and I would have maybe three or four raised beds, and a greenhouse or potting shed.”

Drawn To The Garden by Caroline Quentin is published by Frances Lincoln on February 15, priced £20.

How climate change is shifting Monty Don’s outlook on gardening

January 4, 2024 by John Holden

MCCARTHY HOLDEN MONTY DON GARDENING FEATURE

As gardeners face continuing extreme conditions with climate change, TV plantsman Monty Don says he is considering cutting back on plants which need more mollycoddling to survive.

“Things that all my life I’ve grown with ease are now problematic, and other things which I’ve struggled with seem to be fine. So it’s swings and roundabouts,” says Don, speaking to promote his new book, The Gardening Book.

He’s recently removed the last of the box hedging from Longmeadow, his garden in Herefordshire, where the popular gardening series is filmed.

“Box hedging, which has been such a feature of European gardens for the last 400 years, I now regard as almost impossible to grow if it’s clipped, because the combination of box blight and box moth means it’s almost inevitable it’s going to get one of those two unless you spray it endlessly with fungicides, which is certainly not something I’m prepared to do.”

He continues: “It’s become a culture where the more plants you grow, the more variety, the more extreme, the fact that they come from the jungle, or the desert or the rainforest, is something we’re proud of. Actually, what we should be thinking is: no, this is not sustainable, it’s not viable, it’s not practical – and actually doesn’t always look good.”

Greenhouse protection

He’s rethinking what he stores in his greenhouses over winter. “In view of climate change, it just doesn’t make any kind of environmental sense to put carbon into the atmosphere, and then spend a lot of money heating plants in order that they might grow in an environment that they don’t naturally want to grow.”

While historically, we’ve grown plants marked by trophy – showing off plants which are difficult to grow or come from the other side of the world, but which needed a lot of mollycoddling to succeed.

“I’m challenging that,” says Don. “Maybe we just can’t afford to do that, in the same way that we can’t use peat, or water if there’s a drought, or pump carbon into the atmosphere by heating greenhouses on very high when there is a 10-degree frost outside. We just have to rethink that.”

He hasn’t given up on dahlias and cannas, he says.

“What I have learned is that increasingly, it doesn’t make sense to provide heated winter storage for plants I absolutely cannot overwinter outside. Dahlias are no problem at all, because we store the tubers on shelves and they take up very little space. I can store some cannas but I’m going to leave half in the ground, and I’m not going to store any more big bananas.”

Natural survivors

He is considering cutting back on plants which aren’t going to survive naturally. “For example, salvias, which I love, don’t really like us because our soil is very heavy and wet. I will this year will be overwintering only a third of what I would normally, but I’ve taken cuttings from the rest. So if they all die, which they will do if it’s as cold as last winter, I’ll store the cuttings in the greenhouse to free up space.”

Fewer species

Don believes the trend will be towards gardening with fewer, more sustainable species, which largely means hardy plants.

“When you say hardy, of course, that doesn’t just mean resistant to cold. It also means resistant to heat and drought. In our damp garden, there are plants like ligularia and rodgersias, which are very happy in the wet but really don’t like it when it’s extremely dry. So you need plants that are adaptable to what seems to be a pattern of erratic, extreme weather.”

He doesn’t claim to have all the answers, he says.

“I think anybody who tells you exactly what the implications of climate change are, doesn’t understand climate change. The one pattern is that there is no exact pattern, but it does involve extreme weather, extreme cold, extreme heat, extreme drought, extreme wet.

“We’re seeing it happening, but it’s erratic, there’s no way of saying – ok, we now know that the months of January and February are going to be wetter than normal. They might be, or they might not be. But what we do know is there is a trend in in that direction.”

In autumn, he was still enjoying rudbeckias, some rose blooms and dahlias, and earlier in 2023 filmed for two weeks in central Spain, which he points out can get down to minus-15 degrees in winter and up to 45 degrees in summer, where the soil is very poor.

“There are gardens that only have maybe a dozen different plants, which look fantastic,” says Don. “We just need to edit what we grow to be sustainable.”

The Gardening Book by Monty Don is published by BBC Books, priced £28. Available now.

Why you shouldn’t tidy your garden too much in autumn

October 29, 2023 by John Holden

By Hannah Stephenson, PA

It’s time for the great autumn clear-up in your garden, when furniture and tools are put away, leaves are raked and perennials cut back. But experts are advising gardeners not to tidy up too much.

Some of your debris could be left to provide food and shelter for overwintering insects, birds and mammals, so before you start raking, clearing away prunings and starting that autumn bonfire, spare a thought for our native wildlife.

Pile up your leaves

“Hibernating mammals, such as hedgehogs, frogs or toads will use leaf piles to create a nest where they will stay throughout winter, while insects and invertebrates will love the dark, damp nooks and crannies that it has to offer,” Eric Michels, head of pro at CJ Wildlife advises.

“In turn, this will encourage birds such as robins and sparrows to visit your garden to forage for worms and bugs in the leaf layer.

“Simply gather the leaves and dead organic matter from your garden or outdoor space and arrange them in a pile – don’t worry if your pile looks rustic, as long as it is large enough to allow wildlife to burrow within the materials, animals will love it!

“If you have any logs or fallen branches, place these next to the leaf pile to provide additional shelter and security, and make sure it is located in a quiet corner of the garden where visitors can stay undisturbed throughout winter. Come springtime, remember to check leaf piles for any animals before moving or mulching.”

Leave seedheads

At this time of year, you may be tempted to chop down all your spent perennials, but leave seedheads on plants such as rudbeckia, echinacea, teasels and helenium, because they will provide food for the birds, the RSPB advises.

Stems can also hold insect larvae and eggs, and shield the soil from the winter elements, the charity adds.

Let wildlife shelter in log piles

“Broken twigs and old logs make an ideal shelter for many species, the rotting wood and brittle bark create cosy gaps for insects to hide in, while offering mammals a dry and secure habitat over the winter,” says Michels.

“Log piles also provide birds and amphibians with a source of food, as they search the debris for any insects which might be lurking inside.

“It’s important to keep the log pile in a quiet and sheltered part of the garden, as many species won’t stay if it is too noisy or there is too much activity nearby. A variation of small twigs and large logs creates the best shelter and larger logs can be wedged into the soil so they stay damp.”

Bring insect hotels indoors

“Insect hotels are a great way to offer bugs refuge through the summer, but many people don’t know that they should be kept in dry places over the winter months, like in the shed. This helps keep the hotels dry and in good condition, it also helps prevent fungal infections for bees that might be nesting inside,” says Michels.

“Do not be tempted to bring the insect hotel into the house though – the warmth of our homes might encourage bees to emerge from their nest early. The insect hotel can be placed back into the garden around March once the weather is warmer.”

