Some Like It Hot by Martin Blow
We all remember the old fashioned Red Hot Poker plants with their tall, impressive heads of flower, red at the top and yellow at the bottom and great mounds of leaves, flowering away in a neglected spot in the garden. They are certainly eye-catching and they have come a long way from these gaudy giants with lots of colours and sizes now available for every type of garden. […]
Make Your Home Office Work Harder For You by Katherine Sorrell
Make working from home less of a chore by designing a room that’s functional and attractive. […]
Botanical Beauty by Katherine Sorrell
Whether you prefer small succulents or a giant monstera, use plants and foliage to add a natural touch to your home. […]
To Work With A Garden Designer Or Not – 5W’s To Help You Decide by Nicki Jackson
You’ve decided to do a garden project, so what’s next? Call a garden designer? A landscaper? A gardener? Before you decide we thought it might be useful to do a little bit of generic information gathering about garden designers in terms of the tried and tested 5W’s. Hopefully along the way we’ll be able to offer some clarity on what a garden designer could bring to your garden project. […]
Great Outdoors
Technology for long summer nights
The combination of long nights and nice weather means it’s time to head outdoors – and technology can help make the outdoors even greater and the light nights even brighter. […]
Heleniums – My Favourite Plant by Martin Blow
The great garden writer Christopher Lloyd, when asked what his favourite flower was, replied, “the one I’m looking at now”. It’s that way with me with heleniums; all are beautiful in their own right, all are equally easy to grow and all do a great job in the border, be it a 15-inch (38cm) edger to a 6-footer (180cm) at the back. […]
Seventies Chic by Katherine Sorrell
Get your groove on – it’s back to the Seventies! But this time around orange pine and avocado bathrooms are banned, in favour of good-looking furnishings, bold patterns and cool accessories. […]
Rattan Revival by Katherine Sorrell
Lightweight yet strong and durable, rattan is a versatile material that can be used indoors and out for a variety of furnishings, adding pretty natural texture and a charmingly retro vibe. […]
Fabulous Front Gardens – Why and How (Part 2) by Nicki Jackson
The two key elements to unlocking the potential benefits of front gardens that I wrote about in my last article are permeable surfaces and planting, but as with any garden design project, there are still a lot of choices available to you along the route from plan to completion, that allows for such considerations as lifestyle, budget, functionality and taste. Generally speaking though, there are some tried and tested design techniques that will help anyone achieve that ‘fabulous frontage’ goal, so here, in no particular order, are our top tips… […]
Don’t Be An April (or May) Fool
Beware the tech scams trying to trick you
Unlike April Fools’ Day, which ends at noon, online trickery goes on all day every day. Some fraud is easily spotted but others can be really convincing. […]
