Gorgeous Plants and Aching Feet

0 Written by Lisa on 9th Aug 2010 in Inspiration

My parents own a nursery (plants that is!) in Forton, Somerset, and this weekend was the Taunton Flower Show so I went down to help out.  It’s really hard work, but has a great buzz and is a brilliant opportunity to promote the nursery.

We always try to make an effort with the stand despite the restricted space and this year we received some wonderful feedback, we even had our picture taken by the Somerset Gazette.

   

You wouldn’t put a planting scheme together in this way, but it does give the effect of a garden and encourages people to spend time looking at what we have….they have to look because it’s all mixed up!  Throughout the 2 days we had many compliments, especially on the day we set up – we’d gone for a walk round and when we returned there were 4 people on the stand who said “it looked so wonderful that we were drawn in to take a closer look”!

    

We do 2 shows a year and despite the hard work, they are really important to keep a presence in the local area.  My parents work soooo hard and the plants you see here have been grown and lovingly cared for by them.  The most exciting part of the show was the interest in their newly acquired stock of apple trees (some 700 trees and over 100 varieties) which were dug up and planted in pots by us back in the Winter (now that was hard work!).  Every single tree has survived and we’ve been talking about holding an apple tasting day in the Autumn – fabulous!

 

A client’s front garden, one year on…

0 Written by Lisa on 6th Aug 2010 in From the drawing board

Last year I was commissioned to design a planting scheme for a front garden in Ashtead and this morning went back to see how it was looking one year on. Read more

10 tips to help you design a perfect border

2 Written by Lisa on 6th Aug 2010 in From the drawing board

Planting design can be really challenging, there’s just so much to think about!  Here are some helpful tips to make the job easier: Read more

Seasonal Care Calender

0 Written by Lisa on 3rd Aug 2010 in Uncategorized

SUMMER – JUNE/JULY/AUGUST

Overview Read more

Have you ever been “wowed” when you weren’t expecting to be?

0 Written by Lisa on 2nd Aug 2010 in Inspiration

I met up with a friend of mine this week to have a coffee and amble around Loseley House Gardens near Godalming.
I have been to the Loseley House before, but never in June when everything is looking so luscious.  I think too it was the time of day we went, quite late, just an hour or so before it was closing, and we felt as though we had the place to ourselves.
The “wow” hit me when I came across this….
Red is such a challenging colour to use in the garden because it demands attention, but it’s really rather breathtaking here.  Predominantly the colour was green, miscanthus, euphorbia, perennials that hadn’t yet come into flower, all anchored in the space by cleverly planted pleached trees.  At each corner of the courtyard was a clump of giant red oriental poppies, really fabulous!
Planting schemes are always more successful when the colour palette is simple and the reason it works here is that the poppies are allowed to do their thing without any competition.  Add another strong colour or even another group of poppies in the middle of the space and the impact would be completely lost.  Without the red, this garden room would still be lovely, luscious planting, a sense of tranquillity, but I’m not sure it would be very special.
This got me thinking about other ways to create this sort of impact with plants that flower for longer, after all, poppies are relatively short lived.  Any perennial with a similar habit could work, Alliums or Agapanthus perhaps, although blues and purples wouldn’t really provide the same sense of drama.
Something like Achillea millefolium might be better – some cultivars are taller than others but ‘Walther Funcke’ (above) would be great for colour.  Red or orange Heleniums could also work, ‘Morheim Beauty’ or ‘Rubinzwerg’ would give great impact if planted en masse at key points in the garden…..and the list goes on…….What do you think?
Read more

Complimentary Garden Design Consultation

0 Written by Lisa on 1st Aug 2010 in Uncategorized

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Why not take the first steps towards transforming your garden by booking a complimentary Garden Design Consultation with me. Read more

Lisa Cox Welcome

I specialise in helping families to turn their gardens into an extension of their home and into a space that can be used and enjoyed all year round.

read more >

Sign up to the Newsletter
Thank you for signing up.
Let me create the Right Garden For you click here >
Find me elsewhere
Twitter
Website

Websites by Flourish, Guildford, Surrey