Avoid bonfires

You may want to burn your garden debris, but bonfire sites, which are often set up a few days in advance, provide a hedgehog hideaway for hibernation as well as shelter for amphibians and reptiles.

So if you really have to build it beforehand, surround it with newt fencing and make sure there’s no hedgehog sheltering in it before you start, advises campaign group Hedgehog Street.

Let ivy grow

It can be the bane of a gardener’s life, but ivy is an essential food source for birds and provides shelter for insects and bats in the autumn and winter months, says The Woodland Trust.

If you leave ivy to do its thing, its autumn flowers provide a haven to butterflies such as red admiral and moths, while it will produce calorie-rich berries in November which will attract song thrush, redwing and blackbird among others, as well as shelter for brimstone butterflies and small bats.

The best scented plants to enhance your balmy summer evenings

July 4, 2023 by John Holden

Now that many of us have given our barbecues an airing and are enjoying the longer evenings, it’s wonderful to take in the variety of scents which pervade in the garden when the sun goes down.

Many plants actually increase their perfume production at night to attract moths to pollinate them.

Choose your plants carefully, and you can have a wonderfully scented garden for much of the summer.

There are many shrubs – mock orange (Philadelphus), shrub roses and lavender – which are all easy to obtain, along with fragrant annuals, which make great additions to patio pots and raised beds.

Even if you only grow some traditional sweet peas to cut and place in a vase on your outside table, guests will be able to enjoy a whiff of their heady scent.

Here are some of the best fragrant plants for enjoying as the sun sets…

1. Night-scented stocks (Matthiola)

These pretty, old-fashioned annuals reach their fragrant peak at twilight, where they become moth magnets. Reaching up to 60cm in height, they produce small, four-petalled flowers in shades of white, lilac or pink and are ideal at the front of an informal scheme or added to container displays. They like full sun in a sheltered position and moist, well-drained soil.

2. Evening primrose (Oenothera)

If you’re a wildflower fan, these fragrant bowl-shaped yellow flowering beauties are excellent for pollinators, and also produce their optimum scent in the evening.

Depending on the variety you choose, they can grow to up to 1m, ideal for the middle of a border, or to just 30cm, better for a container. Grow them in full sun or semi-shade. They don’t require much attention apart from watering during prolonged dry periods, and should flower from June to September

3. Mock orange (Philadelphus)

This is among the most fragrant of flowering shrubs, ideally given plenty of space to spread out, where its white blooms can emit their delicious scent reminiscent of orange blossom – which will pervade the whole garden on balmy summer evenings.

Single-flowered varieties are great for bees and butterflies and you can also get types which are suitable for large containers, such as ‘Manteau d’Hermine’, ideally placed near a window or door on the patio. They are easy to grow, withstanding poor soil and wind, but generally not shade.

4. Nicotiana (tobacco plant)

Hanging their flowers sleepily during the day, especially in really bright sunlight, the old-fashioned varieties of these annuals come to life in the evening when their blooms open to emit a sweet scent – so make sure you place them in containers near where you are sitting.

Some, such as Nicotiana langsdorffii, will grow to 1.5m so may be better in the border or secured to a garden trellis, while others, such as the beautiful ‘Lime Green’, grow to around 60cm and are ideal for a pot. If you want flowers which open up during the day, go for the newer strains, but the old-fashioned ones will give you more perfume.

5. Lilies

These are guaranteed to give you fragrance from mid-summer onwards, whether you want a dazzling splash of colour on your patio with showstopping varieties like the pink oriental ‘Stargazer’, which likes full sun and will need staking. Or more subtle hues which pack a fragrant punch, such as Lilium longiflorum, with its long, white, trumper-shaped flowers.

This one is best grown in large pots (it grows to 1m) as it is not totally hardy. Or try Lilium regale, a trumpet lily growing to 1m, which lights up a summer border

Where to place them

Perfume is most apparent in calm conditions, as wind will carry the scent away in the air, so it’s best to plant fragrant climbers in a sheltered spot or on a partially enclosed patio.

Consider combinations

If you want fragrant perennials in your borders, go for combinations of those with scented flowers and those with fragrant foliage to complement each other.

Some scented plants are not spectacular but will bring out the best in a border when planted with colourful non-perfumed plants. Try growing lemon-scented verbena and pineapple sage (Salvia elegans, whose foliage releases a pineapple-like scent when you brush past it) in the border amid unscented blooms, and you will have the best of both worlds.

Locate leafy scents

Plants with scented foliage include scented leaved pelargoniums, Achillea filipendulina, catmint (nepeta), Monarda didyma and the lemon balm Melissa officinalis `All Gold’, while those with perfumed flowers include Iris unguicularis, Phlox paniculata, Hosta `Honeybells’ and many varieties of dianthus.

Of course, plants with heavier scents may dominate, so keep richly fragrant roses, lilies, lavender and other strongly aromatic plants separate from those with more subtle perfumes.

Pretty garden plants you didn’t know you could eat

July 4, 2023 by John Holden

By Hannah Stephenson:

Garden designer, grower and social media star Lucy Hutchings, of She Grows Veg fame, has been showing followers the prettiest vegetables to add colour and form to ornamental borders.

“The best way to approach edibles within a planting scheme is to stop thinking of them as edibles and approach them as you would any other plants in your border. Look at height, colour and texture and vary that through the border,” says the designer, who has 171k followers on Instagram.

“You might want some frilly things, spiky things, architectural things, broad-leaved things – and you can achieve all of these textures and looks through edible plants as well.”

At the recent Gardeners’ World Live event, Hutchings launched She Grows Veg, a fully female design company. In The Secret Homestead show garden, she demonstrated how easy it is to integrate flowers and edibles and still make everything look beautiful.

With a background in fashion design, Hutchings explains: “Grow your own is almost always portrayed in a homespun, traditional, quite humble and slightly apologetic way. My interest lies firmly in edible plants and I never understood why there was this divide in approach.”

She aims to show people who love flowers and beautiful borders how to embrace the idea that veg can also be gorgeous.

Her show garden was filled with popular ornamental plants mixed with food crops which people might not realise are edible, including hostas, roses, cannas, dahlias, Oxalis triangularis and colocasia – which are traditional food crops in other parts of the world.

Here she suggests a selection of edible plants which will provide colour and texture to any ornamental border.

Striped japonica corn

Ornamental varieties of vegetable which blend in beautifully with a flower border include striped japonica corn (which can be used for popcorn), with candy cane striped foliage. “Popcorn is such an easy snack and you can get a lot off a plant,” says Hutchings.

Hostas

“These are very popular in East Asia, where people eat new shoots as they emerge. Take them from an established crown and give the plant a chance to bounce back. They taste similar to asparagus and you don’t get the woodiness.”

