greencube garden and landscape design, UK

Exciting Garden to be built in Collier Street, Kent

2012-01-21T16:49:00.003Z

I have just completed a design for a lovely couple moving into a refurbished cottage in Collier Street. I have teamed up with Nik at Langdale Landscapes who will be completing the construction. This design includes large sculptural steel balls, a reflective pool, a stainless steel water wall, a cool pod (garden room) at the end of the garden, a log wall, some wonderful built in seating with storage and a very contemporary layout and design. Looking forward to working with Nik on this one.

Fireplace, Granite paving and deck boards

2012-01-21T16:42:00.001Z

I've been out on site visits all week, delivering 4 designs, going out to tender on another job and checking progress on our Tunbridge Wells Job which is coming along nicely, the granite paving looks great, the fireplace has been built and is almost ready for its strip light gas fire, the cantilevered seat is on order and the deck boards are down. Creative Landscapes are doing a great job. Looking forward to seeing this job complete, greencube are planting this garden in the spring.

Capping on wall

2012-01-21T16:36:00.000Z

Paul at Rock Unique did a superb job on the capping on the curvy wall. Templated and cut accurately. Clayton returned to lay the capping and now we need to prepare for the lawn, drive and kitchen garden.

What's looking good in greencube's garden in January

2012-01-09T16:04:00.001Z

Following a well earned break over the Christmas and new Year we are back to work and have seen an influx of new enquiries, January normally a quiet month, a time to tidy, straighten, complete and reflect on the previous years work and commissions. Not for greencube, I have already booked 4 new clients into our diary.

I had time to do a few jobs around my own garden at the weekend which included tidying my espalier fig, now that it is bare of leaves and I can actually see the frame and what I'm doing. I also cut down my asparagus in readiness for the new asparagus season in May/June.

Here's whats looking good in January:

Hamamelis x intermedia 'Barmstedt Gold'

Iris reticulata 'Harmony'

Galanthus sp.

Helleborus 'Harvington Speckled White'

Greencube features in Review of the Year 2011 - Garden Design Journal

2011-12-21T14:08:00.003Z

Greencube features in Review of the Year, best designs for 2011 in the Garden Design Journal, our third consecutive year.

Our wonderful garden in Chislehurst featured in Review of the year, highlighted for planting design in combination with cor-ten steel panels. A dominant mix of predominantly orange and purple flowering plants.

www.greencubelandscapes.co.uk/portfolio/portfoliochislehurst.html

This garden was completed back in Spring 2011 with the unpredictable hot dry spring, the plants perhaps did not get the best start. I have since been back this summer to photograph the garden and in the Autumn to plant bulbs. I will return to photograph in the Spring 2012 by which time the plants will be establishing nicely, knitting together and we are expecting a wonderful display of Tulips and Alliums to add to our great collection of perennials and ornamental grasses.

Portrait and Figurative Sculptor - Jane Robbins

2011-12-18T15:03:00.001Z

I have recently been introduced to a very talented sculptor - Jane Robbins and I'm particularly interested in her 'chrystalclear' resin work, something new, innovative and unique.

Jane is creating some amazing figurative angel sculptures and I'm hoping to design a dark reflective pool uplit at night with one of her creations.

www.janerobbins.com

See photos below, some of Jane's work. (all photos copyright - Jane Robbins)

Angel resin sculptures featured below:
clear colour Angel wringing out her hair
pink colour Angel leaning on her hands

I'm hoping the sculpture can be placed on an unobtrusive mount so that she appears to float on the dark water.

We have been asked by Steve Clark of Chilstone Stone to design a show garden at their headquarters in Tunbridge Wells and so hopefully we can include Jane's work into our design also. I'm putting the final elements together ready to present in the new year.

www.chilstone.com

Great Progress by Landscapers at our Tunbridge Wells Job

2011-12-11T14:48:00.001Z

I popped in to see progress on construction of a large garden in Tunbridge Wells this week and boy are the landscape contractors (Creative) making good progress. I met Colin for a walk round site and cannot believe how much they have progressed in 2 weeks, site cleared, walls partially built, type 1 going down ready for paving, decking being laid, cabling and irrigation going in.

I'm very excited about this garden, it has a wonderful curvy flow, with subtle divisions of space and some very high specification detailing including a cantilevered seat, an outdoor fire place and a very modern bold planting scheme. We will be planting this garden this Spring and look forward to seeing the end result.

Material Choice

2011-12-11T14:30:00.001Z

Material choice on our new wall is working really well, oak retaining wall meets the paddlestone curvy wall and is going to have a crisp smooth sandstone top acting as a capping, keeping the weather out, detailed to bring a modern touch to what could look rather rustic.

Gorgeous natural colours mainly by the ore content in the stone, it works well with the oak, which will mellow to a silvery grey. The colours are enriched when wet and takes on a whole new look.

Looking forward to seeing it completed with lawn and planted border by Spring of next year.

Winter has arrived, inspired winter colours in the garden

2011-12-02T17:14:00.001Z

Who said gardens were dull in Winter? I have been looking through my collection of photos and found some amazing coloured stems of Cornus, Salix and White stemmed bramble - Rubus.

