The devastation of Ash die back shown so clearly at the Kingley National Nature Reserve but with a large amount of genetic diversity there might be hope as shown by this healthy specimen 1/2 mile away🤞🤞 #ashdieback #ashdiebackawareness #ash #ashtrees #nationalnaturereserve #kingleyvale #kingleyvalenaturereserve
Right plant,right place; the maxim applies even to containers where these window boxes were planted with continental trailing geraniums and only been watered twice in 4 weeks and yet are thriving #windowboxes #trailinggeraniums #red #redflowers #droughttolerantplants
Seeing the wood from the trees; a crucial part of our role is editing. Designing an overall scheme for this estate includes initially editing what needs attention after @ 10 years of neglect by the previous owners.
Working with the new owners and their tree surgeons, they spent 2 weeks, thinning, lifting and felling
Particularly dramatic was the impact of removing this oppressive arch of Bay and Laurel.
Huge amounts of light now flood in; perfect for the PV cells that are to be installed beyond to charge the cars and provide power for the bore hole to reduce mains grid dependency #gardendesign #treesurgery #hedges #hedgetrimming #pv #beforeandafter
Excited to have found these sections of Yew @oxfordwoodrecycling developing the principles of sustainability in this garden design by in house intern @_gt_design
They will be used to create a coping for these Gabion benches which have been filled with the foul pink and grey concrete paving that once dominated this London garden with rubble as infill so ZERO to landfill
Low voltage LED strips from @landscapeplus_uk will be routed into the underside of the yew sections to wash with light the front of the Gabions that will be planted with Sedums and Erigeron #upcycle #upcycling #gabions #yew #seats #gardendesign #smallgarden #gardenseats #zerotolandfill
We just love nurturing both gardens and young talent so we were all SO thrilled to be told that 6 months after building @rachelplattdesign first garden pictured here on a rather gloomy day she has just won The People’s Choice Vote in RHS young Designers category @the_rhs Tatton Park Flower Show
Suppliers including @caledonianstone @brickworksvandemoortel and @readyhedge and PLATIPUS have been really generous and just spoken to Rachel who understandably is high as a kite
Looking forward to showing her two new projects already booked in for next month👌🙏🍾 #rhs #youngdesigner #rhstatton #rhstattonpark #rhstattonparkflowershow
Fascinating to see what has thrived despite the extreme heat; Dahlias love this baked hot permanent bed that I have created for them.
As I try to make my garden lower maintenance these girls will be staying in the ground this winter under a thick mulch
Meanwhile has the heat seen off the red Lilly beetle as none have been spotted this year. 🤔
Time to pick for the mother in law👌😃 #dahlias #dahliaseason #lillies #lillyregale #cutflowers #cutflowersfrommygarden #grownnotflown #droughttolerant #drouggttolerantplanting #droughttolerantplants
Big shout out to @rachelplattdesign who we love working with after she won Silver Gilt in RHS Young Designer of the Year award at Tatton Park .
Rachel’s Covid recovery garden will later be relocated to a Hospital together with the materials generously donated by suppliers @caledonianstone and @brickworksvandemoortel
Amazing achievement not least in the face of these extreme temperatures 👌👏🥂 #rhs #rhstatton #rhsyoungdesigneroftheyear
Having worked for more than 12 hours in record breaking heat, my girls at 8.30pm were exhausted
No longer flying, white sheets and a make shift canopy of a wet bed sheet, were all trying to deflect the heat but they just wanted to sit outside trying to get some fresh air
Maybe they were concerned that the noxious @dailymail would label them snowflakes if they didn’t turn up for work🤔🐝🙏#bees #beesofinstagram #honeybees
Despite the heat the bees are working soo hard; they have filled two supers with honey (@50kilos) and in attempt to store more have built brace comb above the frames
Filling these with more honey is great but hey girls it’s in the wrong place
So bottom pic shows brace comb removed so they can concentrate on filling third super that’s empty and waiting. What lovely bees👌🙏🐝 #bees #beesofinstagram #honeybees #bracecomb
Too hot to garden but not to plan for the second Spring🤔👌
Sowing veg like these French climbing beans now is easy and they can be planted out in 2 weeks and will crop August-Sept producing beans for salads, roasts or curries
