By Rachel Jackson As we continue to head into February, we start to see the tell-tale signs of Spring approaching. The days are getting longer, the weather is becoming mildly warmer, and the first green shoots start to appear through the soil, bringing much needed colour back into our gardens and natural landscapes. It [...]

By Libby Reeves As I look out of the office window, the beech hedge is almost white with frost, and my fingers are just starting to thaw from being outside in temperatures getting close to -6 degrees. It sometimes feels like the garden is a forgotten pastime better suited to later in the year, [...]

By Natasha Hannah-Lyons If you were asked to list iconic British wildlife, I would confidently say that the small, prickly mammal that gently toddles around our gardens after dark would be on most of our lists. This little bug eating carnivore is a firm favourite of many, but it is in need of our [...]

By Libby Reeves Prior to Christmas, I was given some interesting blog ideas from our Managing Director, Liz Nicholson. On looking through this list, I saw the idea of planting one tree per household, which I thought I should address first, as, in an ideal world, I would have written this a few months [...]

By Libby Reeves Another year is coming to an end, the weather is getting cooler and wetter, and I am regularly getting asked ‘when is the right time to plant a tree?’ The answer is simple; now is the perfect time to plant trees, shrubs, or even herbaceous plants, despite the top growth starting [...]

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 [...]