Japanese flowering kale

“Japanese flowering kale is sometimes referred to as ornamental kale, but you can eat it. It looks like a big purple flower, with white/green around the outside, fading to pink and bright vivid neon purple.

“All kales are really hardy and you can harvest it year round, sowing it twice a year, once in late summer to grow through winter and again in early spring to grow through summer.” Serve it as you would other green veg.

“I have kales spaced through the border, almost treating it like a great big flower as opposed to a foliage plant.”

Red orach

“This featured in quite a lot of the gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show,” Hutchings observes. “It’s commonly seen in borders and is sometimes referred to as French (or mountain) spinach. You eat it in exactly the same way as spinach despite the fact that it has really vivid purple leaves.

“Add colour through foliage and stem colour as well as flowers. Your greens don’t actually have to be green. Red and purple vegetables tend to be better for you because the red and purple colour is from an antioxidant called anthocyanin which is the same antioxidant that makes blueberries a superfood.”

Colocasia (elephant’s ears)

“A lot of people grow Colocasia as houseplants, but very few realise that it is actually taro, a starchy root you often get in Chinese restaurants – in Asia, it is very commonly eaten.”

Oxalis triangularis (purple shamrock)

“Again, this is a popular houseplant, but the leaves are really delicious, with a sour apple flavour. It’s a beautiful plant which is easy to grow and the leaves can be added to salads for a fruity taste. I’ve also seen it as a garnish on desserts.”

Dahlias

“These are a root crop, originally imported from Europe as a starchy food crop. If you lift them at the end of the season, use some of the tubers for eating. Cook them as you would a new potato – they have a slightly lemony taste. Flower petals of dahlias are also edible.”

Sunflowers

“These give you a lot of bang for your buck. Not many people realise how many ways you can eat a sunflower. They think that you just have to roast the seeds and they’re fiddly. But you can also eat the unopened flowerbuds as you would an artichoke head.

“If you harvest a sunflower head when the seeds have swelled but before the seed coating hardens too much, you can roast and eat the heads like you would corn on the cob.”

WARNING – This article was supplied by the Press Association. Check the facts / information and make sure a plant is edible, please consult an expert.

Highlights and trends from RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023: sustainability, wildlife and weeds

May 26, 2023 by Sam Holden

This year’s show gardens let nature do the talking, as gardening editor Hannah Stephenson discovers.

Gardens featuring more weeds and less formality have taken centre stage at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, placing more emphasis on letting nature take control.

Native plants and trees, nettles, dandelions and a predominantly green palette of planting feature in many of the 36 show gardens, along with salvaged and upcycled materials. Elsewhere, huge bursts of colour remain in the Great Pavilion, while first-time exhibitors include mushroom growers the Caley Bros.

This year’s show is likely to spark controversy, reckons garden designer Andrew Duff, co-chair of the Society of Garden Designers and managing director of the Inchbald School of Design.

“There’s a clear message about sustainability and environmental factors in an aesthetic way. There’s a loss about actually, what is a garden supposed to do?” he says. “Right across the show, the inference is that nature’s taking control… maybe that it’s OK to let weeds grow and let things get a little bit ruinous.

“But at the end of the day, people like a lawn, they like to look after a space – that’s part of being in a garden – and it’s time that we need (to address) that controversy,” Duff adds.

Reflecting on the topic, Matthew Pottage, curator of RHS Garden Wisley, says: “We are having a climate crisis. We do need to garden environmentally sensitively. Is this the place to be showing that? It’s arguably the world’s best flower show, so this is the place.”

5 highlight gardens from this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Centrepoint Garden

Love it or hate it, this garden is likely to cause a stir with its partly demolished house, so-called ‘weeds’ and a fallen tree. Designer Cleve West has admitted it’s a ‘Marmite garden’ – people will love it or hate it.

“There’s a sense of abandonment, which is so clever. Cleve West has done a partly demolished ruined house with the idea of nature taking over,” Duff observes. “He’s saying it’s a metaphor for what it is to be young and homeless. There are nettles and dandelion seedheads. It’s really going to question what beauty is in a plant – and I think we need to have that discussion.”

Nurture Landscapes Garden

If you’re looking to take home some plants with you, be inspired by the beautiful Benton irises in rich shades of pastels and deep yellows which you’ll see in designer Sarah Price’s Nurture Landscapes show garden, inspired by the artist and plantsman Cedric Morris.

Memoria and GreenAcres Transcendence Garden

Designers Gavin McWilliam and Andrew Wilson’s garden aims to deliver an uplifting spiritual space, reflecting the emotional experience at the end of life (it’s going to a bereavement site after the show).

“Controversially, they’ve used concrete, but with the idea that this concrete is going to be around for hundreds of years,” says Duff. “It’s not a single use concrete.

“It has a simple palette of planting, is cool and calm and you immediately feel rested. The minimal use of materials and colour palette was really special and a moment of calm in the entire show. It was a relief to get to it,” Duff adds.

Myeloma UK – A Life Worth Living Garden

Top designer Chris Beardshaw’s garden has a much more traditional garden feel, with a structured order in the colourful planting against a backdrop of clipped yew, including peonies and salvias, plus inspired woodland planting.

Horatio’s Garden

Putting wheelchair access at the forefront of their design, Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg (Harris Bugg Studio), have created the eighth garden for the eponymous charity, which builds gardens to improve the lives of people with spinal cord injury.

The wheelchair-accessible space, influenced by the ways of seeing from a bed or a wheelchair, features tactile stone cairn and a table water feature to encourage wildlife, while a garden pod provides a cocooning place for physical and emotional shelter. After the show it will be relocated to Sheffield’s Princess Royal Spinal Cord Injuries Centre.

“There’s an incredible depth of planting, which is mind-blowingly beautiful, and beehives of warm cut stone which kind of replace topiary – they’ve made topiary out of stone,” says Duff.

Top trends

These are some of the key gardening trends to emerge from this year’s event.

Wildlife

“Unsurprisingly, there’s going to be the awareness of wildlife-friendly planting,” says Pottage. “There’s lots of habitat in gardens, but hopefully showing that can be beautiful as well. There are lots of logpiles, lots of water, lots of native plants, but also lots of gardenesque planting.”

Reclaimed and reused

Crushed concrete, piles of rubble, bare sand, re-used bricks and other recycled material dominate many of the show gardens’ pathways and form decorative features in several gardens. There’s a message to get gardeners thinking about how they might reuse materials, which formerly headed for the skip.

“All the gardens have a destination, which is really important,” says Pottage – the show gardens are all being relocated after the show.

Award-winning designer Tom Massey, who has this year designed The Royal Entomological Society Garden, predicts: “Reuse of waste materials is going to be a big thing.”

