Screening is an issue that comes up time and again, and here is an example where it was desperately needed to break up the view of next door’s flats. Not least to give the people in the flats some privacy too. 3 x multi-stemmed Prunus serrula (the Tibetan cherry) were chosen. Given time, they should …
Prunus ‘Shirofugen’
Prunus ‘Shirofugen’ looking lovely at the moment, underplanted with wild garlic (Allium ursinum). ‘Shirofugen’ has tasteful pale pink double flowers which droop languidly, and are accompanied by the emerging bronze foliage. This tree is growing in a front garden in South Croydon, on thin chalky soil. It was planted 9 years ago, and as you …
Millboard decking and porcelain
In February I attended a talk on Millboard decking www.millboard.co.uk at my Surrey Garden Design group www.sgdg.org.uk Here’s my resume: In February Russell Porter from Millboard Decking came along to introduce us to his company’s decking and porcelain products. It is a family owned British company, and their composite decking in particular is becoming quite …
Cloudpruning
I spotted this ‘Cloud Pruned’ Viburnum tinus in a front garden in Barnes yesterday. What a great idea to prune it in this way, the original bush must have looked quite untidy. It is now an elegant feature. The gardener of the house was there, and he told me that it had a taken a …
Visit to Silverland Stone
I am looking forward to visiting Silverland Stone, landscape suppliers, www.silverlandstone.co.uk in a couple of weeks. I am going as a member of the Surrey Garden design Group www.sgdg.org.uk. I joined last year and it has been a great way to top up my knowledge and meet and make friends with fellow designers/gardeners. We meet …
Horsham Stone front garden
This front garden in Caterham was designed to comfortably accommodate an extra car space. Like so many areas, pressure on parking is increasing. The brief was to make the garden look good when no cars are on the drive, as nobody really wants their front garden to look like a car park. This is the …
Cool Contemporary garden chairs
I absolutely love these bright orange lounging chairs, made of hard-wearing rattan, but can I find them to buy? They are/were available in the U.S , but apparently not here – shame. I find the range of outdoors table and chairs available here rather limited. Anyone looking to set up a business, here’s a gap …
Yellow roses
I am really enjoying these yellow roses in my own garden this year (unknown variety). Yellow is sometimes an unpopular colour in gardening, perhaps due to some brash yellows found in the plant world, like Lysimachia, and Forsythia, but this yellow is so fresh and clear, against all the green in my garden, it is …
Outdoor pizza oven
Following on from the previous post, here is the gorgeous pizza oven that Cathy Miller designed with her builder. Old stock bricks combined with the fossil stone create such a charming addition to the garden. The integrated bar with stools and the stainless steel barbecue tuck in perfectly to this underused part of the garden. …
Chipstead garden on a steep slope
I re-visited a garden today that was built and planted up last year. It was a joy to see it being looked after so beautifully, Cathy, the owner told me she loves spending time in the garden now that it has been landscaped, and she waters every evening. As the soil is dry and on …