Designing for wildlife

This video is quite long but the presentation within it is important and well worth watching…

Allotment month 12: proof is in the potatoes

It’s been a year since I was given my 125 sq metre allotment and what a…

Accelerating succulent and cacti growth

One thing I remember from my childhood greenhouse and large cactus collection was how heavily I…

From the streets: Library of Birmingham’s rooftop secret garden and futuristic municipal design

My mum and I share the same birthday, bonfire night. We love it, so Chris and I…

Autumn colour in Diana Ross’ garden

We were really taken with plantswoman Diana Ross’ stunning garden around the corner in Clapham when we visited…

Cacti in the Princess of Wales Conservatory, Kew

The Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew has rarely looked as good as it does now.…

Having fun with shade and sun

Down the side of our Victorian maisonette is a narrow alley way. It’s where I started…

Apple iTree: the botanical trend reaches new heights with Ficus maclellandii ‘Alii’

This week Apple reopened its flagship London store on Regent Street after months of renovations to…

Allotment Month 11: jobs for Autumn

Something about Autumn and Spring make them feel much the same thing. Soil is damp and warm…

Our lives are not our own – Kennington Park, London

One of the joys of living in London, the forest city, is discovering one of its…

Into Autumn – colour, bulbs, robins and changes

I’ve been planting bulbs today, are there many things more satisfying? I really love this time of…

My latest victim

Yamadori is the Japanese word for collecting wild trees to grow as bonsai. Today, while rustling through…

Beauty of life in all its stages (4 Macauley Road, Clapham NGS)

Time is a wonderful gift, it changes things. None are more aware of this than gardeners.

NGS Camberwell

As my longtime readers will know I am a huge, huge fan of the National Garden…

Longing for Littlebury

It is a year since we overhauled our garden – after two years of experimenting –…

Our inner city wildlife sanctuary

I grow our garden as much for wildlife as for design and plants. Wildlife adds many…

Modernist garden design at The Homewood

After learning of The Homewood while studying garden design history with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh,…

Living on a prairie (part 1)

This year I took on my allotment and I designated one bed for garden design experiments.…

4 Fundamentals of attracting wildlife in urban gardens

The other day I was in the garden watering our fern wall during one of those still and…

Taming the weedy wildflower

Weedy humans are weak. Weedy plants are tough as nails. Wild flowers we like. Weeds we…

Garden and landscape design in Clapham

Jack Wallington Garden Design Ltd. for modern gardens with a unique and high-end finish.  A great garden…

Summer highlights in our garden

Our experimental garden is now in its third year with lots to fix but standing back…

Thompson & Morgan Trial Field Visit

Michael Perry invited me and a group of other gardening bloggers to have a tour of…

Does peat free compost work?

Between 2015- 2016 I put peat free compost to the ultimate test, I only used peat…

That sinking feeling – RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

The other week Chris and I went to RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show where two…

From the streets: Brighton’s futuristic municipal planting

I don’t know what they put in the water down in Brighton (where I work) but…

Form factor – our garden in June 2016

The best thing I’ve added to our border this year (I think so far) is Nicotiana…

Wild orchid hunting

My friend Pete Langley took me to a secret location on the South Downs one sunny…

Allotment Month 7: Potatoes growing, problems sowing

I’ve had my allotment for over half a year now – where did that time go?…

Lambeth Palace Gardens

As part of the RHS Level 3 course we have to learn about different garden design…

We’re back in business

So much happens in May, you blink and you miss it. When you open your eyes…

7 Chiswick Open Gardens in One Day! (NGS)

On Saturday 28 May 2016 Chris and I popped to west London to visit the four NGS…

24 Things at the Chelsea Flower Show 2016

This is my third year at the Chelsea Flower Show and it remains an emotional experience.…

7 Trends at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016

I’ll have more blog posts this week with my photos and thoughts from the Chelsea Flower…

Gallery: Chelsea Flower Show 2014 & 2015 recap

“People can only dream of a Chelsea Flower Show garden” they say. To that I say:…

Tulips – worth the bother?

This year I planted over 100 tulips. I love tulips. However, while they last for a…

11 Realities of Gardening in London

Either I’m inexplicably inept at gardening, or living in the big smoke is providing a world…

Tulips, planting out tomatoes early and seedlings

Tulips: the last two years I’ve tried growing some tulips and it went horribly wrong. Especially…

PHOTO GALLERY: Barbican Conservatory, London

Brutalist, futurist. Despite the concrete, the Barbican exudes such atmosphere and style that you’ll feel as…

Alan in Wonderland: East Ruston Old Vicarage

I knew East Ruston Old Vicarage in Norfolk would be special. What I hadn’t appreciated is…

Pot’s Growing On: April 2016

Someone pointed out I haven’t done an update about our own garden for a while, clearly I’ve…

My Allotment: Month 5

I’ve had my allotment since December and after a mountain of clearance, weeding, planning and seed…

Review: RHS The Half-Hour Allotment by Lia Leendertz

I was lucky enough to win The Half-Hour Allotment in a competition in the first months of…

Rousham: getting to the heart of landscape garden design

As I arrived at Rousham, the single other visitor was leaving and I had the entire place to…

Dividing a fern (Dryopteris filix-mas)

I want more ferns for our fern wall and some of our ferns are ripe for dividing. After…

The Future Jungle

Uh oh. Guys. I had a wave of inspiration about our garden on the walk home…

Grasses

In 2016 my two main plant experiments to improve my knowledge of gardening are going to…

March 2016: Allotment woe to propagation pro

March has to be up there in my top three favourite months of the year. Yes…

Getting to grips with grasses

In 2016 I want to get to grips with ornamental grasses. In particular, using them in mixed…

Fernatic: 50 fern species, 1 living wall!

Why we created a diverse 50 species collection of ferns on one modern living wall and how…