Archive for April, 2008
Let there be light
April 29th, 2008Every year a wave of new products hits the shelves at garden centres and nurseries and appear in online shops. For gardeners, these new products are variations on familiar themes but this year there are surprising, and welcome, new developments in garden lighting, driven by our resurgent interest in gardening and green spaces and peoples’ […]
Garden style – cool gardening
April 26th, 2008No plant gives a greater sensation of coolness and calm than the fern – and they are also believed to have much higher pollution removing qualities than almost any other plant: we know this historically because Victorian city gardens were composed of ferns not only because they had a craze for them, but also because […]
Less-lawn gardening
April 23rd, 2008It’s a huge drain on your income, your hours and your ability to relax. It’s not green enough. It’s an invitation to neighbourhood cats to come and use it as a toilet … if any or all of these reasons are making you wish you didn’t have a lawn, there are alternatives.
More garden less […]
Could your garden take you to California?
April 20th, 2008The competition will be stiff, but the lucky winner of The Times/Fetzer Vineyards Back Garden of the Year Competition which closes on 2nd June will get a seven day road trip around California, including a guided tour of those famous Fetzer Vineyards. There are four categories to enter:
Best urban garden - for gardens in […]
Hidden style icon gardens to visit
April 17th, 2008One of London’s best kept secrets is the serene Japanese-inspired roof garden at the School of Oriental and African Studies, specifically built to allow visitors to relax and meditate. The garden is dedicated to Forgiveness, which is the meaning of the Kanji character engraved on the garden’s granite water basin. Peter Swift, a designer with experience […]
We are what we sow …
April 15th, 2008It’s a sobering thought to discover that a recent survey shows that the contents of the average garden total up to around £1,230, although one in ten is packed with goodies worth over £3,000 and 5% of all gardens actually contain more than one item worth more than £1,000. 25% of British gardeners have invested […]
Top Garden Disputes
April 12th, 2008It’s probable that over a million people in the UK have argued with their neighbours about noise, if the results of a survey by Allianz Insurance are accurate. 3,000 homeowners were questions, and a third of them said they’d already had a disagreement with neighbours, with 16% blaming the argument on noisy people or loud music […]
Lime-rich soil style
April 9th, 2008Lime-rich soils are also known as alkaline or chalky soils – people hate them because they are prone to dryness, have poor nutrient levels and tend to be full of stones. Creating a stylish garden in those circumstances can seem like a thankless task, but it’s easier than you think. Many of our most beautiful […]
Furniture design for the garden
April 2nd, 2008Building on the whole theme of the connection between indoors and outdoors that I’ve been talking about recently, new furniture design has really enlivened the way we can approach our indoor/outdoor space. Real innovations in the outdoor furniture design world, like organic pod and seed shaped seats made from resin, are appearing, alongside developments in […]