These photos were taken at:
Broadview Gardens Kent
Hillier Gardens Hampshire
Knoll Gardens Dorset

Its good to visit other gardens, keeps you fresh, always looking and always learning. The Cornus looks like a raging fire and when the soft winter sun appears and lifts the colour they look great.

We have planted lots of Cornus this year in our clients gardens, always in drifts for wonderful impact.

Cornus 'Midwinter fire' with Salix 'Yelverton' in background

Cornus 'Kesselringii' and Cornus 'Flaviramea' in background

Rubus stems look like they have been dusted with icing sugar

Pennisetum and Miscanthus Grass

Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and Euphorbia wulfennii

Clematis seedhead catching the light

Garden Design

2011-11-24T17:22:00.001Z

Here's an example of a relatively small town garden designed this month for a retired couple. Materials include yellow stock brick and creamy sandstone riven paving, more traditional in style to fit with our clients Victorian terrace which has been coated with creamy coloured textural render.
Here I'm using hand drawn plans alongside perspectives built in sketchup to demonstrate level changes and to bring the plan to life. Our clients and landscapers love these perspective mock ups as they allow them to visualise the schemes virtually, making it easier for all to understand our 'vision'.

Last Planting Job before Winter

2011-11-23T15:00:00.001Z

The weather has been kind in the last 4 weeks and so we have managed to book our final planting job for next week in a small garden in Catford, London.
Will be a showstopper next year with a wonderful flowering season from January right through to November.

January - Hellebores
February - Hellebores
March Narcissi
March/April - Clematis armandii
April/May - Dicentra and Tulips
May/June - Alliums
Early Summer - Geranium, Hemerocallis, Rosa, Schizophragma, Helleniums, Choisya
Late Summer into Autumn - Rudbeckia, Hydrangeas, Helleniums, Rosa
Autumn Colour - Nandina and Acers
Structure - Buxus, Nandina and Choisya, Miscanthus
Height - Acers
Fillers - Geranium, Hachonecloa

greencube - Busy, busy, busy

2011-11-20T15:16:00.001Z

What have we been upto in the last couple of weeks:

We have been busy with new enquiries in Chislehurst, Leybourne, Collier Street, Sevenoaks, Green Street Green and West Wickham. We may be in an economic crisis and you would expect luxury services like Garden Design to be hit hard, but we have had the opposite effect, our best year to date and an increase of enquiries up by 35.7 % from last year.

I designed some cantilevered oak steps to provide better circulation in a garden with oak retaining walls, Clayton from Quest Landscapes did a great job on the construction. The paddlestones have now arrived and ready for the the curvy wall, very exciting.

We put the Brentwood garden to bed for the winter. Looks stunning with its crisp yew hedges contrasting with the wispy textural grasses - Miscanthus, Stipa and Calamagrostis. All the perennials have been cut back leaving the backbone structure for the winter, its such a contrast from the summer colourful display. We were also on hand with the second phase of this garden, we will return in the spring to complete the planting.

We have planted phase 1 of a garden in Shenfield Essex, good job by Team Greencube - Alick and Abbie, great team work all raised planters and border planted in a day.

We have planted 3000 bulbs in 3 gardens in Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks and Chislehurst. Should be a great display next spring.

We have completed designs in Sevenoaks, Leigh, Tunbridge Wells x 2, Planting design for a small garden in Catford and Bexley in the last couple of weeks. It really has been full on.

We are working with Colin at Creative Landscapes on a garden in Tunbridge wells that we designed back in the summer, work starts in a couple of weeks and I'm very much looking forward to seeing this completed and working with Creative Landscapes on such a high spec. garden.

I'm having a well earned break week commencing 28th - need to recharge.

Quartz paddlestones

2011-10-30T11:25:00.000Z

greencube are loving the quartz paddlestones from CED (stone suppliers) , we have used them as a cobbled paving at Hampton Court Flower show back in July 2010, we have seen them in gabions at RHS Hyde Hall and greencube have now specified them to create a retaining wall on two interlocking large curves, very exciting, very organic and a new use of material!

It looks like a modern dry stone wall, very linear in pattern, its tied into a concrete block wall. I'm looking forward to seeing this project completed. It's also great micro habitat, lots of little holes and cracks for beetles, solitary bees and hibernating insects.

Greencube garden at Hampton Court 2010, using Quartz paddlestones

Paddlestones in gabions at RHS Hyde Hall

plants, bulb planting and plant moodboard

2011-10-30T11:09:00.000Z

Another busy week which started with a delivery of 360 plants to set out ready for the landscapers to plant in a garden in Sevenoaks.

800 bulbs planted in the rain in a garden in Chislehurst that greencube designed last year, there will be a fantastic show next spring, looking forward to returning to see the display and take some more photos.

