One Special Tree – Four Outstanding Seasons

We all want instant gratification in our gardens; plant today – fabulousness tomorrow. At some point most of us have learned the hard way that plants just don’t work to our schedule and we have to wait for the plants to fill in and mature before they really fulfill our vision. Yet occasionally I come…

Read More

Move over boxwood – make room for Distylium!

Have you been searching for the perfect shrub? One that is low maintenance evergreen  deer resistant insect resistant disease resistant can be used for hedging, screening, as a foundation plant, groundcover or as part of a mixed border? is tolerant of wet soils, yet also drought tolerant? Maybe something to replace those ailing boxwood that…

Read More

Designing a Winter Wonderland

It's all very well knowing that for a garden to look good in winter it has to have "good bones". But what do you do when a foot or more of snow turns those bones into a lumpy graveyard? Seriously – since when do white lumps look like anything other than just white lumps? When…

Read More

Inspired Design – Updating the Front Garden

This beautiful home was suffering from 'plant-it-and-sell-it-itis'. I see this problem all the time; builders are usually required to landscape the front garden when construction is complete, so a haphazard selection of trees and shrubs are planted with little regard to their mature size, texture, form or even the homes architecture and five years later…

Read More

Reflections

My Mum was one for frequently reminding me to "count my blessings". Whether it was for an unexpected gift, for food on the table or for a warm home. She taught me never to take these things for granted, to give thanks and to freely share. In a social media dominated world where we tend…

Read More