Hedges are the unsung heroes of the garden – a practical solution for security and privacy, a beautiful backdrop for planting and other garden features and, perhaps more importantly, a haven for wildlife. Hedges are the green walls of a garden, a natural boundary which can be used for structure around the edge and within a garden, but also as a key feature in themselves.
With any project, planning is one of the most important elements to create success and can help you save time and money. Your garden is no different. Although it can be tempting to raid the garden centre for plants that catch your eye, you may end up with too much of one thing and not enough of another. Alternatively rushing out into your garden to dig up the lawn because you fancy a water feature, could end up costing you a lot of money and result in a lack of cohesion in your garden.
Front gardens are an important part of life in Britain today for more reasons than you might think. Not only is your front garden the first thing that greets you and your visitors, it also has to be multifunctional. While a front garden creates the all-important first impression, setting the tone for your home and what you may find within it, it often also has to accommodate space for parking and practical access. As a result of our increasing reliance on our cars, many front gardens have been transformed over the last few decades into monochromatic hard standing areas that do little to enhance or even sustain the environment. Times are changing, however.
As the summer draws to a close and everyone returns to work and school, it is the perfect time to be thinking about how well your garden worked for you over the last few months. Summer is the prime time to be out in your garden so it is important to use this time of year, while your memories of barbeques and enjoying the sunshine are fresh, to reflect on how to get the most out of your garden next year and for the summers to come.
What worked well?
Using nature’s own to water your garden and why it’s not just about having big butts.
What has been a distinctly average summer so far, watering the garden has at least been a fairly easy job. A dry week will soon change that though, and trudging around the garden with watering cans and hoses gives us all time to think.
One of the many joys of having a well-planned garden is that you can have ready access to freshly-cut flowers to add colour and scent to your home all year round. Your home-grown flowers will be less expensive than the florist/shop bought variety and also there’s the extra satisfaction and enjoyment from growing your own cut flowers in a sustainable manner that then decorate your home both inside and out.
Insects Are The Gardener’s Friend
Many people may not automatically think of some insects as the gardener’s friend but actually, ladybirds, lacewings, beetles and hoverflies feed on aphids and other smaller insect pests that otherwise can cause havoc in our gardens. Similarly, bumblebees and solitary wasps also devour unwanted garden visitors and many of these insects are great pollinators, helping our gardens to grow and reproduce naturally.
Case Study – The perfect garden to enjoy in retirement.
New open spaces to relax in, some densely planted beds, easy and safe access to a terrace, and a beautiful lawn and vegetable garden all helped to create the perfect garden for our clients to enjoy in their retirement.
Trisha and Kirstine had lived in their Victorian terraced cottage for over twenty years and had established a garden full of treasured plants and special memories. They were looking forward to their retirement and to spending more time enjoying the fruits of their labours and growing their own fruit and vegetables.
However, it was clear that the steep sloping lawn and narrow steps leading to the top of the garden would be difficult to negotiate in their later years…
Hints And Tips For June 2016
June is the peak of the gardening year in most gardens so your jobs this month should include:
1) Regular weeding. Nobody’s favourite job so make it less onerous by catching the weeds early and staying on top of them.
2) Mow your lawn at least once a week but never mow it too short. The middle setting on your mower is short enough to create a thick healthy sward. Feeding your lawn during June is also a good idea.
Ten Flowers & Shrubs That Will Thrive In Our Soil
GreenArt’s base in South Oxfordshire is an interesting and quite varied place to create and establish Gardens.
The starting point for all gardens is the soil. Along the Thames, the soils are silty, deep and fertile. On the slopes of the Chilterns and the downs, the soils are thinner with clay, flint and chalk and, as a result, are often high in pH. Contrary to popular belief that many garden plants demand lime-free soil, more species actually thrive on alkaline conditions rather than dislike them.
