Colour in the Garden - The Benefits of Blue

When it comes to using colour in the garden, did you know that blue is a fantastic colour to use because it's so versatile? It has a recessive quality to it which some people may find ambiguous but it is that exact quality that makes it such a useful colour to use in a garden design. Simply by receding, it can be used to blend other colours together in planting; or to create an illusion of depth be that in planting or within the landscaping materials; it also has an ability to pick up the mood of its neighbouring plants too.

Blue can add depth and space to a garden so it’s a great colour to use at the back of a border to make it seem like the vista is extending even further. There are so many different hues and tones of colours - pale blue for example, can bring lightness, through to intense saturated hues – think of the vibrancy of cornflowers on a hot summer's day! Blue also works really well in shady areas as it picks up the light and is a colour well known for creating calm, restful and contemplative spaces. So, with that in mind blue can offer you opportunities to help obtain the right feel and ambience that you are trying to create.

Some well known blue plants you might think of immediately are Ceanothus, Muscari, Iris and Geraniums but here are a few others that we use in our planting schemes:

Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’ is popular for its globes of blue flowers which contrast so well with other plant forms, they stand around 1m in height and 45cm in width so are ideally suited to the middle or back of a sunny border. Echinops are magnets for lots of pollinating insects to your garden too which can only be an added bonus!

Salvia x sylvestris ‘Mainacht’ has indigo blue flowers on spikes that liven up a border in early to mid summer; it stands around 80cm in height and 50cm in width. It looks great in an herbaceous border and is a reliable perennial which will keep coming back year after year making it a good investment. It prefers well drained but moist soil, plant this and you’ll notice pollinating insects visiting your garden!

Salvia 'Blue Spire' (previously classified as Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’) is also known as Russian sage, (see main pic) it has aromatic leaves and upright silvery grey spires with blue tubular shaped flowers. Often mistaken as a perennial it is in fact a shrub and will typically flower in August and September. It can get to around 1.2m in height and 1m width and is happiest in full sun. Plant it near a pathway where you can enjoy its fragrance.

Don’t forget you don’t have to just have blue flowers in the garden to create that blue theme; you can match your gates, doors or even paint obelisks in this colour too which will create dynamism, cohesion and flow right through your garden.

We’ve created a Pinterest board for ‘Blue’ in the garden, take a peek here www.pinterest.com/bluedaisyuk/colour-wheel-blue/

Building to Protect Gardens

Considering having some building work done on your home? If so, now is the perfect time to factor your garden into those considerations too. As Garden Designers who often follow on after builders have left a property, we can find some pretty shocking things. Not all of the time thankfully, but enough to know it’s an industry wide problem for many homeowners so it’s good to get ahead of the game if you can, and some – if not all – of the points below are a good idea to discuss with your builder preferably at quoting stage or at the very least, a pre-build meeting.

Think about your garden/s (both front and back if you have them) and try to be clear about what – if anything - you want to protect. Identify those things right at the outset, before any building work begins – before you’ve even got quotes for building – for instance, garden plants and trees, family space and/or access, elements like patios or water features, etc.

If builders know at the outset (i.e. at the point of being asked to quote) what it is you’re expecting of them you can both agree how things might happen throughout the build, for instance:

Protect gardens from compaction: Often known affectionately as 'tonney bags' bulk bags are heavy! (the clue is in the nickname!), so storing them under trees, right on top of a tree's roots is not a good practice. Tree roots need to breathe so compaction will be detrimental to a tree's health.

Some builders will have their own set of ‘green’ credentials but it’s important to ask to see them and ask everyone who's quoting how they will look after your land whilst transforming your home. Whilst homeowners need to be realistic about impending deliveries and storage requirements for hard landscaping materials, builders need to also know that all of a homeowner’s property is not a free access-for-all and sundries, so compromises will need to be made on both sides. But what you don’t want is to have to spend even more money needlessly dealing with contaminated or compacted soil or waste in your garden or a long list of damaged or dead and dying plants once builders have left (which has, unfortunately been the case, for some of our clients). So agreeing a plan of attack at the outset – and getting it written into contracts – is in both parties’ best interests.

