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Author Archives: George Smith

Summer Inspiration for a Garden Re-design

Embracing Summer’s Beauty to Help Create a Garden of your Dreams

by George Smith / on 27th July 2023 / in Blog, environment, garden design, Gardens

A balmy Summers evening, with its hazy undertones and perhaps nostalgic childhood memories maybe the perfect time to find inspiration for your garden’s re-design.

As the sun bathes our outdoor spaces, we are invited to step outside, indulge in the sensory delights and uncover what truly brings us joy in our gardens.

Our gardens should be just as integral to our home as much as our indoor space is. The link between indoors and outdoors should feel effortless. As much a place to rest, relax and socialise as our bed, sofa or dining table is!

A garden can awaken our senses with sights, sounds, smells, and textures. When contemplating a garden re-design, let the splendour of Summer guide your plans and decisions.

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re-wilding your garden

Re-wilding your garden – what difference can you make?

by George Smith / on 27th July 2023 / in Blog, environment, Gardens, planting, plants, Ponds, Tips, trees, Wildlife

How to continue your re-wilding journey

Many of us have now set aside or made changes to some parts of our gardens to make them friendlier to wildlife.

Leaving a corner to go wild with brambles or nettles, ‘No-mow May’ or leaving leaf litter and plant debris under hedges or in beds are all ways to attract insects, small mammals and birds to our gardens. For many of us, this is just the first step on a re-wilding journey.

The true principles of re-wilding go well beyond transforming all or most of our garden into a haven for nature, however. Re-wilding means extending beyond and across boundaries to neighbouring gardens and green spaces.

To make re-wilding a reality and also a success, what’s needed is scale and size; conjoined areas of land to create a habitat for a pool of biodiversity. This is the challenge for home-owners and Garden Designers alike.

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A Wild Garden

5 More Steps to Going Wild in your Garden

by George Smith / on 28th April 2023 / in Blog, environment, Gardens, meadows

A sequel to 5 Steps to Going Wild in your Garden, because there is always more we can do.

With biodiversity declining at an alarming rate it can feel like the problem is too big for us to solve alone. But just imagine if we all did a little bit more … just like a waterfall is made up of many droplets of water. Big change can happen when we all come together.

And a wild garden is one of the easiest ways we can make a difference to the biodiversity in our communities.

Read on to learn more and decide which steps will work for you and your garden.

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RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 27-29 January 2023

by George Smith / on 25th January 2023 / in Blog, environment, Gardens, Wildlife, winter

Why you need to take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch

Birds in the sky and on the land around us are one of the most important indicators of the health of our surroundings. They live on the plants, insects and animals that grow on our wild and cultivated land. Birds are in trouble and we must help.

In the last 50 years the UK has lost nearly 40 million birds across many different species. Birds that live in upland areas, woodland birds, wetland birds, those that live on farmland and garden birds – all are declining. So how can we keep track of what’s happening and what can we all do to stop the decline?

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Low Maintenance doesn’t mean No Maintenance!

by George Smith / on 10th November 2022 / in Blog, garden design, Gardens, planting, plants, pots, Tips

It may not come as much surprise to hear that we are often asked for a ‘low maintenance’ garden when it comes to designing green spaces.

This may be due to many reasons; being new to gardening, having a young family, older age, restricted mobility or simply not having enough time.

For a keen gardener, tending to borders and lawns is a much-enjoyed pastime, but for a lot of people managing a garden can often feel overwhelming and all too often a chore, rather than a pleasure.

Here we discuss some low-maintenance garden design considerations without having to turn your garden into a concrete jungle!

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Babylon Nursery Garden Ideas

Blooming Marvelous Planting Scheme Ideas

by George Smith / on 25th May 2022 / in borders, garden design, Gardens, planting, plants

As a Trainee Designer at GreenArt, part of my job is to work with our Garden Design team to create planting schemes for our clients. These can be schemes to refresh an existing area of a garden or as part of a completely new Garden Design.

I recently visited our local wholesale nursery Babylon Nursery  to source herbs for a customer’s vegetable garden. Whilst there I took the opportunity to have a look around and see if anything in bloom caught my eye. Here’s what I found that sparked some fresh ideas for planting schemes.

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Winter Gardening

by George Smith / on 26th January 2022 / in Blog, Gardens, lawncare, planting, plants, Tips, trees, Watering, Wildlife, winter

You might think that there’s nothing to do in the garden during the Winter as deciduous trees have lost their leaves, perennials have died back and many plants are looking quite sad. In fact, it’s a really important time for looking after what you have, as well as preparing your garden for the Spring and Summer.

Our Garden Care and Development teams are busy working in gardens across the county throughout this Winter and have put together some tips to help your garden get in shape – and help you stay fit in the process!

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The art of maintaining large gardens and estates

by George Smith / on 19th February 2021 / in Blog, borders, climate, climbers, environment, estates, garden design, Gardens, large gardens, lawncare, meadows, orchards, Parterres, planting, plants, Ponds, pots, rose, spring, Tips, tree, trees, Watering, Wildlife, winter

‘My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece’ – Claude Monet.

Like sitting down to an easel, walking into a large garden, tools in hand, you may wonder where and how to start your masterpiece. Our approach to garden care takes into account the needs of large gardens and estates, as well as those of smaller domestic properties. Our Landscape Supervisor, Sasha Fraser, explains our approach.

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Top Garden Tips For May

by George Smith / on 4th May 2018 / in Blog, Gardens, Ponds, spring, Tips, Wildlife
May signals the start of a really exciting time in the garden. Every day brings new life to celebrate as new colours burst on the scene in our gardens, woodlands, countryside and hedgerow. In particular I love the incredible range and vibrance of the greens that are emerging and the way the vivid limes set off the subtle blues and purples, especially in our woodlands.

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