Planning a garden

After presenting over 60 gardens on BBC Garden Rescue, viewers always ask me the same question: “How do you come up with designs so quickly?” The truth is, there’s a systematic process I use on every single project, the same one I teach in my online courses. Let me pull back the curtain and show […]

Working out which direction a garden faces is one of the first things I do when I’m working on new garden designs as a garden designer. I do this before anything else, and I am going to explain why all gardeners need to follow this step! After decades of designing gardens, this is the one […]

If you’re anything like me, you’ve either cracked, smashed or freeze damaged your fair share of terracotta pots over the years! I love the look and texture of terracotta pots but one clumsy or forgetful moment and you’ve got a pile of orange shards where your prize conatainer plant display used to be. After years […]

Every single winter, I get messages from panicked gardeners who’ve woken up to find their gorgeous pots cracked like eggshells and their prize plants looking like they’ve made a break for it! It’s absolutely gutting, especially when you’ve spent good money on both the plants and the containers. However, most of this carnage is completely […]

There’s a colour that British gardeners chronically underuse, and it’s the boldest, most dramatic one in the entire palette: vibrant, passionate, show-stopping red! Now, I know what you’re thinking. Red’s too loud, too in-your-face, too risky for proper garden design. Absolute nonsense! Red flowers are the ultimate statement makers, and they deserve way more space […]

There’s a colour and plant type that’s criminally underused in British gardens: bright, vibrant, in-your-face yellow flowers! Now, I know what you’re thinking. Everyone and their nan goes for the safe pastels, the gentle pinks and soft purples. But what you may not know is that yellow flowers are absolute show-stoppers in terms of garden […]

Staring out at your perfectly square garden through those patio doors, you might be feeling distinctly uninspired. That predictable rectangle of lumpy turf bordered by fence panels on all sides probably looks less like a garden and more like a green prison yard, especially if it’s one of those typical new build plots where developers […]

Sensory gardens are not just some trendy garden design concept dreamt up by fancy landscape designers with too much time on their hands. Sensory gardens are fundamentally about creating outdoor spaces that actively invite you to experience nature up close through touch, smell, hearing, taste, and sight. To enrich and awaken your senses, whether thats […]

You’re staring out at your garden right now, aren’t you? That rectangle of lawn, those overgrown borders, that wonky patio that the previous owners slapped down in 2003. Maybe it’s a brand new build with nothing but builders’ rubble and a token bit of turf. Either way, you’ve got absolutely no idea where to start, […]

Staring down that narrow strip of garden stretching away from your house, you might be feeling like you’ve drawn the short straw in the garden lottery. Long thin gardens are probably the most common awkward shape in British suburbia, particularly in Victorian terraces, post-war developments, and those estate properties where developers sliced up former agricultural […]