We have also returned to a garden in Shenfield which Greencube designed back in the spring which is near to completion and put the proposal of planting ideas together. We are going to plant this garden in November. Three very large planters creating division and zones, each of which are 4 metres plus in length, we have used Brazilian slate and Millboard Decking, a huge contrast from its original layout (tiny terrace and slope to boundary fence) and a great social space, utilising the topography to its maximum advantage. I will return next summer to get some photos for the website as it will look great when the plants have settled in and in full flower.

I also visited a new client in Otford with a very interesting brief and an exciting project for a small garden attached to a 300 year old cottage.

I organised a van load of plants to a garden in Poole in Dorset, together with complete instructions, planting plan, plant moodboard and on the end of the telephone if any queries, it all went well and client has promised to send photos next spring and summer.

Here's the moodboard of plant ideas for our Shenfield garden, we always put these together for our clients, they then understand the colours, textures and shapes that we are proposing. It helps them with identification also (once garden planted) which is great, knowledge is a wonderful thing!

Planting Bulbs for Spring Colour

2011-10-15T16:23:00.002+01:00

I have been very busy this week finishing a design for a garden in Sevenoaks, I started a front garden design in Oxted, a survey in Tunbridge Wells as well as planting a garden in Sevenoaks (thankfully I had two helpers for the planting job and they both did a brilliant job) and so today has been a day of pottering in my own garden, plenty of cups of tea and recharging before next weeks work. Including cleaning my greenhouse, recycling 1000's of empty pots to a local nursery who welcomes them with open arms and harvesting the last of my courgettes and chillies.

I have just placed an order for bulbs, 3000 of them in total to be planted out over the next couple of weeks in four of the new gardens built this year. I have chosen a miniature daffodil Tete-aTete, some Alliums (Varities) Sensation and Nigrum), Tulipa Ballerina, Tulipa Lilac Time.

Rudbeckia plant trials

2011-10-15T11:02:00.000+01:00

I have been carrying out a spot of plant trials in my own garden. Trialling the more common and readily available Rudbeckia fulgida var. 'Goldsturm' with the less popular not so common Rudbeckia fulgida deamii.

Deamii wins !!!

I planted them in the same border, next to each other, therefore same aspect, soil and water availability

Goldsturm finished flowering 2 weeks ago, deamii still flowering and looking great, I also prefer the leaf on deamii. I know which Rudbeckia I'll be opting for in my next clients garden!

Autumn Colour at Sheffield Park

2011-10-09T09:01:00.000+01:00

The pictures speak for themselves, images taken at National Trust, Sheffield Park last year at the end of October, keep an eye on the weather and if you feel inspired go check out the wonderful spectrum of Acer palmatum's, Parrotia persica and Euonymus alatus providing a wonderful Autumnal display.

A 265 acre parkland originally set out by Capability Brown, views and vistas galore, very special and inspiring!

Some of these photos have been printed and are decorating our walls at home, the light was good and colours were amazing. Mike is using a Canon 50D with 100-400mm (with image stabiliser) lens and I have his off casts!!! Canon 20D with 24-85mm lens.

Difficult Sloping Gardens

2011-10-05T12:23:00.000+01:00

We seem incredibly busy designing gardens on difficult slopes at the moment, for example we have just delivered a design for a garden with an 8 metre climb in Sevenoaks and another garden in Leigh with a 3 metre climb. Both of these gardens currently are swallowed up by the steep bank and the feeling of the home being engulfed by the hillside, currently quite oppressive!

Always interested in textures, contrast and materials that work with its surroundings are all high on the agenda, I have recommended light reflective walls and paving to ensure the space feels lighter and brighter. Gabions have been favoured in the Sevenoaks Garden with a deck that sits midway breaking up the steep climb, although our choice of stone filling has yet to be made. Sets of steps and landings with viewpoints and places to sit and rest have also been included. Glass ballustrades to keep the views open are included.

Greencube embraces these difficult gardens as we find them challenging and interesting to work on and on a personal level I really like gardens that are on different levels, changing the topography (cutting and filling) with interlocking terraces all with bold planting always look fab! We are working with 7Oaks Landscapes on this one and look forward to seeing it built.

Getting a Garden ready for a Wedding in Hadlow and Moongate garden in Brentwood moves to its second phase

2011-09-29T08:41:00.001+01:00

We've had a very busy week, we are currently preparing a garden for a Wedding in Hadlow and lifted at least 100 day lilies out of the borders and prepared the borders ready for planting next week. Very exciting, a new challenge to put a palette of plants together that look good in October....... as well as the rest of the year!!!

I have also been working on the second phase of the MoonGate garden in Brentwood and met with the team to handover the design, it will be good to see this one completed.

Phase 1 completed back in 2008

3D model of phase 2

We are also going out to tender on a very exciting job in Neville Park, Tunbridge Wells, I'm looking forward to seeing this one built. The garden contains an outdoor fireplace with strip fire light, oak seating, oak detailing, oak arches, smooth creamy stone and resin bound gravel all laid out in interlocking zones.

