We are still receiving many enquiries about outdoor kitchens with a full range of facilities – so now is the best time to plan out exactly what you want.It’s best to plan around where the sun falls in your garden, during the middle of summer, and decide which parts of the garden you are most likely to use in the morning, the afternoon and then in the evening. Take a look around and figure out where are the best places to cook, where you would put your dining area, and where you want a sunbathing area. Most people want a high quality
Read MoreFive years ago we were in the middle of building the ultra-futuristic ‘2101’ garden for RHS Tatton, which went onto win a gold award. The concept was around planting for climate change, with huge cowboy-film style Saguaro cacti, as well as the large round ‘mother-in-law’s cushions’ golden barrel cacti. We used large format porcelain paving to create a large path and seating area, with shaded pergola to shade from the intense sun. There was also a rain garden, designed to absorb excess rainwater, for climate extremes. People don’t realise just how much work goes into making a show garden picture-perfect, planning every
Read MoreI've been following the fantastic work of visionary designer Nigel Dunnett, with his new project at the Tower of London to commemorate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. More than 20 million seeds have been sown in the moats around the historic landmark, which have just recently sprung to life and flowered. The naturalistic planting scheme is carefully planned to evolve into a riot of colour and scents over the summer. A slide will transport visitors directly down into the flowers, for a fully immersive experience. As the professor of planting design and urban horticulture, Nigel is well-known for his stunning Olympic 2012 meadows and
Read MoreThe RHS Bridgewater welcome building has won a prestigious RIBA architecture award – North West Building of the Year. This is very well deserved news as it really is a beautiful design, housing a café, gift shop and plant centre. The gardens themselves have been hugely popular as the first RHS garden to be created in an urban area. I also noticed that there was recent news of the new National Trust ‘skyline’ garden being created on a viaduct in the Castlefield area of Manchester. Work begun in March and the garden bridge is due to open this summer. Bringing high quality landscape and garden
Read MoreIt's a common misconception that wildlife gardens can't be 'sexy' and that growing food in your garden is the reserve of those with land to spare. The Cloud Nine Kitchen Garden put paid to that. Particularly relevant to small town and city spaces, the garden dealt with issues of food security, wildlife conservation and sustainability in a tiny 6 x 4 metre plot. This was my first show garden, at RHS Tatton Park in 2015, and my first chance to show the world my passion for gardens. Back then, the majority of garden designs did not incorporate wildlife and ecology but I wanted to showcase
Read MorePlanning permission has been submitted this week for the UK’s biggest urban farm and eco-park in Oldham. If this goes ahead – and fingers crossed, it should – this new 160 acre site will be amazing for the local ecology and wildlife, as well as the local community. The plans include a visitor and learning centre, a natural amphitheatre and a swimming pool, as well as community allotments and growing space and a café. I think it's a really exciting development and have been following the news since it was first announced. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-61471562 A boulevard in the sky Another interesting development in for planning
Read MoreCould there be a more British combo than planting lavender and sunflowers. Not necessarily together – but they are both classic garden plants that are easy to grow and bring us huge amounts of pleasure. Now the RSPB has launched a campaign for homeowners to plant more of these plants in order to help reverse the decline of common garden species, such as starlings and bumblebees. The organisation says that starling numbers have fallen by two thirds since the 1970s, while populations of half of bumblebee species falling. The RSBP wants people to plant flowers that produce seeds/ nectar that are loved by birds
Read MoreIt doesn’t take much for a British person to light up the barbecue. Just a warm Saturday afternoon with some sun rays to tempt us outdoors. However, a few burgers and sausages burnt to a crisp really doesn't cut it anymore. Since I've been a garden designer, outdoor kitchens have grown enormously in popularity. Now the majority of my clients want some sort of outdoor cooking experience, as well as fully zoned areas, such as relaxing areas and dining areas within the garden.We’ve always use Alfa wood fired ovens because they are such a superior quality and very versatile. They are
Read MoreAlready we’re seeing garden centres and supermarkets stacking up the bedding plants – and we cannot deny the allure of planting up pots, hanging baskets and planting borders with brightly coloured flowers this Easter.So what’s the problem with bedding plants?In short, they are really quite bad for the environment. Any nature and ecology-based landscape designer or architect will avoid designing in bedding plants to a planting scheme.Most bedding plants are not native, so won’t survive our winters. This means they’ve been grown in large intensively heated greenhouses, using up water and electricity – which let’s face it, is not cheap!They
Read MoreI read this fabulous piece of news that hedgehog numbers are increasing in urban areas (although not as great news that rural numbers have still dropped.)Your average person’s knowledge of hedgehogs’ habitats has increased due to brilliant education around creating ‘hedgehog highways’ between urban gardens to allow hedgehogs to roam throughout the night.Hedgehogs can travel up to 12 miles per night, so our urban or suburban walls and fences make this really tricky for them. We always design in hedgehog highways into any fences, walls or boundaries that we design – these small factors can make a huge difference. Pictured is
Read MoreThe Eat & Shelter garden was designed for homeowners to be able to cook, use the surrounding edibles and create a unique habitat for wildlife too. This is an ultra low maintenance garden which proves that you can provide for wildlife while still having a luxury contemporary design.Eat and Shelter combines contemporary planting with plenty of texture from grasses and tall flowering plants, with a top-of-the-range Alfa pizza oven and fire table. Edible planting such as thyme, rosemary, fennel and chives means diners can simply pick herb and salads straight from the garden to add onto their meal.Taking the place
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