The mature garden - after only one year On this page you'll see the garden at its zenith in its first year and then a few more pictures from the following year. As I look back on it now, there are of course lots of things I'd have done differently. But that is the essence of gardening - it is all about experimentation and change, growth and progression. As it … [Read more...] about Suburban garden makeover: Part 4 – the garden after 1 year
My gardens
Here I present the story of some of the gardens I have created over the years.
Common to most of these garden transformations is that there was very little hard landscaping involved. These gardens are therefore a great advertisement for the power of plants.
Suburban garden makeover: Part 3 – growing plants in the maturing garden
The pictures on this page show the garden in its first spring and early summer. One thing to note is that I planted this garden up very fully. Normally, there are recommended spacings for plants which allow them room to grow to their mature size. I deliberately did not follow these recommendations with the perennials in this garden. I wanted the garden to look good, as … [Read more...] about Suburban garden makeover: Part 3 – growing plants in the maturing garden
Suburban garden makeover: Part 2 – the garden layout
In progress: the garden design and its execution There were several design ideas at work when I was planning this garden layout: I wanted to develop separate spaces in the garden, each with its own identity; I wanted to incorporate two planting styles in particular that interested me. Firstly, the big leaved, tropical/exotic look and secondly a more naturalistic … [Read more...] about Suburban garden makeover: Part 2 – the garden layout
Urban garden transformation: small space, big plants … and lots of them
This urban garden transformation was the first gardening I ever did. The garden was in Tooting in South London and was about 9 metres long by 5 metres wide. Although it contained a fair bit of rubble that I had to dig out, the soil was a surprisingly good loam, except in one corner where the London clay was only just below the surface. I described the creation of this … [Read more...] about Urban garden transformation: small space, big plants … and lots of them
Suburban garden makeover part 1: from lawn to lush
In this 5 part series, I'll show you the process of transforming a good sized suburban garden from boring lawnscape to this riot of colour and texture: I've called it a garden makeover because it wasn't a complete rebuild. There was very little hard landscaping involved and what little there was didn't involve specialist skills, just hard work. If nothing else, I think … [Read more...] about Suburban garden makeover part 1: from lawn to lush