He uses crushed construction waste in his show garden, including crushed bricks and concrete to create a textured, aesthetic backdrop for the planting along with deadwood. “These waste materials are really good habitat for insects,” he points out.

Plants

People will be encouraged to grow native plants, from hazel to cow parsley, while those seeking colour may go for irises, which are prevalent at this year’s show. There’s also a resurgence of common yew (Taxus baccata) and other familiar plants including a cloud pine, Eleagnus ‘Quicksilver’

Drought-tolerant plants are also being pushed – some 55% of perennials in the show gardens are drought-tolerant, almost double that of last year, including fennel, salvia and cistus.

Weeds

Dandelions and other weeds feature in some of the gardens. Chelsea gold medallist Cleve West notes: “People get their knickers in a twist about weeds but they are the pioneer plants that stitch everything together.

“It’s just getting people to understand that all the things we kill with herbicides and pesticides can look quite beautiful,” West adds. “Just be more tolerant, and if you have a space where you can let nature take its course, it’s got to be good for wildlife and insects.”

Massey adds: “Dandelions are an early source of pollen and nectar for bees – and insects are in mass decline, so we need to be more considerate in the way we manage and maintain our gardens.”

Sculpture

“We are seeing nature becoming the sculpture,” says Duff, citing designer Sarah Price’s Nurture Landscapes Garden Mediterranean cloud pine. There are pillows of yew in the Memoria and GreenAcres Transcendence Garden.

Nods to the Royal Family abound, from bronze bust of the King in A Garden of Royal Reflection and Celebration, which features some of the Windsor family’s favourite plants including roses and camassia, plus several crowns featuring flora and fauna.

Standing at just under 7m is the biggest driftwood sculpture ever displayed at Chelsea, a Wyvern dragon perched on a tree, the centrepiece of sculptor James Doran-Webb’s exhibit.

And paying homage to the unsung heroines of horticulture at The Monument is the ‘Women in Horticulture’ exhibit honouring the likes of Janaki Ammal, Beth Chatto and Gertrude Jekyll.

Bigging up small spaces

Guy Barter, chief horticulturist for the RHS, says people are likely to be planting bigger trees on their balconies and also using drought-tolerant species. “This year there’s a pollinator section, a wildlife bath, and drought-resistant plants.”

April Property & Lifestyle Magazine Out Now

April 12, 2023 by John Holden

Spring House Moving Activity On The Up!

In our March magazine we said that many home owners decided to tap into the early new year buyer demand, resulting in new properties coming to the market at a good level.

So, levels of supply have recovered and buyers and sellers are not miles apart on where they see pricing and this means house sales are being agreed at an increasing rate.

In this magazine edition we are pleased to show a selection of some of the new to the market properties so we hope you will enjoy exploring the pages which showcase some of the finest properties available on the open market.

You can see the full 68 page magazine by clicking this link or the image below.

2023 First Quarter Property Trading

As indicated earlier, levels of supply have recovered and house sales are being agreed at an increasing rate. This is supported by the fact that our first quarters trading results show a 6.75 increase on the house sales front and a 7% on the house lettings front when contrasted to the same period last year.

The resilience in the residential house market continues. House prices have levelled off, but because the market is more balanced with buyers and sellers more aligned on where they see pricing, then house sales productivity is actually up on the previous year in our area of operation on the Hampshire/Surrey/Berkshire borders.

Editorial Features & Property For Sale

We hope you will enjoy reading some of the editorial features we have pulled together for our readers, including recipes from cookery writer Kim-Joy, an interview with Alex Jones, some interesting insight keeping chickens and Su Scott’s thoughts and recipes on Korean cuisine.

For the super car enthusiast there is a first drive review of Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica by motoring correspondent Jack Evans.

A few samples of our property and editorial content is shown below – just click on an image to read the article / see the property details.

Save money by planting your own summer salad box

March 8, 2023 by Sam Holden

How to grow your own summer salads. By Sam Wylie-Harris.

If the idea of foraging for fresh food fills you with joy, how about going one step further and building a salad with ingredients you’ve grown yourself?

“Growing your own fruit and vegetables is becoming increasingly popular, with more people discovering the many benefits of producing your own food,” says Daniel Carruthers, of Cultivar Greenhouses.

Not only can growing from seed be cost-effective, you’ll hopefully end up with an abundance of fresh food – even when shops are low on stock.

Want to try and grow your own salads? Here’s how to get started…

What to plant

“If I had to name one crop I could always grow, eat, and sell, it would have to be salad crops,” says Jane Scotter, a Herefordshire biodynamic farmer (fernverrow.com), who grows seasonal vegetables, fruit and herbs for some of London’s top restaurants.

“A high-value crop, much sought-after by restaurant customers and individuals alike,” notes Scotter, who has also just launched her first online gardening course with Create Academy.

She says the flavour of the leaves, picked just before eating, is far superior to anything one can buy. “Eaten fresh captures the zest and essence of flavour, and texture of the tender leaves.”

Varieties of salad leaves

There are lots of varieties of salad leaves you can grow. “For spring, I like the hot zing of the mustards, such as mizuna, mibuna, purple frills and golden frills,” says Scotter.

These are all from the brassica family, and are quick to germinate and fast to grow.

“I find rocket to be rather overrated as a salad leaf, except when grown in the spring and autumn, while the days are warmer, but nights are still cool,” she adds.

Scotter says the flavour is much fuller, the leaves more robust and altogether quite different from summer-grown rocket, which she finds thin in both flavour and substance.

Fruits of the vine

“Tomatoes are a firm favourite in most salads and, with shortages in many supermarkets at the moment, it’s a great time to start growing your own,” suggests Carruthers.

With so many varieties to choose from, he suggests popular types such as Brandywine tomatoes, known for their large, beefsteak-shaped fruit and delicious taste, and Tigerella – “an old faithful, which has a beautiful red and orange striped skin”.

Carruthers continues: “Cucumbers are a perfect summer fruit, adding a refreshing crunch to salads. There are almost 100 different varieties, so choosing which ones to grow can be a minefield.”

Picolino and Cucumber Goblin are smaller than more popular varieties, but they provide higher yields throughout the season – ideal for keeping your salads going over the summer, he adds.

How to plant salad seeds

Direct sow the seeds into clean, weed-free soil, says Scotter.

“They’re not hungry feeders, so lots of fertility is not a big issue. If you don’t have a garden, fill a container or wooden box (with holes in the bottom for drainage) with organic compost. Fill the box at least 20cm deep with the fine soil. Pat down firmly and evenly.

“Then make a small trench, about 2cm deep and 4cm wide, using your finger or a round-ended tool, the thickness of a marker pen,” she adds. “Aim to have seeds about 1-2cm apart. Don’t worry about being too exact, but try not over sow, as plants will grow small and not as healthily.”

