By Ruby Simpson We all share the idealistic notion of sitting in the garden, gazing at the delightfully perfect planting and taking a moment away from the madness of daily life to relax and appreciate the beautiful outdoors. In reality, I find that if I ever have a spare moment to sit down in [...]

By Libby Reeves It's a fresh, September morning and I find myself enjoying a bike ride to exploit some of the fine weather before the cold and the dark set in. This blog is an account of what horticultural pleasures I come across along the way, hoping that you might find something useful for [...]

By Libby Reeves Here in Oxfordshire, we are surrounded by areas of historic limestone. The Cotswolds are on oolitic limestone; the Chilterns and North Wessex Downs (including White Horse Hill) are on chalk. This has wide implications for the native flora that grows in these areas and, ultimately, the plants in our gardens. Limestone [...]

Whether you have a windowsill, courtyard garden, vegetable plot or regularly glean a glut of produce from an established kitchen garden of your own, National Allotment Week is the perfect opportunity to raise awareness of the benefits of homegrown produce. Kitchen Gardens have become increasingly popular over recent years and on reflection, there are a [...]

By Nadia Cheddi (Lighting Designer) In recent years, garden lighting has become a very popular trend. Whether it is uplighting huge feature trees to give structure and height, or downlighting the façade of house, more and more people are wanting to venture into the world of garden lighting. However, we need to make sure [...]

By Wil Heeney Often when people talk about wildlife gardening, they conjure up images of gardens left to grow into backyard jungles. However, improving our back gardens for wildlife doesn’t have to mean carrying out your own re-wildling experiment. Even the slightest changes in the smallest spaces can promote native biodiversity. Below are two [...]

By Jarka Valasheek (Assistant Designer & Planting Specialist) Don't just smell the roses! If you really love them, do go ahead and enjoy the fragrance that they can produce. I particularly enjoyed ‘Paul’s Himalayan Musk’ at Upton House in their Rose Garden last summer. However, if growing roses is not an option for you, [...]

By Libby Reeves Damp, wet or boggy areas in the garden are usually caused by two separate issues: Poor drainage High water table Poor drainage has various causes: a heavy, impermeable clay soil; compaction; a physical barrier such as a concrete slab or pond liner; soil pans to name a few. A high water-table [...]

By Libby Reeves Biological controls are tiny creatures that we can use within our gardens to control pests and disease. It is a more recent method, but a highly valued version of pest control that is encouraging farmers, growers and gardeners alike to move away from chemical use. This is important. Chemicals are dangerous, [...]

By Libby Reeves & Maria Laskey Many hours are spent in our gardens caring for our trees and flowers, and sometimes despite all our best efforts, things can go wrong. And oh...can they go wrong! Disease may not always be the first thing we think of when we see a poorly plant, and indeed [...]