tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58799356255579700972024-03-14T01:43:17.360+00:00Gourmet GardeningGarden design, horticulture, and tales from the allotmentChristinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.comBlogger174125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-75865578564619612202023-03-09T13:11:00.001+00:002023-03-09T13:11:36.210+00:00Bougainvillea - swathes of colour in the BahamasOne of the small pleasures of travelling to warm countries is spotting houseplants growing in the wild. Palms, delicate succulents, coleus, Ficus, growing freely on roadsides and in gardens. And, distinctively and flamboyantly, bougainvillea - Bougainvillea, star of tropical and sub-tropical zones around the world, is everywhere you look on Long Island, Bahamas, for example: growing wild, orChristinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0Long Island, The Bahamas23.1764239 -75.0961549-5.1338099361788458 -110.2524049 51.486657736178842 -39.9399049tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-70680395646336877212023-02-21T17:41:00.001+00:002023-03-09T13:12:02.342+00:00Hugelkultur - composting in situI first read about hugelkultur at a serendipitously good time. I had just had to prune out damaged branches from both the plum and quince trees after a storm, and the wood was piling up next to the bonfire. Separately I was also trying to think of ways to irrigate the blueberries, housed in pots of ericaceous compost and sunk into the ground. At the same time, it was the start of the year and my Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5072178 -0.127586223.196983963821154 -35.2838362 79.817451636178845 35.0286638tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-24192854644582926162022-02-17T08:47:00.001+00:002022-06-15T15:23:19.208+01:00Hellebores - winter jewels in the gardenHelleborus argutifolius - Corsican helleboreHellebores are brightening up the garden right now, both in containers and under the Acer, where they mingle with the snowdrops and aconites to create a miniature woodland glade in my town garden.Helleborus 'HGC Mme Lemonnier'I love the rich jewel colours of H. 'HGC Mme Lemonnier', above (that gorgeous crushed-velvet red), and the dark midnight purple Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-28728197264626617742021-01-15T17:36:00.001+00:002021-02-07T15:43:51.197+00:00Extend the growing season with a hotbedOther people's gardens are always full of good ideas and inspiration, and few more so than Barnsdale, the garden of the late garden writer and presenter Geoff Hamilton. This 8-acre site is home to Hamilton's extensive kitchen garden and around 38 demo gardens or garden rooms. On my last visit I was particularly taken with the hotbeds in the kitchen garden.
I've been interested in hotbeds sinceChristinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-24250397066956743892020-12-23T21:40:00.002+00:002020-12-30T22:25:09.787+00:00Happy Christmas from The Urban Hedgerow A pretty challenging year all round in 2020 and also a busy one - my thanks go out to suppliers and contractors who kept going in restricted times, and to all my lovely clients who entrust me with their gardens. Wishing everyone a peaceful and happy Christmas and better times in 2021 -Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-9330246993889954252020-08-17T21:28:00.021+01:002020-12-30T22:24:53.078+00:00A front garden on a hillA hilly site brings its own challenges. This sloping front garden in Weybridge, Surrey, has three partially submerged retaining walls built with sleepers, with the above-ground rocks performing a more cosmetic job of keeping the soil in place.We planted mainly evergreen shrubs, forming neat domes, to create undulating waves of greenery from the house down to the street. Once established, their Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-83074127481505970772020-07-02T21:17:00.029+01:002020-12-30T22:24:36.293+00:00The versatile Pittosporum Golf BallGiving these Pittosporum tenuifolium Golf Balls a trim this morning, I reflected that while it's a pretty unassuming plant, it's also probably the first shrub on the team sheet for most of the planting schemes I design. It seems to do well in the London clay soil, and is happy in anything except deep shade. They're good mixers too: the bright-but-not-showy green leaves blend well with other Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-48998644326438557222020-06-14T20:21:00.099+01:002020-12-30T21:16:27.713+00:00Flowers for midsummer Midsummer flowers, from my own garden for once, revived by a bit of midweek rain -Lilium martagon 'Arabian Knight'. It has taken me a while to get these to establish and I would love to fill my borders with them. They like well-drained soil - this one has popped up in the sunny bed that never gets watered, even though I have always though of them as a plant that liked partial shade.Left: Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-70811778617334388352020-04-18T19:31:00.000+01:002020-04-18T21:06:33.565+01:00Creating an outdoor room in north London
When we first saw this small and rather hemmed-in courtyard in north London, it was immediately apparent that the space would be best served by using just a few well-chosen materials. The client was overseeing major interior decoration as well and wanted style of the new garden to flow effortlessly from the house.
