Category Archives: Blog

#pondwatch – Day 1

Day one on site begins with a briefing with the client and a chance to ‘walk the course’, assess the ground and any potential changes to the environment as a result of the recent Storm Doris. The plan outlines a pond approximately 40m x 35m with a maximum depth of up to 1.8m.

First job is to remove some branches and tidy up a couple of Crack Willows and clear a stream that was choked up with vegetation and fallen trees. We’ve brought in a team of local tree surgeons for all the tree work.

Once the tree work is done, we start marking out ready for the first phase of excavation work to begin. It’s been a beautiful day and we’ve been watching kites circling and blue tits flitting amongst the willows. I may have even seen a lesser spotted woodpecker – but maybe I was just feeling lucky!

Looking forward to creating something really special here.

 

#pondwatch

Back in October 2016 we were contacted by a couple who had heard that ponds are our ‘thing’ having seen our work in several friends and neighbour’s gardens. They, however, were looking for help to design and create a pond on a significantly larger scale than the water features we are usually asked to build.

Having recently finished the construction of a state-of-the art energy-efficient new home set in five acres of rural Oxfordshire, our clients wanted to complete the project with the installation of a large pond that would provide habitat for wildlife, enhance the local environment and add interest to their large family home.

With the help of one of our Landrovers as a vantage point to take photos from, this blog will track the progress of the project from its beginnings as a corner of redundant agricultural land to what we hope will be a wildlife haven and idyllic feature of a beautiful family home. Watch this space and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

 

 

 

 

Butterflies – our secret heroes

Butterflies are often portrayed as the essence of nature or as representing freedom, beauty or peace. For many people, one of the first signs that spring is truly on its way is the fluttering of butterflies in the garden. Butterflies are important for so many reasons: not just aesthetically but also scientifically, for the ecosystem and for our health. We all know how important bees are to the environment but butterflies are the secret heroes, crucial in pollination and a natural form of pest control. So which species should we be looking out for?

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2017 Garden design Trends

As we move a few steps closer to spring, our gardens start to come to life again and we start to think about spending more time in them. With this in mind, many of you may be in the planning stage of designing your garden and thinking about how to make changes and enhancements so you can enjoy it throughout the summer.

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MyGardenGym

We all know that with the New Year comes the inevitability of New Year’s Resolutions. Most people’s lists feature an element of improving their fitness or taking up a new sport; however juggling the demands of a busy working day and family life can often mean sacrificing keeping fit.

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Preparing your garden for spring wildlife

Everyone wants to be able to watch the wildlife in their garden in the spring, whether it’s baby birds, hedgehogs or butterflies. However, if you want to enjoy the wildlife in the spring, it’s important to make sure that you get your garden prepared in advance over the winter.

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The makings of a great team

As part of our plans to grow GreenArt and make it the best garden design and landscaping outfit in Oxfordshire, we’ve welcomed two new members to the team this month; Luke as a Trainee Landscaper and Suzy as Operations Support Administrator. We’ll let you know how they’re getting on once they’ve had a chance to settle in. In the meantime, we thought we’d introduce John who joined us last year. John shows that you don’t have to have any experience to join our team, just a positive and enthusiastic attitude, willingness to learn and work hard.

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Get ready for the Big Garden Birdwatch

It’s that time of year again! Get ready for 2019’s RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch from 26th-28th of January! Why not spend an hour this weekend taking part in the world’s largest wildlife survey and see what you can spot. The Big Garden Birdwatch is the world’s largest wildlife survey that helps to find out what wildlife is in trouble, and what’s thriving. As a result of counting birds in our garden for Birdwatch, since 1979 starlings have declined by 81% and song thrush numbers have declined by around 70%. It started out as just a bird survey, but since 2014 we’ve been asked to look out for other wildlife that visits our gardens. Through this we now know that only one in four of us see hedgehogs in the garden at least once a month. All this information adds up to create a detailed snapshot of how our wildlife is faring around the UK.

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Container gardening – grand designs on a small scale

I recently treated myself to a day at the Cotswold Gardening School to refresh my skills in Container Gardening and get some inspiration from Caroline Tatham, the award-winning designer and lecturer. I certainly achieved both goals with the added bonus of rekindling my love of art and the works of the Impressionist painters in particular – more of that later.

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Let’s hear it for the humble hedge

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.

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