SWIPE to see a new project that I’m very proud of!
This garden was a challenge to design as it had to be designed around some large existing features, mainly the pool, pond, and obviously the strong architectural home. It is all pulled together with some new hard landscaping features, curved pathways and heaps of planting 🪴
This garden was only planted in the middle of this hot summer, so next year it is going to really burst into life!
The main features of the design are a curved cantilevered @millboard_live_life_outside deck, overhanging the revitalised pond. @johnstonelandscapes did an amazing job of this.
Masses of new planting, both front and back, help to ground the house into its surroundings.
The existing trees are now underplanted with a matrix of woodland edge plants!
There’s an edible meadow alongside the deck. Taking inspiration from the RHS Chelsea garden I co-designed with @sidhillecogardens
A favourite piece is a bespoke curved iroko bench that I built with my main man Joe, this wraps around a stunning fire pit and some precision radial setts that @johnstonelandscapes installed.
The driveway has been re-worked with large Fagus topiary and contemporary block planting of grasses. Then a shady overhang with picture frame windows into the house is underplanted with a shade loving matrix and tree ferns. I can’t wait to see this develop in time.
@johnstonelandscapes & I have worked together for a few years now, making the build such an enjoyable and collaborative process, and of course they tackled any on site challenges with ease. Thanks @johnstone_landscapes_jake 👌
📸 by @jacobgibbinsphoto
More to share soon
#gardendesign #gardensofinstagram #landscaping #moderngarden #plantingdesign #landscapecontractor #gardenlove
Ad: My favourite things about the @stihlgb GTA40 cordless pruner!
#gardenersofinstagram #horticulture #arb #gta40
My favourite late summer colour plants in this scheme are:
Echinacea ‘Pretty Parasols’
Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’
Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Alba’
Scabiosa columbaria
Obviously the Salvia too 😂
This is one of my recently planted gardens on the edge of Dartmoor.
The clients wanted colour and that’s what they’ve got! Perennial colour through the seasons with some evergreen shrubs and topiary to keep the scheme strong through winter.
The stonework and hard landscaping provides such good structure to show off the planting. Can’t wait to see it develop next year.
Some people hate yellow flowers for some reason…
What do you think? (I love them 👌)
Plants from @foliumandflosplants
Photos by @jacobgibbinsphoto
#gardendesign #gardendesigner #gardensofinstagram #perennialgarden
Who else loves a before & after?!
I’m very proud of this garden. I only planted it a few months ago and it is now flourishing! This garden was all about the planting and I think it compliments the surroundings perfectly.
This is just a small section of the garden. Shall I share some more?!
#gardendesign #gardensofinstagram #gardenmakeover #plantingdesign
What a bench!
It took a lot of head scratching to get it right but I’m so proud of how this bench turned out. Joe and I spent a couple days making this, using Iroko boards that tapered out to the radius of the seating area.
All fixings are hidden and screwed from the steel behind. Lovely curved steel frame made by @taurusfabrications
The fire pit is the perfect centre piece for it.
@johnstonelandscapes @johnstone_landscapes_jake have now finished even more landscape works around it so I can’t wait to share more clips with you soon.
Would you like one of these in your garden? Or do you prefer something more traditional? Let me know!
#gardendesign #landscaping #gardensofinstagram #carpentry
TAUNTON FLOWER SHOW 🪴
Come along tomorrow (Friday) for a great family day out.
Gardeners question time panel is from 1:00-1:45
My talk on gardening and mental health will be from 2:30 until 3:15pm
Loads of plants, nurseries, gardens and plenty more to see. Hope to see you there!
@tauntonfs
#tauntonflowershow #flowershow #gardenersofinstagram
Schizophrenia awareness day 🪴
My Dad lives with paranoid schizophrenia, which can be quite severe at times. In a time when mental health and wellness is mainstream, serious mental illness is still often misunderstood and rife with stigma.
Being a schizophrenic doesn’t define my Dad as a person, but it has impacted his entire life, leaving him unable to work and often getting himself in unfortunate situations, or sectioned for long periods of time. Whilst this is his situation, many people with schizophrenia do manage to work and hold down a more ‘normal’ lifestyle.
Some common symptoms of schizophrenia are:
Paranoia, delusions, visual or audio hallucinations, muddled thoughts, lack of motivation, difficulty with social interactions. Just to name a few.
It also isn’t as simple as someone having the same symptoms every day of the year. It’s common to have up and down periods, where the symptoms and behaviours may become more extreme. Sometimes leading to a state of psychosis where someone needs to be sectioned under the mental health act.
Hopefully this has given some personal insight into schizophrenia. If you need any information or support, please go and check out @rethinkmentalillness ❤️
#schizophrenia #nationalschizophreniaawarenessday #rethink #mentalhealth #mentalillness
Swipe for the sound of water!
The brief for Charlie & I was to make a wild Welsh inspired garden for a young family to enjoy. All with the challenge of a huge existing concrete pad to work around.
Luckily slate chippings cover a multitude of sins and tied in beautifully with the show stopping water feature. Made using slate walling stone by the very talented @landy3614 - it definitely stole the show!
There’s something very satisfying about poking plants into the nooks of a dry stone wall and around the base of the water feature.
The covered pergola gives them somewhere to sit outside even in the typical wet Welsh weather👌
@benjaminrichardpope and the rest of the team did an amazing job on this one! @leighapugh @jimbobs2020 @burdfieldlandscaping 🙌
Would you like this in your garden?!