Cover with soil carefully and pat down firmly. She says to water with a watering can rose at first, otherwise seeds will not be evenly moistened, plus they may float away if water is added in a heavy-handed way.

“If these are started early to mid-March, you should see germination within 10 days. Sow at least four lines. Keep the soil moist but not soggy, and in a sunny spot outside. Your salad leaves should be ready for their first harvest within three weeks,” says Scotter.

“The varieties I’ve mentioned are cut-and-come-again crops – meaning you can cut at least four times from the same plant, before the leaves begin to get tough and lose flavour.”

How much to plant

“As a rough guide, a metre-length strip of mustard leaves will produce about 500g over three weeks. So, if you sowed four different varieties that would be two kilos,” says Scotter.

“I would expect to serve two people about 150g a serving. And when you consider the shop-bought mixes are around £30 kilo, you’re not only eating the best – but at a good price, too.”

Tips and tasks for greenhouse growing in the height of summer

July 26, 2022 by Sam Holden

Expert Matthew Biggs offers advice on how to keep your glasshouse plants in tip top shape.

If you have a greenhouse, the likelihood is it will be pretty warm in there over the summer, particularly with the extreme temperatures we’ve been having.

So, how do you stop your plants wilting, make sure your fruit and veg are thriving and halt greenhouse pests in their tracks during the hot summer months?

TV garden expert Matthew Biggs, gardening writer for historic glasshouse manufacturer Hartley Botanic (hartley-botanic.co.uk), offers the following advice:

1. Keep it ventilated

“When temperatures run high, watering and ventilation are top of the list. Open greenhouse vents early in the morning, as temperatures will soon rise (you should also have some form of shading in place by now), water preferably in the evening or early morning and check plants several times a day to ensure that they don’t dry out.”

2. Be waterwise

“Consider using ‘grey’ water from the shower, bath, kitchen or from washing machine rinse cycles on ornamental plants in the greenhouse,” he suggests. Keep detergent levels like shower gel to a minimum and don’t store grey water for longer than 24 hours. Softened tap and dishwasher water are useful, but only as a very temporary measure and water containing bleach and disinfectants are a ‘no no’, of course.

“It is at times like these when past efforts you put into collecting rainwater really pay off so don’t waste it. Water at the base of the plant around the roots, not over the leaves, learn to estimate how much each pot needs and store your watering cans under the greenhouse bench to catch any drips draining through. When you carry the can from tap to greenhouse you are more careful with the water you use.

“Keep your greenhouse pots and borders weed free, so the plants, not weeds, use the water and when the rains arrive again, flush out the compost with fresh, unadulterated rainwater.”

3. Keep your cool over edibles

Keep twining cucumber stems round their supports and cut back the side shoots two leaves beyond the flowers and fruits, to increase airflow and reduce chances of mildew – keeping foliage dry, the plants well-watered and mulching also reduces the risk of mildew.

“It is well worth growing resistant varieties like ‘Carmen’, ‘Passandra’ and ‘Bella’. Harvest cucumbers when fruits are about 30cm long and water with high potash fertiliser to encourage further fruiting.

“Feed fruiting crops like sweet peppers and chillies according to the manufacturer’s instructions, continue removing side shoots from tomatoes, tap the open flowers to encourage pollination and tie the stems to canes or supporting string as they grow. Keep the compost moist as erratic watering causes splitting and ‘blossom end rot’.”

4. Keep control of pests

“Check regularly for signs of pests, like whitefly and red spider (or ‘two spotted’) mite. Before introducing biological controls use environmentally friendly sprays containing fatty acids, plant invigorators, plant extracts or plant oils as others leaving chemical residues will kill them.

“Whitefly can then be controlled using Encarsia formosa, red spider mite by increasing humidity around the plant or introducing predators like the mite Phytoseiulus persimilis.

“To maintain hygiene, keep the greenhouse free from damaged or diseased material and sweep the paths as plant debris can harbour pests and diseases, it looks more professional, too and when you have finished all of this, sit out in the garden and enjoy the sunshine.”

For more information visit hartley-botanic.co.uk/magazine/ .

How to find the right water feature for your small garden

June 22, 2022 by Sam Holden

An expert runs through how to choose wisely and the pitfalls to avoid. By Hannah Stephenson.

If your garden’s not big enough for a pond, but you’d love a water feature to add some cool and calm to your outside space, there are plenty of options.

Pools in pots, sculptures trickling water and wall attachments spouting a stream can all be easily sorted – but there are some basics you need to consider, says award-winning landscape and garden designer Helen Elks-Smith (elks-smith.co.uk), a member of the Society of Garden Designers (sgd.org.uk).

“You want good surfaces and you want good plants – and if you are time-poor, I’d be cautious about water,” she says for starters.

Pots can be high maintenance

“The issue is, if you have a small body of water, it heats up. When water heats up it goes green,” Elks-Smith warns. “But if you have a small element of water, you can probably drain it when it goes green, clean the container and fill it back up again.”

If you have, for instance, a half barrel lined with pond liner for a water feature, the frequency with which you’d have to change the water depends on where you position it.

“Oxygenating plants can help to keep the water a bit cleaner,” she notes. “Water lilies can added to still water but they don’t like moving water. Flag irises can be added, but the depth of the water will have a bearing on what you can plant.

“Often it’s a good idea to have a little shallow area, like a little shelf you can pop plants onto, which are planted in little baskets. Not a lot of plants which grow above the water like the water really deep.”

Consider filters

Elks-Smith says: “If you have a still bit of water – and they are very popular – you may have to have a large amount of filters moving the water.

“There are loads of kits available, which often come with filters or you can buy them from specialists who will advise you on the type of pump and filter you need.”

Balance it out

“You don’t want plants to be too invasive in a small container, but some irises are really beautiful. We planted an equisetum in a water feature scheme in Winchester, which has these horizontal bars on it, which is very striking and contemporary looking,” she adds.

For modern gardens

“Even if you plant for nature, it doesn’t have to look homespun. You can have something that’s up-to-the-minute. Nature doesn’t mind.

“Think about why you want water in the garden,” suggests Elks-Smith. “For some people, looking at the reflective surface is what matters. They don’t want the water to be moving, they want it still. Creating a reflective surface is a great way of bringing the sky down and bounce the light around. Others wouldn’t want water to be that still.”

Check your sound

“There are many different types of sounds associated with moving water. If you have water falling from a height, you will get a lot of splash and it’s quite busy to look at and will make a big sound.

“You could have water falling from the same height at the same rate onto different things, and it will sound different,” she notes. “If you want a gentle trickle, the water would be going over a surface as it drops. The classic is water falling through a rockery, where you’d see it more than you’d hear it.”