Aster × frikartii ‘Mönch’

2011-09-24T11:13:00.000+01:00

I am suppose to be working this morning but could not resist a little photography in my garden. Aster × frikartii ‘Mönch’ is looking amazing and will continue until the first frosts. Greencube have also planted this in a front garden in Oxted, Surrey this year and I'm hoping my clients are enjoying it as much as I am this morning. One of my lecturers at Hadlow College, Brian, always raved about this plant and I understand why having watched it develop in my own garden over the last couple of years.

I have planted it at the foot of a bold swathe of Miscanthus, which is equally as gorgeous.

Practical storage solutions in our gardens in Tunbridge Wells and Folkestone

2011-09-22T17:49:00.000+01:00

Storage in a garden is a common requirement but often forgotten or positioned too far away for practical use. Greencube have installed solutions in 2 of our gardens this year without the need for an ugly shed. The built in seating has doubled up as a great practical storage solution so that the cushions, hand tools and firewood for the brazier are readily available.

Review of the Year 2011 - Corten steel Garden

2011-09-18T17:35:00.000+01:00

I have entered one of my favourite gardens constructed this year for the Society of Garden Designers 'Review of the Year'. If we are lucky we will feature in the Journal which we have managed to achieve 2 years in a row, so fingers crossed, its one of my favourites for the sheer vibrancy of perennial colours with ornamental grasses mixed with industrial rusting corten steel screens, bands, rill and brazier. My clients allowed me total flexibility to come up with a eye catching scheme. The garden has knitted together quite well in its first season and looks amazing at night.

Whats looking good in my garden in September

2011-09-17T13:36:00.000+01:00

On my 'improved' sandy soil which has been bulked up with manure and mushroom compost, I have planted Anthemis 'E.C Buxton' which has flowered its socks off all summer and is still looking great in September.

I also planted erigeron karvinskianus as a front of border gap filler which has done equally well and still looks great in September.

Extending the flowering period into Autumn

2011-09-17T13:06:00.000+01:00

We have planted Schizostylis 'Major' in two of our gardens this year, extending the flowering period into October. A Kaffir Lily with upright habit and slender green leaves.

Follow links to our website a contemporary garden in Sevenoaks and a Wildlife friendly garden in Folkestone, both are planted with Miscanthus to great effect.

Petite, Bijou & Stylish

2011-09-10T15:53:00.000+01:00

I have taken time out this week to photograph a couple of gardens that I designed last year, teaming up with Outdoor Creations SW London, a garden design is only as good as the landscapers delivery, Wow they've done an amazing job. Both gardens are in Twickenham. Modern courtyard with ipe decking, rendered planter, cantilevered bench and cosy rattan furniture. Lighting extends the gardens use into the evening.

and the second garden

What's being built this Autumn

2011-09-07T14:57:00.000+01:00

A neat little front garden in Sevenoaks, dealing with a slope running from left boundary to right, tricky little space but the wall encloses the higher ground allowing turning and two cars to fit nicely. Looking forward to seeing this built.

One very good reason for growing Verbena bonariensis

2011-09-04T16:18:00.000+01:00

This weekend we have been visited on three occasions by a Hummingbird Hawk Moth, a great treat, a migrant moth, that hovers over the Verbena flowers dipping its proboscis into the delicate flowers of the Verbena. Thanks to Mike for the close up shots.

Looking good in September - Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan'

2011-09-02T12:56:00.000+01:00

Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan' planted with Buxus cubes with Bird bath from sculptor Ian Gill

Echinacea purpurea from Heidi's nursery

Fluffy textural Salvia argentea

2011-09-02T12:39:00.000+01:00

The Salvia argentea is doing incredibly well in my sandy free draining soil, good front of border plant with an unusual texture.

Whats looking good in September in my own garden

2011-09-02T12:36:00.000+01:00

Extending the flowering to Autumn, the Rudbeckia Goldsturm and Geranium 'Johnsons Blue' are looking great! Nice combination, Rudbeckia's make n=me smile, they are full of SUNSHINE

at last my own garden ......Steel edging, new lawn and planting commences

2011-09-02T12:32:00.000+01:00

As a garden designer it's tough making decisions about how to lay out my own garden, all week I'm creating gardens for others but to knuckle down and make decisions for my 1/2 acre plot which has been neglected for 6 years whilst getting the house fully refurbished as well as working 6 days a week has been difficult.

I have trialled many plants in the garden over the last 6 years and have decided to choose a majority of drought tolerant plants for my sandy soil but have improved the soil for the borders with a very generous layer of mushroom compost and Alpaca poo straight from the field behind us, which has improved the retention of water, thus reducing the watering during the summer months. We have now set out to landscape the 3 gardens with a phased approach. Garden 1, phase 1 a large triangle with some established Birch, Laurel and a Pine tree, mostly sunny aspect with shady border to boundary.

A little help from a digger and driver, a load of help and hard work from my husband, some 30 x 3 metre tall Laurels imported from France to screen the far boundary have been planted. My favourite metal fabricators T & S have made some very sturdy edging to the lawns. This phase has been relatively easy, no real hard landscaping apart from the edge to drive which has been cut to a new shape and a grey sandstone block laid. Mike installed the edging beautifully and the topsoil was smoothed to perfection.

