Reflections on 2023: A year in the garden

It’s been some time since I’ve posted on the blog so I’m going to use this entry to provide an overview of 2023. I think the main gardening highlight of last year was editing and improving what we already have. As we get to know the plants better we’ve moved some into different parts of the garden where they’ll be

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June 2021: New flowering plants

Here’s an update of the major changes/developments in the garden during June. We planted up the final bed in the new herbaceous border – a project we started in March – as well as finish planting into the long border which sits next to the walled area. The cultivar of Persicaria which I talk about towards the end of the

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September & October 2019: Late summer flowers and planting for spring 2020

In September I began studying a RHS horticultural qualification at Merrist Wood college – here’s a link to my programme. We visited Wisley and particularly enjoyed the tropical garden; I really liked the contrasting foliage textures and colour combinations. I was particularly pleased with Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen‘  which we planted into the back of the mixed border in spring- the

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November 2018: Installing a nest box and clearing the garden for winter

I forgot to mention in last month’s post that we installed a bird box that Luke made from scratch (he got the build instructions from the RSPB). The guidance suggests that you put these up towards the end of winter; however, they also say that some birds will use these to roost in during the colder months so we thought

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May 2018: Extending the mixed border, new beds and planting climbers

One of the first things we did this month was visit ‘Isabella Plantation‘ in Richmond Park. I highly recommend this place – its totally magical. It feels like a secluded woodland and is dominated by huge rhododendrons and Azaleas – It’s so colourful at this time of year. My favourite part was the stream that runs through it, it’s bordered

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