The client wanted a garden to sit and relax in but also for Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-58609181687264478342020-04-17T18:26:00.008+01:002020-12-30T20:18:57.205+00:00Tulips and other spring flowers - jewels of the garden It's a visual feast in the garden at the moment: spring flowers dancing in the breeze and adding delicate pastel shades to borders, verges and containers.Crocuses in a makeshift container.Left: Prunus Kojo-no-Mai brightens up the patio with early spring blossom; Right: Leucojum aestivum, the summer snowflake, arches gracefully over the border.Ipheion uniflorum.Fritillaria meleagris 'Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-66006420266339045292020-03-19T17:38:00.012+00:002020-12-30T20:20:53.486+00:00Ideas for planting containersYour outdoor space, whether it's a balcony, courtyard, or garden, is precious. It could become a lifeline and a haven in the next few weeks and months for anyone who is self-isolating, whether as a precaution or in quarantine.Simply brightening up your space with a plant in a pot, or growing some herbs, or combining a few different plants in a container or border, will give you pleasure and Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-27509719096704844252020-03-12T17:10:00.006+00:002021-01-02T11:19:56.453+00:00Topiary at Felley PrioryAn early spring visit to the walled garden at Felley Priory, Nottinghamshire today. Parts of the priory date back to 1156, and today, the garden is justly renowned for its incredible topiary, the snowdrops (now just going over) and the summer herbaceous borders. I was particularly struck by how beautifully tended and cared-for the plants were overall, from the carpet of hellebores to the Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0Felley Priory, Michelle Upchurch, Underwood, Nottingham NG16 5FJ, UK53.0564225 -1.279891131.633021326433614 -36.436141099999986 74.479823673566386 33.876358899999985tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-14115959941024666542020-01-22T08:26:00.002+00:002020-01-22T08:26:41.453+00:00January containers - brighten up the garden in the depths of winter
Many garden do not look their best in winter. Bare branches, or perennials which die down completely in the dormant season, can leave you with some rather grey and flat spaces. There are however, plenty of plants which look their best in winter and while you may not have the space or the inclination to create a dedicated winter garden such as those at Anglesey Abbey, you can certainly Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-24669131978068678492019-11-08T10:11:00.003+00:002019-11-08T10:11:42.704+00:00The year in the gardens
Top to bottom, left to right: Hellebores; Allium 'Purple Sensation'; Paeonies; Heuchera 'Palace Purple' with Erigeron karvinskianus; Acer palmatum 'Sango-Kaku' with Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Golf Ball'; Achillea millefolium 'Cloth of Gold' with penstemons and clematis; Rosa 'Rhapsody in Blue'; Dicksonia antarctica; Salvia 'Amistad'.
It's been an unsettled year for gardening in London, Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-82491566981412605252019-11-08T10:11:00.002+00:002019-11-08T10:11:20.935+00:00The good, the bad and the puzzling - the year at the allotment
It's been a mixed year in the kitchen garden, with unpredictable successes and failures. Last year, it was easy to see that the long heatwave at the beginning of summer would be good for tomatoes, chillies and sweet peppers; this year has been much more unsettled.
There has still been plenty to celebrate. About six weeks ago, the bare earth container which holds the saffron crocus bulbs, Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-41049303059171216532019-10-18T12:38:00.000+01:002019-10-18T12:38:54.051+01:00Grow your own - saffron
They say that saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, gram for gram. Historically and indeed in the present day, it is much-prized for the golden yellow colour it adds to food or cloth, and for its warm sunshiney aroma.