Digger starts clearance, leveling and moving the large Laurels into place

Hard work has started and most weekends given up to get our garden looking great!

Structural cubes of Buxus with Clamagrostis Grasses, create the skeletal framework of the border

Soil leveled ready for turfing

Lawn laid, now need to complete planting and add sculptural pots that will be placed in the inlets

planting includes Verbena, Anthemis EC Buxton, Achillea, Rudbeckia, Salvia argentea,
Aster Munch, Diascia 'Daydream', Eremerus 'Cleopatra', Salvia Caradonna, Gaura lindmeiri

Skanor and Falsterbo

2011-08-30T17:08:00.000+01:00

Greencube office has been incredibly busy throughout the spring and summer and so a break to Sweden to freshen the mind, relax and revitalise was on the 'TO DO' list. To be successfully creative in my role as a garden designer I'm best when relaxed and organised without too many constraints and pressures.

Our chosen location of Skanor and Falsterbo which can be reached from Copenhagen airport a short journey on the train across the water from Denmark into Malmo (Sweden) and short bus journey to our chosen boutique hotel/cafe. Wonderful scenery, peaceful, fresh and slow paced...... Bikes were hired for the duration to discover the numerous network of paths and off we went to learn about this wonderful coastal peninsula at the southern tip of Sweden where the birds flock on their migratory paths. Inspiring landscapes, wind swept and coastal. I particularly enjoyed photographing the numerous beech huts amongst Rosa rugosa or Marram grass.

Now back in the office feeling refreshed, inspired and revitalised and ready for the next design project.

Dungeness - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

2011-08-12T14:53:00.000+01:00

Keeping myself occupied whilst my husband was bird watching at Dunge, i photographed a deserted wooden boat on the beach. The moody skies, the Sea Kale, the contrasting blues of sea and sky and pebbles all set the scene, 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', the power station is behind me;>)

Dixter in August - Ammi visnaga

2011-08-12T14:47:00.000+01:00

I have visited Dixter every Summer since 2003, normally in August and always enjoyed the vibrancy, colours, contrasting textures and new additions. On walking into the garden the blackboard noted Scabiosa as a great plant looking good at the moment, but I stumbled across a wonderful, graceful, elegant combination of Ammi visnaga with Verbena bonariensis, its a herb, a member of the carrot family and an umbellifer I have not noticed before. It's planted as an annual and can be sown in spring or autumn. I shall definitely treat myself to a packet of seeds on my next order and give it a try in my sandy soil.

Folkestone Wildlife Friendly Garden

2011-07-17T12:06:00.000+01:00

Folkestone Garden completed July 2011, lovely little courtyard space within a new housing development, Garden includes plants selected to attract Birds, bees, butterflies and a lovely storage area within a hatch in the curvy seat, beats having an ugly shed!

Oxted Garden - Great planting Combination

2011-07-17T11:22:00.000+01:00

This front garden designed and planted this year is really starting to look great

Allium Globemaster with Sanguisorba menziesii

Tunbridge WElls Garden Almost Complete

2011-07-17T11:02:00.000+01:00

I have been working on this garden since January 2010 initially with design and have just completed the planting which was broken down into 4 phases, Orchard back in February 2011, followed by a 3 phase approach from April to June on the many borders. We will return in the Autumn to plant 1000's of bulbs. A big thank you to all my helpers with the planting, including Alick, Susan, Sue, Ernie and Abbie

Firepit Zone

Yorkstone Retaining walls capped with sandstone

Division of space

Less formal steps down to meadow and orchard with Erigeron and Osteospernum

Anthemis in the prairie planting with clipped Hornbeam adding structure

Functional lighting within the wall

Salvia and Achillea in the prairie border

Functional seating around firepit

But my favourite is most definitely the Telegraph Garden

2011-05-30T22:29:00.000+01:00

Designed by Cleve West, a magical space with walls retaining at seat level, so wherever you walk you can pause, sit and enjoy, I managed to gain access to Cleve's garden and even had a brief chat with him. I loved it even more once in the space. The star plant at the show for me is most certainly Dianthus cruentus, with its crimson flowers which looked wonderful in amongst the cotswold stone, with its elegant stems and deep red flower. The statuesque columns, the wonderful dry stone walls and planting that had space, looked natural and certainly did not look like it was only planted a week ago!!!! The play with water with the water pipes and channel through the garden with stone stepping stones, all beautifully executed and inspirational.

Chelsea Flower Show 2011 Homebase

2011-05-30T22:15:00.000+01:00

Designed by Tom Hoblyn, I really liked the play with water, the rills crossed and curved before spilling into the main swimming pool.

Chelsea Flower Show 2011 Cancer Research UK

2011-05-30T22:10:00.000+01:00

Designed by Robert Myers, I was lucky enough to gain access onto this garden on Saturday afternoon to have a real look round and enjoy the space. How lucky... I was hoping to find Emma who works for Robert and who I studied with at Greenwich University during our final 'master planning' year. I particularly liked the linear reflective pools in amongst the gravel and stones.

