Archive for December, 2007
Do you love entertaining outdoors?
December 29th, 2007Then the Kirman-designed ‘Inside Out’ garden could be the ideal New Year’s Resolution for you, as it is based on the idea of using garden space as an additional room. The garden revolves around a table-cum water feature and seating, easy features to combine at home with a portable water feature and a strong wood […]
New Year’s resolutions II - sustainable style
December 26th, 2007Cleve West, more than anyone, knows that with climate change, we are going to have to become more aware of our local conditions. ‘Gardeners are going to have to think long and hard before implementing unsustainable planting schemes’, he says. His Chelsea Gold Medal winning garden for Saga Insurance in 2006 earned a lot of […]
New Year’s Resolutions – style or nothing!
December 23rd, 2007If you’re thinking of redesigning your garden next year, why not aim for the top?A really strong design concept can help you shape your garden into a dramatic focal point.
In the next couple of weeks I’m going to suggest a range of high fashion garden ideas that you can adopt to your home garden, beginning […]
Winter wonderlands to visit
December 19th, 2007Gardens that are open in winter offer a great chance to pick up style ideas – here’s some day out opportunities that might fill you with style tips:
The Enchanted Woodland at Syon Park has coloured lights to guide visitors through the woods (evenings only tours at 5pm and 8pm) which really does show how to […]
Style gifts for gardeners
December 17th, 2007If you’re buying for a style-focused gardener, or are yourself creating your Christmas wish list, here are a few ideas that might appeal:
In Search of Paradise: Great Gardens of the World by Penelope Hobhouse
This book travels from the first oasis gardens of the Middle East to the most up to date creations such as Parc […]
Winter golds
December 14th, 2007Jasminum nudiflorum – this is the most reliable of all the winter shrubs, often beginning to show its clear yellow blossoms in November and carrying on the golden glow until early March. If covered in snow the flowers will drop, but then the plant just puts out more! The long flexible branches needing to be […]
Walking in a winter wonderland …
December 10th, 2007So what’s flowering in your garden? Nothing? Shame on you. Garden style doesn’t have to stop in the cold months.
The two best colours for winter gardens are white and yellow because they are clean, fresh and (more importantly) the plants that bear flowers in those colours are usually hardier than those that bear pink […]
Planning ahead – next year’s Chelsea Flower Show entrant
December 7th, 2007Garden designer Cleve West is going to partner the healthcare giant BUPA in entering a show garden at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show for the first time next year. Award winning landscaper West, who appears regularly on “Small Town Gardens” and “The Garden Makers”, is an RHS veteran, having four Gold medals to […]
Stepping stones
December 4th, 2007Are not just for water, although they look wonderful there. At this time of year we pull out the ‘portable’ stepping stones (light concrete and fibreglass mixed) that have the beach shells pressed into them. We use them to cover areas of the garden that we’re going to be walking on, and that will otherwise […]
If you’re in the garden business
December 1st, 2007Or want to be, a new publication might be just right for you. Big Spark Media have announced their stable of celebrities (Wayne Hemmingway, This Morning’s David Domoney and Christine Walker from the BBC) who will spearhead the launch of a new monthly tabloid for the landscape industry. What makes UK Landscape Today, as it […]