Existing home owners at least have the opportunity to potentially influence what happens in their gardens during a build. We have also designed gardens for new build properties and our experience of these gardens is quite scary; very little viable soil, ground that has been badly compacted and contaminated; buried waste, severe drainage issues and often poor-quality turf laid to cover what’s left are just some of the horrors our landscapers have discovered. At the moment there’s no real legislation for builders to leave the earth in a good condition after they’ve finished so many don’t (though there is a Defra released, non-binding Construction Code of Practice for the Sustainable Use of Soils on Construction Sites); our industry is pushing for codes like this to become binding but we’re not there yet. So, if you’re able to influence things right from the start, we’d highly recommend it!

Good Bones - Structure in the Garden

If you’ve been looking out at a garden that gives you very little to hold your interest, it’s likely it could do with a serious injection of ‘structure’.

It’s probably fair to say that garden designers are a tad obsessed with structure in the garden because it is the key to a great garden; it is the framework upon which the fleeting or seasonal elements of a garden hang on, the skeleton or ‘bones’ of a garden, if you will; the thing that holds everything together, strongly and in place. As such, structure in a garden can be made up of many things, both hard and soft landscaping elements (including, confusingly, ‘garden structures’, like buildings and pergolas!). For the most part the defining quality of any structural element in a garden is one of permanence or persistence – they are the things that are there throughout the year; they might change through the year (like a deciduous tree) or not (like a patio or pathway) but they will be a constant, so regardless of season, they still bring something to the garden.

So, where do you start with structure in your own garden?

Well, if you’re designing a garden from scratch good bones or structure starts with the shapes you use for the different elements of your garden (patios, pathways, lawns, ponds, beds and borders, etc.) and how you lay them out in relation to each other and to your home. Regardless of the season this layout is the constant foundation of the garden, it underpins everything. And whilst you can make this layout interesting in and of itself with the application of different materials and textures, when you start to think in 3D the magic really begins to happen.

Elements such as trees, walls, pergolas, gazebos, arches, hedges, obelisks, sculpture, shrubs, etc., that operate on the vertical plane, offer up a gold mine of infinite structural possibilities, that when integrated effectively with the structural foundation of your garden layout can ensure that every season in a well structured garden is a season of interest. Take our main image as an example, this was taken in October at Scampston Hall in Yorkshire, and you can see that there's still plenty of interest going on to hold the eye even without any flowers to speak of, and you also know that even later in the year and well into winter the structural elements will still continue to work well.

Whether starting from scratch or adding extra layers of structure to an already existing garden when deciding which structural elements to include in your design simplicity is often the key. Consider the function, size and scale, materials, colour, style and positioning of each element; too many elements or materials, style and colour for instance, can result in visual overload whilst misjudging the size and scale of an element can lead to confusion and disproportion.

If you’re working with an existing garden most people tend to have a lawn, patio, pathway, borders and a shed or greenhouse. These are all structural elements – hopefully organised well already – so you wouldn’t want to overload it with too many more structural things but you might be amazed at the difference one or two small well placed specimen trees and some low level evergreen hedging could make!

Don’t forget the more seasonal elements of your garden in relation to the structure too. Your structure should support the whole, not take it over! It should offer a dependable backdrop to the high impact stars of the growing season. Those seasonal showstoppers will take centre stage when cued but when their star has faded it will be the good bones; the strong structural elements of a garden that will carry the mantle of interest through the whole year.

Why Healthy Soil Matters in your Garden

Healthy soil is precious

Soil – also known as topsoil, earth, muck, mud, dirt… Whatever you call the top layer of soil in your garden, did you know that it takes around 2000 years to form 100mm of it? Healthy soil is one of the most precious elements we have on earth; it is essential to our social, economic and environmental stability. Without healthy soil we wouldn’t be able grow crops and we just wouldn’t survive – so why do we humans not look after it? Could it be that we don’t understand it’s importance, or how to work with it/look after it or that we just don’t care? Whatever the reason, the fact is, our soil is degrading at an alarming rate, and we need to respect it and look after what we have whether we are working with it as a homeowner or as a professional, before it’s too late.