Chelsea Flower Show 2011 Laurent Perrier

2011-05-30T21:46:00.000+01:00

Designed by Luciano Guibellei, The planting included crown lifted multi stemmed Parrotia Persica trees, which created a wonderful structure and cohesive flow throughout the garden, the planting included a frothy mix of Verbascums, Salvia, Iris, Deschampsia and Fennel which contrasted well with the structural trees

Chelsea Flower Show 2011 Principality of Monaco

2011-05-30T21:35:00.000+01:00

Designed by Sarah Eberle, a Wonderful, bright and inviting garden, the weather on saturday was grey but the garden was tantalisingly seductive. I loved the green wall, the lavender roof, the sustainable eucalyptus deck, the simplicity in the lines, the selection of plants, the view from the publics perspective, through the glass and into the inviting pool.

Chelsea Flower Show 2011

2011-05-30T21:16:00.000+01:00

I spent the day on Saturday at the Chelsea Flower Show, primarily to assist on the stand as a Volunteer for the Society of Garden Designers, offering free consultations and talking to the public to promote the society and explain how it works and what it is. A great day with like minded people passionate about good design and gardens. Here's the stand:

In my breaks I rushed around at 100 mph trying to photograph some of the gardens, I didn't manage to see them all but here's my highlights.

Twickenham courtyard garden

2011-05-30T16:50:00.000+01:00

Our second Twickenham garden seems to be going well, landscapers OUtdoor Creations SW London are making great progress almost ready for the second lot of plants.

Faced with an existing garden wall and a large rattan sofa, I chose a wall mounted water feature to save on space and utilise the wall. Pretty pleased, they are doing a grand job!

Looking forward to seeing this one completed.

Planting at Tunbridge WElls with Garden Design almost graduates!

2011-05-04T12:57:00.000+01:00

I had a great team of planting helpers last week at the garden in Tunbridge Wells, we almost completed the first phase in 1 day, well done to everyone a great days work in the sunshine!

Cor-ten steel rusting nicely, eremurus flowering already!!!

2011-05-04T12:51:00.000+01:00

I visited Chislehurst garden this week, the owners are doing a grand job of watering during this very dry spring, we planted this garden about 6 weeks ago. This weather is mad, I have fully grown figs, tomatoes already in the greenhouse and the alliums and irises are a month early, how will they cope at Chelsea flower show this year!

Nature

2011-04-13T15:39:00.000+01:00

Sometimes there's a magical moment when nature plays it trump card, the view from our kitchen over the farm on Monday evening after a raincloud dispersed its contents and the sun returned with a subtle golden light on the new fresh birch and hawthorn leaves, magical......

Back to Hadlow College

2011-03-30T08:52:00.000+01:00

I was invited by lecturer Brian Hawtin to visit college last Friday, the year 2 garden design students have been set the task, as part of their construction and planting unit to build our winning show garden in the grounds of Broadview gardens for the public and college to view, how exciting!

I must say they have given it a prime position and the students all seem incredibly keen. We discussed the site, its aspect and the larger plot over and above the 5 x 7 metres at Hampton Court which will enable us to extend the garden out to the linking paths.

I talked to two of the students who are working up the extended planting palette and we agreed on Espalier Apples on tension wires, Cobnuts and a Mulberry tree with big bold swathes of ornamental grasses with Heleniums, Rudbeckia, Achilleas, lots of bulbs, more apple stepovers and obviously keeping within the spectrum of the red orange and yellow. The college are also taking the trouble to position our prized and precious Lemon tree positioning it in the garden during warmer months and replacing it with a pear tree during colder months. I shall report on progress, be good to see it all back together, If Alex (head gardener) catches me weeding it on a sunday afternoon that would be funny!!!!!

Greencube features in a new book published in the Netherlands called Tuinideeën.

2011-03-10T12:57:00.000Z

Photographer and garden writer Modeste Herwig has published a new garden book titled Tuinideeën which translates to 'Garden Ideas'.

Working with the landscapers at Chislehurst

2011-02-27T15:53:00.000Z

The Chislehurst garden is almost complete and ready for us to plant, the landscapers Steve and Matt were installing the cor-ten steel panels within the borders and have only the turf to lay, I'm very excited about this project and cannot wait to plant in a few weeks time. The rusting process is developing nicely.

Garden in Twickenham

2011-02-27T15:42:00.000Z

A newly constructed garden in Twickenham is almost ready for the website, I'll return in late spring when the grasses are growing and looking a little fuller, the bamboos have taken well in the raised and irrigated planter, we need to set the scene with scatter cushions, garden furniture and some tea lights in the alcoves. Night shots are essential for this tiny courtyard space.

Tunbridge Wells - Organic Stone wall

2011-02-19T17:09:00.000Z

We are currently working on a large garden in Tunbridge Wells with 4 large terraces that include a meadow and orchard at the bottom, a deck that appears to float off the second terrace and some wonderful organic york stone walls that have been beautifully constructed by the landscapers. We planted 23 fruit trees in the orchard this week, Apples, cookers and eating, Plums, Cherries, Pears and a Quince. Tough work in the heavy wet soil.