Wall-mounted water features

“There are kits where you prop it up or build it against a wall, and the water will fall out of a chute into a body of water,” says Elks-Smith. “The traditional thing would have been a lion’s head, while a more contemporary version is a steel chute.

“These wall-mounted features tend to be slightly noisier, depending on the height and speed of the water and how wide the chute is. If you want to change the sound underneath, you can bring something up from the ground for the water to fall on, such as stones or pebbles.”

Plant in shade

“If you have moving water, shade helps stop the water from going green, but then whatever you are pushing that water over (such as rocks or pebbles), if it’s trickling, they will go green.

“That can be lovely – put your water in a cool, shady space, where you can plant around it with ferns and woodland plants. So you can choose to go with green water.”

They’re not always good for wildlife

“Not all forms of water feature will be great for wildlife, although some can be,” she observes. “For example, if you had a stone or a sculpture with water running over the top, which went into a hidden reservoir, that’s not going to be of any benefit to wildlife.

“You have to have an open body of water, and on balconies that would be a bit more of a struggle. But if you have a bird bath with a bit of water in, that’s absolutely fantastic for birds.”

Sculpture-led streams

You can buy water feature sculptures, typically where a hole has been drilled in it and the water is pushed up through the hole. Many have hidden reservoirs, where a pump and filter sits. The reservoir will need topping up and cleaning from time to time, and Elks-Smith advises you’ll need an outside electrical supply to run it, installed by a qualified electrician.

Patio position

“It makes sense to be able to see and hear your water feature at the same time,” says Elks-Smith. “And consider that you might still want to see your water feature in the winter, when you won’t be in the garden but you can see it from your kitchen sink, or if you are sitting in your lounge. Think which window would make a good viewing point.”

10 snowdrop gardens to brighten up your winter walks

January 14, 2022 by admin

As snowdrop’s emerge from their winter dormancy, Hannah Stephenson looks at the best places to see swathes of them.

It’s always a sign of optimism when we see the first snowdrops appear, their dainty blooms emerging from the cold ground, creating white carpets which illuminate gardens.

Some of the best displays can be seen in the many gardens taking part in the National Garden Scheme’s 2022 Snowdrop Festival during January, February and March.

If you visit at least one garden awash with these pint-sized white gems, you should find innovative ways to display your own snowdrops, and may even discover some unusual species you’d like to plant.

1. Bruckhills Croft, Aberdeenshire (open by arrangement Jan 25-Mar 11 for snowdrops and winter walks. Details at scotlandsgardens.org)

If you struggle to grow snowdrops, you’ll find a planting idea or a cultivar in this three-quarter-acre country cottage garden, set in the heart of rural Aberdeenshire, which became home to a Plant Heritage National Collection of Galanthus (snowdrops) in 2021.

It houses nearly 500 varieties of snowdrop arranged in small groups among the herbaceous borders, shrubs, raised beds and an alpine greenhouse, with complementary plantings of scented witch hazels, winter jasmine and colourful dogwoods, plus thousands of common snowdrops in the wildflower meadow.

2. Brodsworth Hall and Gardens, South Yorkshire (check opening times at english-heritage.org.uk)

The site’s half a million snowdrops and 200,000 aconites cast a haze of white and yellow across the lawns and throughout the woodland floors, while winter is also the ideal time to take a stroll around the formal garden, with its sharp lines and sweeping curves.

3. East Lambrook Manor Gardens, Somerset (open from Feb I for the Festival of Snowdrops (eastlambrook.com)

Celebrated plantswoman and gardening writer Margery Fish turned a derelict farmyard and orchards into this quintessential English cottage garden between 1938 and her death in 1969. With noted collections of snowdrops and hellebores, it’s an ideal spot to gain inspiration from contemporary and old-fashioned plants, grown in a relaxed manner to create this beautiful outdoor space.

The garden, which is renowned worldwide as the premier example of the English cottage garden style, celebrates its festival of snowdrops in February, featuring around 140 species and named cultivars.

4. Welford Park, Newbury, Berkshire (Snowdrops at Welford Park, open Feb 2-Mar 6 (welfordpark.co.uk)

Famed for being the gorgeous setting for the Great British Bake Off from 2014-19, there’s always great anticipation around the first snowdrop blooms, which create a spectacular, delicately-perfumed carpet in the beech wood at Welford Park each year.

One of the finest natural snowdrop woodlands in the country, this well-established garden houses four acres of snowdrops, which light up the landscape in February, as part of the celebrated snowdrop festival.

5. Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens, Northumberland (for opening times, visit english-heritage.org.uk)

Wrap up warm and enjoy the delights of Belsay Hall and its garden highlights, which at this time of year, include snowdrops. In the early 18th century, Lady Anne Middleton began the tradition of the women of the house planting snowdrops in the grounds together. Now, each February, vast white carpets of the plants can be admired in the garden, fields and woodland surrounding the hall.

6. The Old Rectory, Fawkham, Longfield, Kent (visits by arrangement in Feb, ngs.org.uk)

A sea of naturalised snowdrops and aconites is among the winter highlights of this one-and-a-half-acre garden, which has been developed around the snowdrops by the current owners for more than 35 years. It’s also home to 100 named snowdrops that have been added more recently. Other highlights include pulmonarias, hellebores and other early bulbs and flowers, foliage perennials, shrubs and trees, and a natural woodland.

Wherever you wander, you will see them – naturalised in the grass, throughout borders, the mixtures of single and double-flowered types creating a white tapestry throughout the garden.

7. Timber Hill, Chobham, Surrey (open selected days through Jan, Feb and Mar; ngs.org.uk)

Visitors to this 16 acre garden – bookable through the National Garden Scheme – will find swathes of snowdrops, crocuses and aconites, as well as witch hazel, camellias a little later, and a woodland area which offers fabulous views of the North Downs.

8. Westview, Great Glen, Leicestershire (open Feb 19 and 20, pre-booking available, ngs.org.uk)

If you’re interested in rare and unusual plants, this small walled cottage garden is one to put on your list, particularly the garden’s collection of snowdrops, which make a terrific February display.

Along with a formal box parterre herb garden, courtyard garden, herbaceous borders, woodland garden, small wildlife pond, greenhouse, vegetable and fruit garden, the garden’s collection of galanthus make a beautiful display in February. Recycled materials are used to create quirky garden ornaments that inspire many visitors.

9. Gelli Uchaf, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire (for arrangements for groups, visit ngs.org.uk)

Hundreds of thousands of snowdrops, including more than 200 cultivars and a unique Welsh Snowdrop Collection, daffodils, cyclamen and crocus are planted in this stunning 1.5-acre garden, set in an 11-acre smallholding 800ft above sea level, as well as copious woodland shrubs, roses, clematis and hydrangeas.