#gardenrescue #gardendesign #plantingdesign #gardenersofinstgram
SETTING OUT PLANTS 🪴
This is my thought process behind setting out this beautiful bed, but the same can be applied to any planting scheme that you’re setting out!
People work in different ways, but generally this is how I approach most of mine.
I forgot to mention the x3 Tree Ferns which will make an amazing feature in the corner of this bed. I can’t wait to see this planting knit together over time.
Big thanks to @johnstonelandscapes & @johnstone_landscapes_jake who are building the garden and have done an amazing job on everything so far. Not far from completion now 🤞
If you have any questions about setting out or plant combos, just drop them in the comments below 🪴
#plantingdesign #shadegarden #gardenersofinstagram #moderngarden #gardendesign #gardenlove
Rearranging some potted plants can make BIG changes to your space…
I’d been growing these Colocasia for a while now and I was finally ready for them to go outside. They can take a while to get going, but when they do they grow SO fast!
I’ve always loved exotic style planting so they fit this section of the deck really well, amongst some of my other favourites. Especially against the water feature.
Colocasia are not hardy at all, so will need to be brought in after Summer! Well worth it though. My bulbs were from @farmergracy (not an ad.) - and they were great quality. 3 bulbs = 3 happy plants.
#Colocasia #exoticgarden #junglegarden #plantingdesign #containergarden #gardenersofinstagram
Welcome to the family Jude! He’s 3 weeks old tomorrow and is doing great and his mum @zohull_ is an absolute rock star!
I will get him out gardening in no time, he’s already been out watering the plants with me and designing gardens in the office🪴!
This is my excuse for a lack of new reels 😂. Looking forward to the rest of Summer!
#gardenersofinstagram #baby #newborn
Relaxing garden for a busy retiree ✅
Today’s Garden Rescue was a big transformation!
Ripping out a lawn can be a bold move, but sometimes it just makes life easier and opens up other design opportunities.
It has made the garden easier to maintain for Anne, whilst also creating more of a journey through the garden.
The raised beds and raised water feature that you can perch on, makes it easy to potter in the garden, or just sit and relax under the pergola!
Not all gardens need crazy over the top design elements. Just a simple pergola, some nice paving details, and the sound of water is all you need for a dream garden. Oh.. and the plants of course!! 🪴
#gardenrescue #gardensofinstagram #gardendesign #landscaping #waterfeature
How I designed this pocket courtyard garden 🪴
People often have awkward spaces like this (before pic at the end) that they don’t know how to deal with. My lovely clients in Bradford on Avon wanted somewhere to catch the morning sun, surrounded by plants, all within a tiny corner of a courtyard.
The Bath stone walls make a beautiful backdrop for the garden. I used reclaimed pennant flagstones underfoot, 300mm steel edging to make a bed and deal with levels and a bespoke larch corner bench. We also used pebbles in mortar to make a threshold between the reclaimed pennant and existing cobbles.
There is even planting under the bench to maximise planting space, and a Star Jasmine on the wall. An Acer palmatum adds height and makes the garden feel more snug.
The combo of white Salvia and Geranium ‘Anne Folkard’ is a real triumph!
Built by myself and @gardenrescuegruff 💪
📷 by @cellar_dor
#smallgarden #gardendesign #gardensofinstagram #pocketgarden #courtyardgarden
Sculptural zoo garden in Scunthorpe ✅
Now this was a quirky garden rescue brief! A garden to show off all of the large animal sculptures that the client had collected.
Sculptures are very subjective and whilst one might not be your cup of tea, they can mean a lot to someone else. Joe absolutely adored his sculptures but they needed to be immersed in the garden so the whole family could enjoy them.
Using strong lines and vistas, the sculptures became focal points around the garden, immersed in planting. When it all grows out over the years this will be an absolutely cracking garden!
‘Luigi’ the Ligustrum topiary stag, modelled by myself and @jac_broccoli , was an extra special feature in the garden. It’s amazing what you can do with some very skilled hands, some steel wire and some privet plants! This was bespoke made by @agrumitopiary
And it was @ameliabouquetgardendesign Garden Rescue debut! I think she smashed it, can’t wait to see one of her designs built too 👌
Legendary build team too @benjaminrichardpope and co 💪
#gardendesign #gardenrescue #gardensculpture #animalsculpture #gardenersofinstagram
Tulum jungle garden in Wales ✅
What an awesome brief for this Garden Rescue. I love designing exotic style contemporary gardens and this one really had it all!
Putting in the water feature that you can actually walk over really made this garden feel like you were in a luxury exotic resort. Combining that with some big feature plants, bespoke chairs, and Charlie’s bar area, this ticked all the boxes.
Small gardens don’t have to be boring!
Thanks to the team as always for pulling out all the stops to make this garden.
#gardendesign #gardenersofinstagram #gardensofinstagram #exoticgarden #junglegarden
A NEW SERIES of garden rescue (S10) is now going out on BBC1 at 3:45, weekdays. 🪴
Watch this afternoon to see @garden_ninja_lee and I tackle a very fun garden in Northampton!
There are some repeats mixed in as well so keep an eye out for the new ones. There should be at least x3 new episodes each week.
#gardenrescue #gardendesign #horticulture #gardenersofinstagram