Soil can be so easily damaged by, for instance, natural erosion due to strong winds, rain washing nutrients away or flooding; also pollutants; lack of ground cover and installing too high a proportion of hard landscaping in a garden; having lots of paving with non-permeable jointing, and more. Using cement or artificial lawns and plants all have a devastating effect on the health of our soil (more on artificial lawns later).

In many cases, soil is stripped and sent away to a recycling centre and manufactured topsoil is then brought back in to create borders. Historically, the majority of manufactured topsoil has been, and still is, created to suit golf industry requirements. This topsoil includes high levels of sand, which does a great job on golf courses where it gets regular irrigation and fertilisers. However, studies have shown that these soils aren’t suitable for onward growth of trees, and in terms of the average garden will often mean that plants and crops are unlikely to thrive well either. Manufactured soils are just that: manufactured i.e. they aren’t naturally occurring and are likely to have little to no soil life in them; in short, they are not a good substitute for proper, healthy soil.

Help soil help itself

As garden designers it is our job to conserve as much top soil as we can in a garden. It’s not only better for the environment, but it is the most cost-effective solution too so it makes sense that healthy soil should never be sent away to a recycling facility. The condition of existing soil almost doesn’t matter either; if we can give nature the right type of help it is likely that it will begin to heal itself and improve its own health. For example, if soil is waterlogged that can mean both the topsoil and the subsoil underneath are compacted. Break up that compaction and studies have shown that the ensuing movement of water and nutrients aids soil recovery and promotes soil life.

Micro-organisms, earthworms and many insects naturally live in our soils and are essential for its cultivation and for keeping it a healthy medium for growing crops, trees and plants. We can, of course, help this along by mulching our soils once or twice a year with good organic material. The soil life will begin to process it and that will help improve the structure of the soil thereby allowing and maximising the uptake of nutrients by plants. In a nutshell then healthy soil equals healthy plants.

One final note about artificial lawns – this is a product that can have a devastating effect on the micro-organisms and insects in the soil beneath (e.g., earthworms can suffocate) and the birds and insects above – not to mention the plastic particulates that transfer into the ground. We have committed to never specifying or using any artificial lawns (or plants) in any of our designs and we hope that talking about the importance of soil health will help convince you to never use artificial grass in any situation. It might not look it but a real lawn has a huge ecosystem living under, on and above it. So, please, do what you can to respect and look after your own bit of topsoil; nurture it, don’t smother it or compact it and never let anyone take it away!

Blue Daisy - Christmas Card through the ages...

One of our eagle eyed clients noticed that our Christmas cards have a 'different but familiar' feel to them but she just couldn't put her finger on why. So, since we're all bombarded with cards and e-cards these days - and we generally don't keep them - we thought we'd provide a little 'Blue Daisy Christmas through the ages' timeline which, as you can see, does have a rather familiar thread running through them!

Jules has been involved with Blue Daisy right from the outset - although not officially until 2014 - but she has been doing our cards for us since way back when, we hope you enjoy this little trip down Memory Lane!

2009

Our first card - Robin and Snowman (v1) make their debuts.

2010

Snowman (v2) makes an appearance - we rather liked a top hat for him!

2013

Snowman gets a makeover!

2014

The double act continues...

2015

Need we say more?

2016

Snowman being I...

2017

Meet Rudy, he makes an occasional appearance...

2018

Encased...

2019

The elves are upon us!

2020

Snowman and Robin get an actual garden!

2021

Candle glow for 2021

2022

Silent night...

2023

Snowman and friends - hat parade.

2024

As you can see from our main image, baubles are the order of the day for 2024 with Rudy making another guest appearance. And if you've also been feeling a hint of deja vu when you get our e-cards please be assured we're not sending you the same card year in year out!!

We'd be interested to hear your thoughts on them, do you have a favourite? Let us know on our social media channels (links are at the top and bottom of the page)!

Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Plan Now For Your 2025 Garden

Winter border including bright dogwood stems against tree bark.

