The eagle-eyed amongst you, especially those who read our Facebook Page, will have noticed I have taken over the nursery in Blackfordby. After 6 months hard work, I’m proud to announce that Blackfordby Nursery will be opening to the public on Bank Holiday Monday, from 10am until 4pm. Local garden centres need not worry themselves too much – it’s not our intention to muscle in on their turf. I’m not selling ornaments, pets or...

Last year we designed this contemporary garden in Church Gresley, Derbyshire, and installed half of the planting. This week, after what seemed like an eternity waiting for spring to arrive, we completed the other half. We’ve planted 150 tulips in cream, pink and a deep plum colour, to complement Heuchera ‘Blackberry Jam’, and 50 Alliums in a cerise/purple. The rest of the planting design is centred on the strong architectural...

April showers are on the way, they say. Well, I’ve written enough about our changeable weather over the last few years to know that it could be pouring, boiling hot or snowing in April! So this month instead I thought I would give you a little insight into why I choose some of the plants that I often use in clients’ gardens. We’ll start with Amelanchier canadensis, also called the Juneberry, Serviceberry, Currant Tree and a whole host of...

This article originally appeared in the March 2013 issue of Village Breeze magazine. Well, here we are again. Christmas is a distant memory and the gardening season is starting anew. March is a great month – there is a lot to do in the garden, but the workload is not as manic as it will be in the months to come. It’s a month for tackling little jobs, like sowing seeds under glass or on an inside window sill, or tidying up the garden after...

In 2011 we were asked to bring a bit of style and interest to the garden of a ground floor apartment in Duffield, Derbyshire. Our clients wished to have an interesting place to sit and to entertain, with some screening for privacy, as the garden was overlooked by other apartments. The garden was quite narrow, so our solution was to split the space with planting beds on the diagonal, and to install a pergola to act as a support for climbing...