The garden has been created to complement the restored Welsh longhouse and the setting, and features much native planting.

10. Billy Old Rectory, Bushmills, County Antrim (open Feb 12 and 13, pre-booking available through ngs.org.uk)

This spot is perfect for a winter walk, to admire the swathes of snowdrops situated within the three-acre garden around a Georgian rectory. To the front is a large lawn, mature trees and a peaceful woodland. To the back, there’s another lawn – where in the summer you’ll find a riot of colour with borders of scented roses and shrubs, a pond area and a fruitful kitchen garden.

6 ways to get your garden party-ready for summer

June 6, 2021 by admin

Award-winning garden designer Chris Beardshaw offers tips on planting, lights and show-stopping centrepieces. By Hannah Stephenson.

With lockdown restrictions easing, there’s likely to be a lot of entertaining going on in back gardens throughout summer.

So, is your garden party-ready – where guests will be able to sit in comfort, savour the beautiful plants around them, and enjoy the atmosphere late into the night?

Of course, your own home-grown cut flowers will always pretty up a table, while sprigs of lavender or other herbs could add a scented accent to your place settings.

“All the research shows there’s a generation of gardeners, who have been exposed to the opportunity of getting outside, growing plants and experiencing the green world around them as a result of being locked-down,” says award-winning garden designer, Chris Beardshaw.

“One of the ways to keep that focus going is to provide opportunities in our gardens for increased socialising and increased sharing in the garden. People can enrich their garden without it becoming hardcore gardening.”

Beardshaw, who is supporting Readly, an online subscription service to consumer magazines including major gardening titles, offers the following tips…

1. Plant a riot of colour

“Plant up containers of colour. Take any container – basically if it has a hole in the bottom and you can put gravel and compost into it and stick it somewhere with light, you can grow something,” says Beardshaw.

“Choreograph those containers – perhaps with colour coordination, or with particular design approaches which suit the rest of your garden or your interiors or particular passion – so you get that instant colour creating a wow factor.

“Of course, the best range of plants to use for this are the annuals, the live-fast die-young plants, and short-term perennials such as dahlias and chrysanthemums, or perhaps bulbs like galtonias and leucanthemums. They create a chic, stylish look.”

2. Make a floral ice bowl centrepiece

“If you have two bowls which are interlocking (one smaller than the other), you can pour water between the two, then put it into the freezer and as it starts to freeze, layer on the petals like geraniums, cistus and nasturtiums as a veneer, and then keep topping up with water between the two bowls.

“When your guests arrive, you remove the inner bowl (by filling it with warm water), upturn the bigger bowl and you then have a complete iced bowl decorated with petals.

“You could fill it with fruit or ice cream as the entertaining takes place. It’s a great summer centrepiece.”

3. Create ambience

“Make sure you’ve got cushions and blankets and throws, which really extend internal furnishings into the great outdoors. Corral seats around a firepit or under a parasol, where people can feel a bit more at home and a bit more willing to sit outside later in the evening and listen to the way nature is putting itself to bed, and maybe owls and other creatures making themselves heard.”

4. Wow guests with wildlife

“Choose plants which are more biodiverse and wildlife-friendly, with more open flower, things like cistus for instance, anthemis, the wonderful daisy flowers, an advertising hoarding for insects.

“Angelica is also very good, along with alliums and astrantias, where you have cluster flowers that are bringing in insects. You’ll not only see beautiful butterflies but also night-time moths.”

5. Enjoy home-grown party food

“Growing your own is a fantastic experience of gardening, with the rich flavours and satisfaction you get, and you’ll also have a knock-on admiration from anyone you invite in, as they munch on your lettuce or rocket, or fresh strawberries warmed by summer sunshine. Your guest will be in love with your dining style forever.

“If you are growing produce in containers, go for short-rooted varieties. So if you are growing carrots or beetroot, go for the dwarf types; if you are growing salads, go for the cut-and-come-again varieties, where you can harvest them and they’ll keep growing back relentlessly.

“If you do have a glasshouse, conservatory or porch, you can grow things like peaches. A home-produced peach is like nothing else. You might not get many of them, but they are sweet, juicy and delicious.”

6. Add subtle lighting

“In my own garden, we don’t shy away from subtle lighting. We have old-fashioned festoon-style lightbulbs, which are solar powered and have little LEDs in them.

“They hang from some of the trees, shrubs and bushes to give a moonlight wash, a subtle extension of the internal lighting of the house.”

Visit readly.com/gardening for more information.

How to get your community involved in wildlife pursuits this summer

June 6, 2021 by admin

Encourage your neighbours, friends and relatives to connect with nature for 30 Days Wild, urges The Wildlife Trusts.

How can you reconnect with nature? It could be taking your breakfast outside to start the day, listening to the birds, reading a wildlife book or photographing a ladybird.

Connecting with wildlife and reconnecting with families and friends in the process is hugely important, says The Wildlife Trusts (wildlifetrusts.org), organisers of the 30 Days Wild campaign throughout June, in which gardeners and the wider public are being encouraged to carry out one ‘random act of wildness’ every day for a month.

You may want to start simple – putting out a birdbath, or stacking up some logs in a forgotten corner for insects – or you could join the campaign trail, writing to your MP to ask for more local action for nature and wildlife.

Ian Jelley, director of living landscapes for Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, explains: “The whole premise of 30 Days Wild is about people engaging with nature more often. People individually can make a big difference to the species on their doorstep, but also need to take collective action to help bring our wildlife back.”

Encourage neighbours

“The key is to share enthusiasm and what everyone can enjoy if you all work together. As a charity we have been trying to do more landscape-scale conservation where more people work together. If people are inspired by people they know and live near, it’s really powerful,” says Jelley.

Share experiences

“We moved into our house in November, put in a trail camera and discovered we had a hedgehog in our garden and I started having a conversation with the neighbours, asking them if they had hedgehogs in their garden.

“A hedgehog moves through quite a large area when it’s feeding, so it needs access to gardens. One of the challenges is that a lot of gardens are fenced or have a wall, so hedgehogs can’t access the gardens so easily,” he says.

“Talk to neighbours to see if they can help create a corridor by cutting a small hole in the bottom of their garden fence. Then the neighbour can share stories of what the hedgehog was doing in their garden and it starts to feel like it’s a community pet, with shared responsibility for looking after its welfare.”

Connect through social media

“There is a 30 Days Wild Facebook group which is a great example of how people from all walks of life share their experiences of wildlife, ask for help in identifying something, or support each other with practical ideas on how to make space for nature,” explains Jelley.