So what plants look great against my industrial rusting steel

2011-02-19T16:17:00.000Z

Vibrant oranges and purples at the opposite end of the colour wheel

Laser cut steel backlit will be pretty cool....

2011-02-19T16:05:00.001Z

The weathering process on the cor-ten has started to take place and will be looking great by summer, the steel guys have been watering the steel, it goes against the grain slightly, steel fabricators wanting the steel to go rusty!! Here's the house name. I'm looking forward to seeing this in situ.

Cor-ten steel

2011-02-19T16:01:00.000Z

The steel guys that helped at Hampton Court last year are now doing some more work for Greencube, a very exciting garden in Kent which has elements of rusting cor-ten steel throughout including a rill with a stainless steel inner, a bonfire basket and bands of sculptural cor ten running through the borders, They are being delivered on MOnday and I'm really excited!!! Here's photos taken at the fabricators... Tim and the team, you've done a marvellous job!

Heart and soul

2010-07-09T23:19:00.000+01:00

Fantastic Result

2010-07-09T23:15:00.000+01:00

Gold Medal and Best In Small Garden 2010

2010-07-09T23:11:00.000+01:00

Great result

almost there!

2010-07-03T07:44:00.000+01:00

chillies doing well

2010-07-03T07:42:00.000+01:00

last of the planting

2010-07-03T07:38:00.000+01:00

Day 13 almost there, last push

2010-07-03T07:34:00.000+01:00

Alex - check out - I can see more red strawberries

The vine looks great against the window

2010-07-01T21:02:00.000+01:00

Water rills were switched on today

2010-07-01T20:57:00.000+01:00

I did not capture a photo of the water running but it looked amazing!

Plants are settling down well

2010-07-01T20:54:00.000+01:00

Our visitor

2010-07-01T20:51:00.000+01:00

It was good to see Helen today who helped out and gave us all a boost....

Day 12 - strawberry rill in table

2010-07-01T20:45:00.000+01:00

Lettuce doing well

2010-07-01T20:43:00.000+01:00

Day 12 - This will please Alex and Pat

2010-07-01T20:40:00.000+01:00

Our first red strawberry, yip yip ..... on the table rill

Hair and hats are the thing

2010-07-01T20:37:00.000+01:00

Neil steals Jims hat!!!!! and Adele sporting new hair accessories..... day lily

Day 12 Sunflowers

2010-07-01T20:32:00.000+01:00

Home grown sunflowers appear in the garden, they look great up against the white wall

Keeping cool in the sunshine

2010-07-01T20:29:00.000+01:00

Day 10 planting again

2010-07-01T20:25:00.000+01:00

It's like a pack of opal fruits, the lemon tree is framed beautifully....

Day 10 - Construction - Cantilevered table

2010-07-01T20:22:00.000+01:00

All the team hard at work! Oak is fitted and lightly sanded...

Day 10 - Planting

2010-07-01T20:19:00.000+01:00

Planting lettuce, I grew this batch of lettuce in my new greenhouse, it looks great. featuring Adele with her new 'flicky timotei hair cut'!

Day 8 - Plants move to showground

2010-06-28T22:25:00.000+01:00

Oh how I got myself worked up over the lemon today, we eventually got it into place at about 3pm and it still has at least 25 lemons attached, quite a miracle, they are so ripe, I thought the tree would be be bare of fruit....

It's all looking great, the first window is in position and frames the lemon wonderfully. It's always great when the plants arrive, the heat is a problem, but we will cope.

The Herb, chilli and tomato wall is slotted into space and the all the pipework and pump is installed for the rills and reflective pool.

Day 7 - Packing up 17 danish trollies

2010-06-27T19:44:00.000+01:00

Very hot day today, Adele and Alex met me at the nursery and we packed all the plants onto the danish trollies ready to be delivered tomorrow.

Should be an exciting day, just hope our wonderful lemon holds onto its lemons, we are tying them on with stockings for the journey. Thanks to Palmstead for helping us with our deliveries.

Should see the strawberry rills and table in tomorrow and windows fixed, all exciting stuff......

Day 6 - Nursery Visits

2010-06-27T19:34:00.000+01:00

I chased around for more Crocosmia and Geums today, Wyevale East, Rumwoods, Potted Garden, Bijou etc etc, got a few bits all worth the time and effort, meantime, Brian, Grant and Neil worked on construction. All good team work!

Day 5 - painting the steel

2010-06-27T19:31:00.000+01:00

Just painting over the red oxide makes such a difference to the whole look of the garden

Day 5 - Epoxy resin now complete

2010-06-27T19:28:00.000+01:00

All the paving now sorted, it looks great, Neil hard at work

stake in the ground!

2010-06-24T21:50:00.000+01:00

I'm not beating Sue over the head with the hammer!!! Why has Brian got the hard hat on?

Next........