Get ahead for 2025

The end of one year and start of another often sparks thoughts of both reflection and of possibilities to come. Gardeners, of course, are masters of thinking ahead but typically, we’ve found that that many of our garden design clients are slightly less so! Often those interested in having their garden professionally designed don’t start thinking about it until the weather starts picking up in the spring - at exactly the point that they want to start enjoying their garden in full; little realising that the process from planning through to build and then to planting can actually take months.

Even if you’re not planning on working with a professional garden designer winter is the perfect time to make the most of that ‘end of one year, start of another’ mindset that is ingrained in us all. But by applying it to your garden, which often doesn’t get a look in at this time of year, it allows you to get ahead - hopefully to the point where your garden will be ready for when you want to enjoy it in 2025.

Review your existing garden

So, thinking back, consider what has worked well for you in the garden this year, what were your highlights and, more importantly, what didn’t work so well for you. Try to think about all the different elements that make up your garden - the planting, the hard landscaping and all of the people, pets and wildlife that interact with it and how, then add into the mix the weather and how that affected the use of your garden. Try to think about function and form, for example: did your garden accommodate everything you wanted from it; when you wanted it; does it look how you’d like it to look, when you wanted it to look it.

It can be a good idea to break down your review by months. So, for instance let’s start with January. You might not engage with your garden in January but that may purely be down to the weather so would a garden shelter for instance make your garden more usable in those inclement weather months? Would all weather furniture make a difference along with an outdoor form of heating? Would slip-free surfaces make your January garden life better? If you’re really not interested in being outdoors in January does your garden still give you something beautiful to look out on at that time? More structural elements in your garden perhaps, and probably way more evergreens than you currently have!

Identify improvement areas

Do this for every single month and chances are you’ll end up with a long list of potential improvement areas, and while these ideas aren’t exhaustive, if you can become aware of the gaps or shortcomings of your garden - or in some cases potential dangers that arose during the previous year (for example surfaces may have become slippery in damp weather) - you can then start planning ways to address them for the coming one. And once you know what you need you’ll then be able to consider the methods required to achieving them.

Professional garden designers

Some of those solutions may well be achievable on your own and sometimes some professional help might just be the ticket. For the most part our clients choose to work with a professional garden designer because they know what’s not working for them in terms of their garden but they can’t quite see the wood for the trees in finding the best way forward for them and their budget. They also find comfort in the idea that we can recommend landscapers because we’ve worked with them on previous builds. But either way, when a professional is involved - whether that’s a garden designer, a landscaper, or both, then for most of us that will mean finding someone reliable and that can take time. Then they have to be available, because, let’s face it, the good ones are often booked up for some time but you can begin to see why now might just be the perfect time to be thinking about your 2025 garden.

What the Great British Bake Off Can Teach Us About Garden Design... no, really!

If you’re anything like us you’ve been watching the trials and tribulations of this year’s wannabe star bakers getting to grips with Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood’s stretching, if not seemingly impossible (for us mere mortals), weekly baking challenges in the Great British Bake Off (GBBO).

But watching the initially optimistic bakers’ dozen succumb to the pressures of the signature, technical and showstopper challenges over the last few weeks it’s got us to thinking and as mad as it sounds we think the GBBO has lessons about garden design hidden in its depths.

So, without further ado, and in no particular order, here’s our take on what the GBBO can teach us about being a garden designer.

