I am really happy to say that from today, my partner Simon is joining me in my business. He will be carrying out garden maintenance – tidy-ups, grass-cutting, pruning, hedge-trimming, and still helping me out with planting and border re-vamps. He is leaving his job at a wholesale nursery, where he has worked for the past 10 years. This has given him an excellent plant knowledge, and coupled with his natural interest in all things ‘gardening’ over the years, I can highly recommend him as an all-round gardener/handyman, which I know only too well can be like gold dust to find. He actually teaches me a few things sometimes…..So I would welcome any enquiries for this type of work, around Dorking, Reigate and Redhill in Surrey and suburbs in South London such as Banstead, Ashtead, Kingswood, Purley, Wallington, Sutton, Carshalton, Tadworth, Caterham…..you get the idea! I am really looking forward to our new partnership, and it will improve the service that I can offer to my clients.

This is a garden which I designed and was built earlier this year.

Previously (see below), the steps were too small and in the wrong place. They now lead invitingly from the house to the garden.

The paving stones used are Stonemarket ‘vintage stone frost’ – a blue/grey limestone.

This is the steps and patio of a very steeply sloping back garden in Dorking that I designed recently.

As there is quite a drop from the patio and path to the level below, railings have yet to be installed, and the planting is also yet to be completed. The rendered walls give a Mediterranean feel, and the Indian sandstone has come up trumps again, always a good-looking choice!

Just to show you how it looked before:

I recently visited a client’s garden to carry out a twice-yearly maintenance session. I find these visits really interesting to find out how the garden has fared and matured. The client informed me that her Clematis cirrhosa balearica, pictured above, had flowered all through the snowy winter, and had been a mass of yellow flowers, so much so that you could hardly see the foliage. A plant that I will be recommending! 

This climber is native to Minorca, is a vigorous evergreen that flowers from December to February, and will grow in full sun or partial shade.

I have just bought some trays of trailing geraniums, felicia and violas for containers and hanging baskets. These get snapped up early in the season, and although it is recommended not to plant these out till late May when the risk of frosts have passed, I have mine planted out in my own garden already – can’t wait!

I recently visited Sarah Raven’s farm at Perch Hill, West Sussex, to attend her ‘all year round’ vegetable growing course. I was very impressed with Sarah’s knowledge and enthusiasm, there was not a dull moment! I will definitely be taking her advice in growing her tried and tested tomato varieties – ‘Black Crim’ – a Russian variety; recommended as we have a climate nearer to that of Russia than the Med. Also the cherry tomato ‘Sungold’. And I will attempt to pick salad leaves all year round! She has a head start with horticultural electric blanket in her polytunnels, but it’s also all about successional sowing. What a clever lady, I am a big fan! I picked up lots of tips and I have also bought her cookery book. Her website is www.sarahraven.com

This week I have been asked to plant up a small front garden in Wimbledon – the client has already had the planting plan done by another designer, and would simply like me to carry out the planting.

This is a great little job for me – I’ll source the plants, maybe substituting a few here and there according to availability, and I will also use my discretion as to what I think is suitable, while sticking as faithfully to the plan as possible.

There is one plant on this plan that I won’t be planting however….

The scheme is in a cottage garden style, using many native plants. Hence the choice of the pretty native woodland plant Asperula odorata (Sweet woodruff). It is low-growing, hardy, has attractive foliage and fragrant white flowers in spring. Sounds great! Until it is planted in a border with other small plants which in a short time it will completely smother! Sweet woodruff is very invasive, difficult to remove, and in my experience only suitable for a large woodland area where it can run wild, or in a restricted space where it may be difficult to grow anything else.  Dan Pearson used it to great effect in a ‘green’ garden, where it grew beautifully under a sculpted wooden bench. It obviously didn’t mind the dry shade there.

Apparently when dried, sweet woodruff has the odour of spring grass, its perfume being a major improvement on mothballs, as when kept amongst clothes, it affords some protection against insects.

Hi! Welcome to my new blog page which I hope you will find interesting, and please feel free to comment, ask questions etc!