Its high price by weight is partly because the saffron threads barely weigh anything: you need around 450 filaments to yield a single gram. It's also Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-62329690212274100252019-07-04T21:34:00.001+01:002019-07-04T21:34:52.227+01:00Show gardens at Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2019
Beautiful day for the Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival - where the predominant theme over all the show gardens is the future for gardens and managed space in the face of climate change and weather extremes. Several of the others explore how gardens can help with physical and mental rehabilitation.
My personal favourites are the Stop and Pause garden, which I think brings a real sense of Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-84817266365326095042019-06-17T09:09:00.000+01:002019-06-17T09:31:49.503+01:00Roberto Burle Marx: a visionary landscape architect and plantsmanThese pictures of lush tropical planting in bold compositions come from the exhibition currently showing at the New York Botanical Garden, celebrating the work of Roberto Burle Marx. I was lucky enough to visit the exhibition on my recent trip to New York.
Flowing undulating shapes and swathes of colour characterise a Burle Marx garden, and in the mid-20th century this was a new look, Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-67658517120412202702019-05-16T15:41:00.000+01:002020-01-27T15:48:28.486+00:00New planting and patio in north London
Not all projects redesign the garden from scratch. This north London garden just needed a refresh. The new paving, steps and paths were installed by Graham Thompson of Creative Landscapes.
The new planting by The Urban Hedgerow is designed to integrate with existing plants such as the dramatic irises and bring bold shapes and year-round colour to this secluded garden.
Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-74084153017323191172019-03-31T16:32:00.000+01:002020-01-23T16:33:24.376+00:00New deck in north London
Photo by Krisztian Sipos
This north London garden slopes steeply away from the house and needed, as a matter of priority, a new deck to replace the old softwood platform. We used Senate Composite decking in teak and ebony to create the two-colour, split-level deck. The balustrade was fitted with horizontal steel wires rather than timber banisters, so as not to obstruct the view ofChristinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-63063963669275420582018-06-29T17:50:00.000+01:002020-01-24T10:15:21.301+00:00Designing distinct garden zones in north London
This long but narrow town garden in north London had become very overgrown during a long period of building work. New seating areas were required, and a pathway leading from the house to the studio room at the bottom of the garden. The owners wanted to retain two mature fruit trees to the left hand side but apart from that gave the Urban Hedgerow a blank slate to work with.
We quicklyChristinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-90366030597506252892018-05-20T08:53:00.001+01:002018-05-20T21:35:07.639+01:00Bolara 60: A kitchen garden for this Croatian guesthouse
Bolara 60 is a beautiful house in a beautiful setting: it sits up in the hills above the Adriatic coast of Croatia, in Istria, the large peninsula which juts out into the Adriatic Sea just south of the Italian border. Originally a farmhouse, it has been carefully restored and renovated in traditional local stone and wood and is now a comfortable guesthouse. Sustainable living was an Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-41301422351280457512018-05-14T16:08:00.000+01:002020-01-27T21:58:17.478+00:00Architectural greenery in South London
The owners of this town garden in south London wanted a lush visual vista all the year round. They freely admitted that at present they didn’t spend much time in the garden and hoped that the installation of a large deck would make relaxing in the open air more enticing. They also requested artificial turf for its looks and zero maintenance.
The new deck was built using Saige Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-4357861117382719422018-02-01T20:05:00.000+00:002018-02-01T20:06:31.056+00:00Taming the Yacon monster
I have grown a monster. This is the harvest from just one plant, grown from a tiny seed tuber back in April 2017. Each one of those long oval roots is the size of a marrow. For all that it looks like a sweet potato it is in fact a yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius), a tuberous perennial hailing originally from South America, historically grown on the eastern slopes of the Andes. It's also known Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879935625557970097.post-45220579644514396102017-12-06T10:15:00.000+00:002017-12-06T10:15:21.204+00:00Autumn tomato chutney
Tomato blight ripped through the allotment in August this year, turning stems and leaves sooty-black and blotching the fruit. Every plant was dug up and burnt by August Bank Holiday leaving just the greenhouse plants, safe behind closed doors, to carry on free of infection.
My greenhouse isn't frost-free and we've had a few very cold mornings now, with the temperature dipping just Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14030554612361898716noreply@blogger.com0