  1. Ingredients
    A core component of a successful GBBO challenge is the ingredients of a bake that combine to make a hopefully beautiful whole. It’s exactly the same for garden design – get the ingredients wrong and the results can be disastrous. When putting that ‘recipe’ together, whether for the oven or the garden it pays to think ahead. Creativity and flair make for exciting results but garden designers generally tend not to throw ingredients in on a whim!
  2. Measuring out
    Linked to the above, the measuring out of those ingredients is crucial to a good bake. Getting it wrong will change the chemistry of a bake, and from that everything else follows: taste, structure, consistency, look, etc. Get your measurements wrong in garden design and you’ll potentially be looking at a disproportionate, imbalanced result, not to mention a probable under or over spend on materials and a garden that might not be fit for purpose (paths too narrow, steps too high, patio too small, for instance). It might not feel very creative, but garden designers love tape measures and other measuring instruments. The lesson is clear - take the time to measure things out and the results will look all the better for it.
  3. Timing
    There’s no getting away from it – good baking is all about timing and the GBBO takes that timing and turns it into high pressure for the bakers every week. Garden design is a little less time sensitive for most of us (unless there’s a show garden involved, of course!) but it does still play a key role in a garden design project. Timescales from idea to concept through to build and planting can take months rather than weeks so it’s important for clients to know what’s involved before things even begin to happen; the timing of materials delivery can either help or hinder the progress of a build phase while the seasonal timing of planting up designs can have implications for cost, risk and visual impact, to name a few. Timing also needs to have a degree of flexibility and judgement thrown into the mix too – in GBBO terms that manifests itself as ‘shall I take it out of the oven’, ‘shall I leave it in’, ‘is it cooked’, ‘shall I turn it up, or down or just leave it’; these are all GBBO dilemmas that we see week in week out but similar judgement calls also need to be made in garden design projects too, many led by the weather! The lesson:– have a plan, but be prepared to be flexible.
  4. Creativity
    This one goes without saying – every week in the GBBO kitchen we see creativity in spades. A GBBO winner is never going be short on creativity and neither is a good garden designer. But creativity doesn’t have to be all singing, all dancing and showy, it can be subtle and clever too; hidden in the depths of the flavouring, and so it is with garden design too. A good, creative garden design doesn’t have to smack you in the face! It can creep up on you slowly and win you over with subtle, clever touches of genius; so don’t forget garden design isn’t all about the show stopper!
  5. Confidence
    We see it often in the GBBO – a contestant trying to face down Paul Hollywood’s sceptical blue eyes after they’ve outlined their plans to him. Garden design can sometimes feel like that, especially when presenting a concept! But we’ve also found that non-believers can and often do become converts – the proof, as they say, is often in the pudding. Paul Hollywood is big enough to admit when his scepticism was misplaced and a good dose of confidence also goes a long way in garden design where, unlike the GBBO, the ‘pudding’ will never usually get to be made unless you can win someone over to the ideas first. The lesson for a garden designer - present your ideas with confidence because if you don’t have confidence in your design your client definitely won’t.
  6. Scale & Structure
    Scale and structure crops up time and again in the GBBO – bake 36 identical these; 3 tiers of those; a freestanding this; a centrepiece made out of that – it’s not enough to make a great biscuit for instance in the GBBO: instead you’ve got to make a biscuit scene or structure and week in, week out the bakers generally rise to the challenge. The lessons are clear: a methodical, unflappable approach, calmness in the face of adversity, being able to think on your feet (and occasionally outside the box), adapt plans, avoid distractions, work to a plan and a timetable while remaining technically sound and keeping a sharp eye on the details along with a flair for 'joining things' are all required to win out. These skills need to be the preserve of the garden designer too.
  7. Consistency
    Everyone agrees – you have to be good to even win a place in the GBBO tent but when the competition starts in earnest you have to be consistent too. You don’t have to be star baker week in week out to win either, just consistently good. Consistency counts and it’s a good trait for a garden designer too – you don’t have to be a celebrity garden designer to be a good one.
  8. Expertise
    The GBBO wouldn’t be the success it is without the highly experienced and respected Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith (and Mary Berry before her). It is their expertise that adds the extra pressure onto the contestants which in turn is so engaging to watch. It is their opinion we all hang on to – it is them the contestants want to impress and to be like in the kitchen – it is them that are the safe pair of hands in the collective and proverbial baking kitchen of the nation. The GBBO wouldn’t be the same without that level of expertise – it is a key ingredient of its success – and garden designs benefit from a good dose of expertise too. Sure we can all have a go and do it ourselves – the contestants themselves are testimony to that for the most part in baking terms, but disasters do happen, quite often, and you can’t help thinking that if Paul, or Prue (or Mary) were baking x, y or z, it would be a pretty disaster-free affair. The GBBO lesson for being a garden designer: know your stuff.
  9. Humour
    GBBO's sidekicks Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond (along with Sandi Toksvig, Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins previously) aren’t to everyone’s taste but their contribution to the success of GBBO with their silly, easy brand of humour and tongue in cheek innuendos is indisputable. Their humour is the constant thread throughout the GBBO; it is the tension reliever, the stress buster and sometimes even the disaster averter. And while it’s not a requirement for a garden designer, the lessons of the GBBO apply here too – however plans go awry, and for whatever reason, hang on to your humour!
  10. Taste test
    There’s no getting away from it, taste matters in the GBBO tent and so it is with garden design too. Whether you’re baking for Paul and Prue or your family; or designing a garden for a client the desired outcomes are the same: the taster has to love the result. Hopefully the other lessons learned will contribute to a positive outcome but one of the tricks in this regard is to keep the particular taster in mind while applying those lessons. Taste is subjective after all, and there is no accounting for it as the old adage says, so it is important to cater for a specific taster (client) when thinking about garden design – it is that bespoke application of skill and knowledge that will ensure success.

