Dedham Hall Hotel in Essex is in Constable country and as I walked to the front door I knew it was my kind of place – one of those fabulous gardens that looks abundant and artless and so natural – a garden that has soul and a sense of place – interesting ordinary plants in every corner and a garden that pulls and invites you in to sit and enjoy it. Such a treasure.
We gardeners probably learn most by trial and error, often making the same mistakes more than once. Here are some of the lessons I have learned through 30 years of gardening which hopefully will help you to avoid them.
London Cottage Garden in March is all about the views of the garden from the windows and doorways of the house. When it’s cold or wet these views we look out on every day are so important.
Tulips in pots make a fabulous splash of colour in Spring just when we move out of the yellows of February. Here are some of the realities and practicalities I have found from experience.
Here are the cottage garden flowers that are still looking good after days of strong winds and hailstorms here in my sheltered small London garden
For those of us without a big garden or a cutting patch here’s how we can make a very few flowers cut from our garden looking lovely in our homes through the growing season.
Species tulips are tiny and perfect for pots in the cottage garden style for people who don’t have space for pots of big tulip bulbs.
I’m often asked by non-gardeners for advice on what to do with the patch outside their back door. Where do you start?
There is such joy in having a bird feeder close to the window and feeding the birds all the year around. They become part of the life in your garden. Do think about doing it – you won’t regret it.
A small town cottage garden can look wonderful with simple, common and ordinary plants that earn their keep by growing away nicely and providing colour, scent, movement, food and shelter for wildlife and year-round interest.
In my previous post “What is a garden for?” I suggested that a garden helps us live our lives outside of ourselves, physically and mentally. You can find that post here. My second idea is simple. My garden is for looking out onto like watching a slowly changing painting, changing during the day with movement
With the recent sunshine some of my more useful garden plants have gone quite mad and started spreading and growing and flowering. I love them and am very happy for them to go as mad as they like. Here they are: One Clematis Montana rubens, possibly the variety Elizabeth or similar which is useful to
Cottage garden alstroemerias for a vase
Alstroemerias as cut flowers [caption id="attachment_3347" align="alignnone" width="600"] Pink and white in a Victorian cranberry vase[/caption] Do you buy cut flowers for the house or…
Real flowers and artificial flowers – both fabulous
I've recently discovered some online artificial flowers from Alex James that I think are beautiful and look wonderful either on their own or mixed with…
How to introduce a new colour in a cottage garden
A new colour in early Spring Here's a way to introduce a new colour in a cottage garden in early Spring. Plants can't always provide…
How to use colour in the cottage garden style
How to have colour in the cottage garden style town garden without it being too much work for one person to manage. Well I would…
Daffodils in a small garden – tips on how to grow them.
If you have a small garden like a town garden and want to grow daffodils, here are my tips on how best to do it,…