It's a sultry September afternoon and I'm pottering round the garden, deadheading the dahlias as I go. I can hear the echinacea gently buzzing as a drowsy bumblebee picks its way across the tawny central cone. On the dwarf blue lavender hedge that edges the border, a green-veined white butterfly is also making the most … Continue reading Pesticide-Free Plants with the Saving Pollinators Assurance Scheme
Last month I wrote Why Nature Matters: In Our Gardens and Our Countryside exploring the inextricable links between gardens and the wider landscape - with all the benefits and responsibilities this entails. As we become increasingly aware of the direct effect of our collective actions on the environment, complex issues such as the use of plastic, … Continue reading Peat Bog Restoration: Protecting Ecosystems and Limiting Climate Change
Chris Beardshaw recently said that he felt Chelsea show gardens should only be accepted if they were going to be relocated afterwards. It seems that other designers may be following his lead as this year's show sees more of the gardens and planting being relocated than ever before. The recipients of the gardens are diverse; … Continue reading Health, Wellbeing and Sustainability at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
There is a new category of show garden at Hampton Court this year - 'Gardens For A Changing World'. Each garden considers a challenge of our times and creates a design which will address the issue and offer solutions. Both The Urban Rain Garden and Streetscape's Holding Back The Flood consider water management issues, exploring ways of … Continue reading Holding Back The Flood and The Urban Rain Garden
Wild, evocative show gardens like James Basson's M&G Garden, inspired by the landscape of Malta, new plants to discover (my favourite this year is Raymond Evison's Clematis 'Pistachio') and new technologies like the use of microalgae to capture energy at Capel Manor's 'Compost, Energy, Light' Garden: these are all part of what makes RHS Chelsea such a captivating … Continue reading Gardening For A Sustainable Future