Good photo Neil :>)

Construction Day 4 - Rills in, walls up

2010-06-24T21:39:00.000+01:00

Construction Day 4 - lemons

2010-06-24T21:31:00.000+01:00

I just hope the lemons stay on during the 50 mile journey to Hampton Court

Day 4 of Construction part ii

2010-06-24T21:26:00.000+01:00

The windows of change look amazing, they have been planted up and the strawberries are settling in nicely - 10 days to ripen

Day 4 of Construction

2010-06-24T21:20:00.000+01:00

I split my time today between plants and construction. The first thing I noticed this morning were the showy sunflowers looking great, hold onto your petals your a little early!!!! ;>)

Day 3 - Footings for wall and screed for table

2010-06-24T07:25:00.000+01:00

All progressing well, we did alot more planning today whilst waiting for our deliveries... tried out the table base and steel, the rill. Adele and Sue mixing the screed, Brian thinking.... and Grant setting levels

Strawberries getting some heat and sunshine at last,

2010-06-22T21:08:00.000+01:00

Lets hope the strawberries do their thing, I'll check progress on Thursday.

Textural Quality - Day 2

2010-06-22T20:58:00.000+01:00

I'm really pleased with the paving, we completed all the bridging stones and sealed the final pieces.

It looks great. The red oxide will not be on show, just a way of prefabricating the paving, saving us 3 days on construction at the show. The lemon tree will go in the far corner.

The reflective pool is almost in position, all dug out and levelled.

Tomorrow is boundary wall day!

Day 2 of Construction

2010-06-22T20:55:00.000+01:00

All paved trays arrive safely, hiab installation, core deck and sand screed, looks great although not really seated yet, pre-fabricated walls to be installed tomorrow.

Day 1 of Construction

2010-06-21T19:07:00.000+01:00

Not a lot happens on day 1, we set out the levels and dug out for the pool all in readiness for tomorrows great crescendo of deliveries........ I'm still suffering with nervous energy, are the strawberries going to be ripe, will the water flow correctly down through the rills, will the tomatoes and chillies look good... will the seats work with our wonderful paving, or wobble. Featuring Brian, Susan, Grant and Alick.

We have peaches on our peach trees

2010-06-10T10:18:00.000+01:00

Myself and Brian potted on the peach trees yesterday, they seem very content and are looking peachy.. One of the trees has a huge amount of fruit and will be one of the star players in the garden

Strawberries are doing amazingly well

2010-06-10T10:14:00.000+01:00

Considering the strawberries arrived as frozen seedlings from the suppliers only 4 weeks ago they are now putting on some good growth and Pat is doing a grand job looking after them..... There are plenty of flowers and some very small fruits, just need to keep the blackbirds out from the tunnels entrance point...

Our chilli,pepper,tomato and herb wall

2010-06-10T10:09:00.000+01:00

It's been over a month since the food wall was planted up and I checked on its progress yesterday, all filling out, flowers on the tomatoes but no sign of chillies or peppers yet.... all the herbs are doing really well and seem to be thriving in their upright position.

Paving almost complete

2010-06-10T10:04:00.000+01:00

We did a long day yesterday laying the paving into our steel trays ready for the show, it's looking great and as you can see from the photo looks good from both directions, which is a bonus as the garden is viewed from both sides. If we had constructed this element on site at the show it would have eaten into at least 3 of our precious construction days and so hopefully this will give us a little head start...... Although each tray weighs approx 3/4 of a tonne and so will require some expert manouvering before they are bolted together...

Sunflowers Bursting out of the greenhouse

2010-06-09T07:52:00.000+01:00

I grew a load of sunflowers from seed for the show Prado Red and Harlequin. They are all doing well, but I need a bigger greenhouse!!! I'm off to Hadlow for the day to help some more with paving and check out all the plants in the nursery.

Quartz Paddlestones

2010-06-06T15:25:00.000+01:00

Paving construction

2010-06-06T15:21:00.000+01:00

Adele and Sue hard at work laying the paving in our steel trays, these will be bolted together at the show. I hope it all works out alright, certainly looks a good linear pattern and has loads of texture and colours....I shall buy one chair next week and test it doesn't wobble on our cobbled paving ;>)

Chelsea Press Day

2010-05-25T09:24:00.000+01:00

Wow what a day, all gardens now judged and everyone in a more relaxed mood.

I love Andy Sturgeons garden, the Verbascums, the raised paths, the rusting corten steel, and Tom's cloud clipped box hedge, so sculptural. Another favourite is James Wongs Maylasia Garden, it transports you to paradise.

lemon tree

2010-05-13T21:00:00.000+01:00

Our focal point lemon tree looks fab. Also a part of team Hadlow is the wonderful Pat and Rocin, they are looking after all the plants, feeding them, bringing them on, repotting if necessary, they are doing a great job, it's helps having such great facilities, large greenhouse, polytunnels etc. I'm worried about the lemon tree transportation to the show, it currently has over 50 lemons on our tree, I might tie each one on before it travels to the show!!

Team Hadlow

2010-05-13T20:54:00.000+01:00

We had a press day today which went well, meeting local magazine, newspapers and BBC Kent radio. They were invited to the workshop, I took them through the design and the students talked about their construction work to date.