“Technology is a brilliant way of recording wildlife, but it’s also a brilliant way of celebrating it. There are loads of different groups on social media platforms who are sharing stories of what they’ve encountered and asking questions about species.”

Join or set up a community group

“If you have a shared community green space within an urban area, there is an opportunity to influence that to help wildlife,” he notes. “We work with social housing providers to help them manage their land. Often these providers will engage the residents that live there and ask them what they’d like to see – to accommodate what is good for wildlife, but is also interesting for people.

“You might get involved in creating a wildflower meadow. It doesn’t have to be a huge field. You can create a wildflower meadow in a raised bed or a pot or at the side of a shrubbery.”

You can get all generations involved too. The charity suggests recording some older community members talking about their most treasured wild memories as part of a wild time capsule project.

Create neighbourhood competitions

Challenge the next village along to build the best bug hotel, for instance, the charity suggests.

Think about doing less

“Sometimes with wildlife, it’s actually about doing less. If you’re cutting back verges or hedges less often, you are providing more natural conditions for wildlife. Engage with decision-makers and people who manage the green space around you, which is a powerful community influence.”

Donate wildlife-friendly gifts

Donate nest boxes to a local school, business or care home, which will not only give the recipients a connection to nature, but encourage neighbours and friends to do the same, to cast the natural network wider, The Wildlife Trusts suggests.

Learn from allotment holders

“[Allotments] are fantastic places for wildlife. They are a lifeline for species like slow worms and other reptiles that rely on compost heaps and the conditions allotments provide,” says Jelley.

“Allotment holders are often very knowledgeable about the need for bees and butterflies, to grow the crops they are trying to grow.”

Access specialist groups

“There are specialist groups around the country for all sorts of different things. The Wildlife Trusts can help signpost people to them. If people don’t know where to start, contact your local wildlife trust to find out what’s happening in your area,” says Jelley.

“The local trusts will often be running activities and events, but are also the facilitators of more specialist groups, such as those who are interested in bats or dragonflies or whatever. They are keen to pass on that knowledge and to help newcomers learn about stuff on a basic level.”

For more ideas and to join in the fun at 30 Days Wild visit wildlifetrusts.org/30DaysWild.

How to make skincare products out of garden plants

May 5, 2021 by admin

An expert offers a guide to making bath bombs, spritzes and soaps from common garden plants.

Want to create your own bath fizzers, soaps and other skincare favourites with botanicals from your own garden?

If you grow roses, chamomile, lavender and other common plants, you can use them in your regular skincare routines, says organic gardener Tanya Anderson, founder of Lovely Greens (lovelygreens.com) and author of A Woman’s Garden: Grow Beautiful Plants And Make Useful Things, a guide to how you can use your garden plants to aid wellbeing.

“We tend to think of botanicals as plant extracts that come pre-packaged, but the truth is that you can transform chamomile, roses, lavender, and even more exotic plants, into high-end skincare in the average kitchen,” she insists.

“You don’t need a huge amount of space,” she continues. “You can grow plants in pots or window boxes, or even forage for plants such as chickweed.”

Which plants should we grow for skincare?

Cucumbers are a soothing astringent, the roots of echinacea can be made into a tincture or glycerite, which is beneficial for healing skin, while soaking the roots of marsh mallow in water can provide a cooling and hydrating infusion for the skin, she says.

Rosemary, thyme violet and peppermint also have beneficial properties for skin, she adds.

Anyone with an indoor space could grow an aloe plant, for the obvious benefits the gel from a leaf can provide to soothe sunburn or regenerate tired skin.

“Different plants have different functions for your skin. Some promote healing, so if you have eczema or acne, it can help create regenerative tissue. Other plants have properties which make them humectant (which can draw moisture from the air).

“Some plants have natural tannins which help to tighten skin, so you can use them as toners. Witch hazel, for instance, has tannins in it. You use the extract in firming lotions and creams, while lady’s mantle also has tannins which helps to tighten skin as well.

“If you’re a beginner, I’d grow gentle plants which are also edible. Chamomile, for instance, is fantastic for regenerative skincare, as is calendula. They can both be used as edible flowers, in calming tea, or in skincare.”

What about carrier oils?

To make herbal oils, you’ll need a carrier oil suitable for your skin type, she says.

“My favourite carrier oil is sweet almond oil, which is popular when used in massage. Those on a budget might use extra virgin olive oil, if your skin isn’t too oily.

“Coconut oil is good for your skin but can cause breakouts if you use it on your face – but we all have different skin types, so it’s a matter of trial and error and research.”

Projects to try

Create herbal oils

To do this, steep dried plant material in a carrier oil and you’ll end up with a solution which may be coloured or scented, which will contain fat-soluble components from the plant, she says.

The oil can be made by filling a jar halfway with dried plant material – such as calendula flowers – and then fill it up with a light carrier oil, such as sweet almond or grapeseed.

Leave it for two to six weeks in a warm spot out of direct sunlight, strain through a sieve and the finished product can be used to make massage oil, salves, lotions and cleansers.

Rose petal facial mist

“This is an easy one. To make the rose petal skin toner, you make a glycerite (from vegetable glycerine, which you can buy, and distilled water) and infuse those rose petals into it.”

Add that to a rose tea infusion, made by putting rose petals into distilled scalding water and then turning off the heat, putting a lid on the pan and allowing them to steep for 20 minutes, she advises.

“Shake it all together in a spray bottle. It’s a very light astringent which smells lovely, and the vegetable glycerine helps to promote moisture. Use it any time, but make a small amount, because it doesn’t last very long. Keeping it in the fridge will help it last longer.”

Herbal bath fizzies

“These are among the easiest things to make – and make great gifts. You combine bicarbonate of soda with citric acid and Epsom salts and then meld them together with herb-infused oil with dried herbs in it. It’s very safe and you can make it with the kids.

“The fizzies have infused oil in them. The fizziness is just for fun but the oil will float to the surface of the bath water and when you get out of the bath, that layer of oil will coat your skin and help to condition it afterwards.”

Easy soap

“If you are going to make soap from scratch, it is home chemistry, but you can buy pre-made organic ‘melt and pour’ soap bases, which you can cut into cubes and microwave, and once it’s liquefied then you can add an infused oil and dried herbs afterwards.

“You have to work quickly, pour it into moulds and it will firm up.”

A Woman’s Garden: Grow Beautiful Plants And Make Useful Things by Tanya Anderson is published by Cool Springs Press, priced £18.99. Available now

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Create a holiday haven for your plants and they will prosper, says Sam Wylie-Harris.

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Encourage your neighbours, friends and relatives to connect with nature for 30 Days Wild, urges The Wildlife Trusts.

An expert offers a guide to making bath bombs, spritzes and soaps from common garden plants.

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