So there you have it, 10 lessons that GBBO can teach us about being a garden designer. A stretch? Maybe… but silliness aside, the lessons still apply!!

The Bare Root to Border Planting Success

Acer in autumn

Evaluate your border planting

It’s a perfect time of year to evaluate your borders, and especially some of the more structural garden planting in your gardens because with bare root plant season upon us it’s a great opportunity to add some specimen plants to your borders for a much more affordable price.

Bare root plants are typically grown in a field (i.e. open ground) and are then dug up when they’re dormant, the soil removed from them, and then sold as bare root plants.  So, bare root plant season in the UK, generally runs from November through to March, making your winter garden the perfect time and place to change, create or add to your garden planting plans.    

Bare root plants offer savings

Because bare root plants aren’t containerised, they are often a lot more affordable than their potted peers which means that you can generally buy bigger, or more, plants; essentially making your budget work harder for you.  So, this is a great way to buy plants generally, but trees and hedging plants especially.

With no (usually) plastic pots to dispose of, bare root plants are also considered to be a much more sustainable and environmentally friendly choice for purchasing plants.  And as long as they are planted correctly, bare root plants are thought to establish much faster than planted container plants too and are arguably less likely to fail because they’re being planted when dormant; which also means, that less water is required than for plants that are planted in full bloom during the summer months! 

As garden designers bare root plants are a no brainer for us but for many of our clients as the weather changes, their minds turn away from their gardens in autumn and winter, often not returning to them until the weather picks up again in the spring.  Unfortunately, at this time, bare root season has ended, and with it the opportunity to avail our clients of some serious savings on plants, since most of our clients don’t want to wait until the following winter for their planting.  If this is you, it might be worth evaluating your borders now in order to make some savings on plant costs before bare root season ends.

Review and plan

We can help, of course, and our plant prices are extremely competitive, but to do it yourself look at the plants you already have and consider whether they are working together or against each other; is the border missing anything like colour or height or seasonal interest; is there enough variety of forms and textures of plants; is there a good mix of shrubs, perennials, trees, groundcover, etc; is there enough foliage, or too much foliage, too many flowers or not enough; are there any gaps that need filling, or is everything congested and could do with cutting back or dividing or thinning; does the border look and feel how you would like it to, does it fit with the rest of your garden?

Make a note of everything you’ve observed along with the aspect, size and shape of the border and then try to create a plan of it as you would like it to be. If you can draw your border and the general sizes of your existing plants to scale it will help you visualise the sizes and positions of any additional plants you may need. If you’re creating a new border the same principle applies, although obviously a lot more plants will be included on your list.

When choosing plants make sure they will work with the existing plants you have as well as the sunlight levels, space, soil type and pH that will be available to them in your border.  If you can start thinking about it now, you might well be able to make the most of bare root season too so not only could you make some savings on plant costs, but your newly spruced up border will be ready and waiting for those first rays of spring sunshine!  Win-win all round!

Don't forget where we are if you need help with your garden border planting, bare root season or otherwise! Contact us to find out more.