@vital.seeds has excellent range of suitable seeds👌 #frenchbeans #growyourownfood #secondspring
In mid summer the garden should be full of sweet scents from jasmine and lillies…
Except when you have cut down some nettles and are soaking them to make a free and high Nitrogen feed😯😩👃
Usually at this time of year I feed with organic Seaweed extract that is high in Potassium to encourage flower and fruit production
But I am kean to bulk up my asparagus for next year and some of my tomatoes are looking slightly unenthusiastic about life so hence Nettle soup; leave to putrefy with a brick weighing down the nettles in water then after 10days+ dilute 1:10 and apply and retire to other end of garden
Spent stems and rotting stuff at bottom add to compost heap👌👍 #nettle #nettles #nettlefeed #fertiliser #feedingplants #organicplantfood
Bee update🐝👌
With some v welcome help from in house garden designer @sophie_gardendesignco.co.uk we inspected the girls yesterday
Delighted to report two HUGE colonies each with two boxes of capped honey ready for harvest ( more than I am😮)
So full that the girls were building brace comb between the boxes as an extra store
This was removed and replaced with TWO more boxes of foundation ( 1/hive)
The foundation is not pulled, so the girls have to use lots of energy to create the wax cells to store more honey, but if they use some stores in doing so, that’s fine
Meanwhile the honey that drained from the brace comb was perfect treat for breakfast
Thanks girls🙏🐝🍯
#honey #honeybees #bees #bracecomb #bee #beeinspection
Detail in a drain👌 Gorgeous drain cover from @lateraldesignstudio for such attention to detail is crucial as we create a stunning design for @wakefieldnics in Wimbledon albeit in extreme temperatures 🥵
#design #drain #draincover #draincovers
Stunning copper planter awaiting delivery to provide a home to a huge olive as finishing touch to gorgeous garden designed by @rachelplattdesign from Architectural Heritage
#planters #copper #copperplanters
Bindweed making friends with Lythrum down by the river; funnily enough bindweed is really beautiful (when outside your garden😮😂) #bindweed #lythrum #lythrumsalicaria #riverthames #thamespath
Great to catch up with client and designer @joaldersondesigns100 as we review what we have created at this one garden over last three years
A stunning small lake teaming with wildlife with swallows swooping down to have a drink along with foxes and deer
Meanwhile 84t of boulders from @cedstonegroup just seem to have disappeared 😮😮
Cut flower garden producing extraordinary quantities of blooms whilst the formal water feature with water engineering by @tim.field.716 and courtyard dressed in stone from @artoriusfaber creates another unique room
So delighted to be invited to work on phase 4 with more trees to plant👌 #gardendesign #cutflowers
#cutflowergarden #lakes #waterfeatures #boardwalk #ligularia #ligulariaprezewalskii #fountains #limestone
Stunning collection of Pyramid orchids has developed over the years at this project but have exploded in last few months.
Careful management of the meadow has helped with low nutrient levels maintained👌 #orchids #orchid #pyramidalorchid #wildflowerwednesdays #meadows
There’s a moment when the Giant Oats Grass catches the evening sun👌😃
Top Tip; pics of Stipa gigantea often show magnificent planting of them that’s difficult to achieve for some years so when planting, plant 3 close together 👌 #oatsgrass #stipa #stipagigantea #giantoatsgrass #grasses #droughttolerant
Dahlias fighting for centre stage but there’s plenty of choice for cutting flowers; best done in your pyjamas when it’s cool for the flowers last better then and there’s something about cutting whilst listening to the bird song👌 #dahlias #dahliaseason #cutflowers #cutflowergarden #cutflowersfrommygarden #grownnotflown
We go small in Stockwell, as we transform a space into a stunning outdoor room to compliment the transformation of the house by @ashton_architecture
The brief was ‘to make Scandinavians sick with envy’
😂😂
And I wanted to minimise our impact on the environment
So treated roof battens upgraded rather than replaced the fencing, a Corten planter from Blenheim Palace Flower Show was repurposed and the hideous pink slabs used to fill Gabions, with the nooks and crannies designed to provide habitat
BBQ from @ikeauk is cost effective mini outdoor kitchen whilst Cemento porcelain from @caledonianstone is smart and low maintenance
Overall design by intern @_gt_design whilst she studies for her Masters👌👏 #gardendesign #porcelain #porcelianpaving #upcyclying #reducewaste
