Wildflower Lawns
Debbie

One of our highlights of the week was planting a rather lovely wildflower lawn. Our client’s garden was a rather formal one, filled with box and topiary surrounding two large circular shaped manicured lawns. Our client, having read our thoughts on the importance of each and everyone of us doing our pollinator,  asked for our design help. As the grass was amazingly still warm (as lovingly also noted by Monty Dom in one of his twitter posts this week) we straightaway suggested planting wildflower plugs into the lawn, to which she readily agreed, with the proviso that we stuck to a colour palette of purple and white. As her lounge was on the first floor, we thought a wildflower dotted lawn, as well as providing a wonderful habitat for visiting creatures, would also look very lovely from her lounge window! A week later having planted a mass of wild basil, betony, self heal, white clover and germander speedwell plugs, we all shared a cuppa, some homemade quinoa biccy’s, and enjoyed the result!

Plugs for Dig It!
Debbie

Now, we don’t really like buying vegetable plug plants as a rule, as we like to grow veg from seed, but for two local schools, we decided on this occasion to order a small winter garden selection of veg plugs from Garden Organic and the £39.00 was split between two of our local primary state schools, who as well as being maintenance clients of ours, are from where we run weekly gardening clubs. ‘Dig it!” I must say, the quality of the plugs were great, and very plentiful (until doubtless our local wildlife friends enjoy their equitable share of the goodies) Also, some of the veg were fairly unusual enabling us to teach the kids and community about some lesser known kale and winter salad crops, particularly Japanese greens like Mizuna.

Ground Elder & Green Manure
Debbie

Have just returned from a client’s house where we are developing an absolutely beautiful design for her front garden. Brief – out with the roses, in with beneficial/edible plants. Our favourite kind of brief!

But before we could start dreaming, one problem. Ground elder. Ground elder, and more ground elder. So how to get rid of it in an organic way, without resorting to chemicals/herbicides? Our answer was simple…if somewhat laborious.

After many an hour of digging out those oh-so invasive weeds, and creating the shape of our new beds, we helped the neighbourhood recycling team, by procuring several hundred cardboard boxes, which we laid down, covered with a tonne of compost, and scattered some wonderful green manure seeds on the top. Having returned 2 weeks labour, the green manure; a mix of Hungarian grazing rye, tares and phacelia (chosen for mix of shape, texture and hue, not forgetting time of year growing potential) have started to grow. We will leave the green manure to grow and cover the ground until late February, after which will dig it in and start to plan ..

Pollinator Borders – Fun at School
Debbie

A client, having read our mission statement, asked us to design/plant a pollinator border in her back garden. Hurrah, time to put into action our ethos, “out with the herbaceous border, in with the pollinator border!”

We spend a loving few hours planting a curvaceous succession of Red clover, Birds Foot Trefoil, Marjoram and Lesser Celandine around one side of her garden. All chosen for their wildlife-attracting, pollinating-providing, or simply beautiful-looking qualities, as well as providing low cover (as befits a border).

On another note, take a look at the picture of the great fun that was had at one of our ‘Dig it’ school gardening clubs this week, as the kids set up their own stall, giving away the produce that we had lovingly grown.

Fun at the Dig-It! club.

Fun at the Dig-It! club.