Cool Gardens - the pleasure of off-peak

Gardeners and garden designers often talk about extending the season of interest in the garden and for the most part we’re usually referring to plants – great plants for winter interest or autumn colour, for instance, but this time around I thought we’d look at ways of making the garden a lovely place to be beyond those balmy summer days. We’ve actually met people that don’t venture into their gardens at all from the point that the temperatures drop in the autumn until it rises again with those first sunny days of springtime, and for us, that’s way too long to be avoiding your garden! So, here are our top 4 things to think about, that if tackled, might just entice you back out into your autumn, winter and early spring garden again…

Comfort

We all love a bit of comfort but if we’re going to enjoy some throughout the cooler, wetter months then our comfort needs to be practical. Opt for furniture that can be left out in all weathers and/or design in some incidental, all weather sitting stops so that finding somewhere to sit doesn’t become a job in itself. For extra comfort choose cushions that are covered in weather proof fabrics and/or store them either in the seats that they belong to or in close proximity to them. The trick is to make the act of sitting comfortably as quick and easy as possible – if we have to work too hard at it we tend not to do it at all…

Shelter

If you have the room for one, a permanent structure will lend itself better for all year use; think gazebo type – with a roof and open sides – like in our image of Kew, here (although most domestic gardens opt for timber alternatives) - but shelter can be provided in many ways. The rain shadow of evergreen trees for instance may be all you need or the windbreak afforded by some dense border planting can make a cosy, inviting corner; even the meeting point of two fences with a bit of strategic planting can make an inviting sheltered spot. Suit the shelter to your style of garden and its environment and position it for optimal benefit and use. Anchor it by planting around it and leading pathways to it and if you’re designing your garden get that structure into your plan first so that it beds into your overall design.

Warmth

Of course for off-peak garden visitation we recommend wrapping up warm before you set foot outside of the house but to make a real event of it warmth is where it’s at! South facing walls will be naturally warmer than other aspects but for extra oomph you can’t beat a fire and for the real thing there’s a dizzying array of possibilities from corten steel fire pits to brick built outdoor fireplaces and clay or metal chimineas and log burners to suit any style. Fire pits look brilliant but if your site is even vaguely windy chimineas and fireplaces deal with smoke much more effectively. Check the eco-standards of wood burning options before buying though; the Government is cracking down on them! If you love flames but don’t want everything that goes with burning a real fire consider gel or bioethanol fires and if you just want heat without the flames gas and electric patio heaters come in many shapes and sizes including floor standing, ceiling rigged and table topping (electric heaters are generally more versatile and eco friendly than gas).

Ambience

Ambience is what will make your outdoor space one that you want to spend time in. Shelter, comfort, warmth all contribute to the character and atmosphere of a place but add lights, planting, views (whether near or far) and other decorative elements to your off-peak garden and it can be transformed into a truly magical place. Sipping a hot drink, wrapped up and warm in the quiet of a frosty winter morning is just lovely – we highly recommend it!

5 reasons to create a fabulous front garden

In all of the years we’ve been designing gardens we’re rarely asked to do anything with a front garden. Not many of us have a frontage like Kiftsgate, seen here in our image, but most of us do seem to think long and hard about what we want from our back gardens but rarely approach our front gardens with the same level of gusto – or indeed with any level of gusto to be fair – which is a shame.

When we ask clients what they want from their back gardens the lists we get back are usually long and multi-faceted but ask somebody what they want from their front garden and most people tend to lean towards the ‘somewhere to park the car’ and ‘somewhere to hide the bins’ approach, and don’t take their thoughts any further. But why stop there? We may not want to sit out and entertain in the front garden but a fabulous front garden is in reach of anyone who has one and in this blog we’re going to try to convince you why it’s worth going beyond the total paving approach to our front gardens and opting instead for a beautiful, planted but still functional space.

So, in no particular order here are our top 5 reasons to create a fabulous front garden…

This list isn’t exhaustive but when so many positive consequences can come from reconsidering and treating your front garden as a garden rather than a car park and bin store why wouldn’t you opt for a fabulous front garden?