landscape and garden design in Clapham, London
Everyone is talking about the weather as though we haven’t only just entered mid-Summer. Don’t allow a few rainy d
This was the best day on the allotment all year, a breeze and drizzle, the air warm, everything quiet and the world relaxed.
Chris and I have been staying in Porto, neither of us having been to Portugal before. An old but very modern city with the riv
Some of my biggest gardening inspiration comes from friends who I wouldn’t have expected to love growing stuff. They lov
Stepping out into our garden one morning this week was different. Not least because we had 1.2cm of rain last weekend, literal
By July Solenostemon should be growing rapidly and, with the foliage types, it’s often useful to pinch them out to encou
2018 will go down as one of the most challenging years for gardeners, the freezing late blast followed by an immediate and tot
If you’re into ferns you’ll certainly have heard of Fibrex Nurseries, they also hold the national collections for
Last week Chris and I popped to the New Forest for a couple of days and on the way back we passed the Sir Harold Hillier Arbor
Monarda didyma ‘Cambridge Scarlet’ can be seen flowering in our garden in the above photo (2015) and below (2018). This ye
Chris and I popped to the New Forest for a night and stopped at the new Bombay Sapphire Distillery in Laverstock, Whitchurch.
When we open our garden for charity on the National Garden Scheme one thing people always comment on is our micro pond with it
Ah, waking up to summer in the city. The sound of sirens and drunk people ringing your doorbell at 5am birds chirping. You rea
After months of hard work, today the allotment is starting to give up its bounty with lots of produce now finally ready for th
A couple of years ago RHS Chelsea Flower Show was filled with a new flower, Lysimachia atropurpurea ‘Beaujolais’.
People have asked me a lot why I write recently and I don’t really know the answer but I think it’s something to do with n
“It’s the most real National Trust we’ve been to,” Chris sums up exactly how I felt about Clandon Park
This year Chelsea actually felt slightly out of sync for me, so much was right but my heart wasn’t stolen. The show was
Like my 15 Sensational Plantings to Recreate from Chelsea article last year I’m hoping to breakdown the myth that you ca
Photographs by Christopher Anderson (Twitter / Instagram).
The consensus so far from people at RHS Chelsea? “This is a good ‘un”. Variety is the spice of life and vari
This year I’ve spent a couple of days mooching about RHS Chelsea Flower Show during construction. It’s a reminder
My review of the 36V Stihl FSA-56 strimmer, currently available for between £130 – 170 online, tested for the last mont
How I’m into month 30 on my allotment blows my mind. I’ve made reasonable progress in that time, looking back at
It’s been on my list of gardens to visit for as long as I can remember. Chris and I finally stepped out the car at Hidco
If I did nothing to our garden this year it would become an Echium, Allium, Ricinus, Verbena and Fennel jungle – these s
As you may have heard, I love Dahlias (see more Dahlia posts here), they rock my flowery world. Below is a selection of those
One day there will come a moment when I’ll have seen all of the species of native wild orchids. I’m not sure how I
At the weekend Chris and I attended the most beautiful wedding of our friends George and Rosanna Ryan at the Parish Church of
People who’ve been to our garden always ask how I keep my Hostas safe from slugs and snails. I use a mini armoury of mea
I’ve just stepped back inside from the first quiet couple of hours in our garden this spring. Sitting there in a tshirt
It’s finally spring proper and our garden is growing again in the most spectacular way. The fastest grower has been our
Finally, after many years, today I came up close and personal with one of my favourite plants growing and flowering in the wil
I first noticed the unusual oval shaped flower beds along the recently redeveloped Nine Elms Lane in Vauxhall this time last y
Chris and I often walk to Vauxhall from our Clapham flat to visit the new things popping up as the area regenerates, like the
When I first started seriously geeking out on gardening I kept reading again and again that “yellow is banished from gar
My biggest delight so far this month is the success of our perennial spring bulbs. Given the extreme cold weather this year I&
I was pottering around outside today in our little urban garden and while watering the ferns I spotted that little badger up t
Currently I feel I have the measure of my allotment, how long that feeling will last remains to be seen.
“We’re going in!” I hit the car breaks, indicated and abruptly swerved into the driveway. “ORCHIDSR
I attended the Garden Press Event for the first time this year and it was a wonderful meet-up for the gardening bloggers, jour
Over the last few years we’ve seen an explosion of interest in houseplants, largely driven by Instagram. As people’
The week during Storm Emma – the coldest week in our garden in eight years – was one of the most worrying weeks I&
If your garden doesn’t look something like the above right now, it’s time to act! Plan now to add a little sparkle
I know what you’re thinking moss fans, will he shut up about that bloomin rock what’s happening with Mossy Rock? Well, goo
The joy of the snowdrop, cherry blossom and tulip. The fritillary and daffodil, the allium and poppy. Momentary pops of colour
Over the last few years I’ve been growing Leonotis nepetifolia (thanks to Jonathan Gregson for correcting the species in
It’s been three years since we set up our garden. For the first time a large number of plants have multiplied so much th
A year ago I experimented with nipping out the growing point of my Aeonium ‘Zwartkop‘ to make it branch. It worke
In the air but importantly, not quite here. Yet on mild sunny days the signs of spring are all around us and, here in London a