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Grass, shingle or stone for your garden floor?

March 4, 2014 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

  It’s true that plants are usually the eye catching element of a garden, especially in spring and summer.     They sing out and grab attention, whilst the less glamerous parts like the paving, can easily be overlooked. However, paving, or whetever you choose to put on your garden floor, can be expensive both in time and […]

Filed Under: Blog, Garden Design, Recycling & Sustainability Tagged With: garden paths, garden paving, RHS Hampton Court Flower Show

All about using a coloured back-drop in your garden

March 24, 2013 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

  A well chosen background colour in a garden can make the difference between plants that look quite good and plants that look outstanding. The choice of colour also influences the atmosphere, red brings energy into a garden, whilst softer colours are more calming and restful. Wall colours can be soft and rather muted, like the one here that […]

Filed Under: Blog, Garden Design, Plants Tagged With: a coloured back-drop to plants, colour in the garden, Cottesbrooke, flowers, plants, RHS Hampton Court Flower Show

Small steps towards sustainable garden design

December 3, 2012 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

  I had a bit of a wobbly moment when the delivery of materials arrived during the building of my first show garden at the Hampton Court Flower Show in back 2008.     Everyone else had shiny, plastic wrapped palettes of bricks, paving etc deposited at their sites. Whilst I had a pile of timber […]

Filed Under: Blog, Garden Design, Recycling & Sustainability Tagged With: garden design, recycling, RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, sustanability

RHS Hampton Court 2012~ Show gardens & plants

July 2, 2012 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

The Show is all set up and ready for the opening tomorrow, but today it was the turn of the Press, invited guests and celebreties to have a look round. This is one of the ‘low cost high impact gardens’. Designed by Mike Harvey and built for a budget of £13,000. The chairs are made out […]

Filed Under: Blog, Garden Design, Inspiration, Recycling & Sustainability Tagged With: Agapanthus, Eremurus, Eryngium, gardens, RHS Hampton Court Flower Show

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Hello, I’m Jill Anderson.
This is where you’ll find good, solid information about gardening, growing fruit & vegetables and how to keep it all looking good.
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The healing, calming power of nature in one photo. The healing, calming power of nature in one photo.
These wonderful autumn colours won’t be around for much longer. But that’s ok, because now is what matters, & their fleeting beauty makes them even more precious.
It’s easy to see how being among trees & nature is so beneficial for our health & wellbeing. 
Have a great Sunday.
Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it lo Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it look spectacular with this bold front door.
Today has been hard work, after a lovely time last week in Norfolk. The north coast there is spectacular. Realising these last few months, that there are so many beautiful places here. 
Have a nice evening.
Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Vis Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Visiting to see the Anish Kapoor sculptures, which are amazing, but unprepared for the beauty of the grounds & garden. 
Such a treat, worth coming to Norfolk for this alone!
Hope you’re keeping well, & managing to smile some of the time. x
P.S. more of Houghton Hall & Anish Kapoor on my stories
We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberrie We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberries, after coffee & cake, sitting in the churchyard - the cafe was full, & the churchyard is a quiet, peaceful spot..... as you’d expect.
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One little advantage of lockdown is walking so much more, rather than using the car. Though it shouldn’t have taken something as momentous as this, for me to change bad habits 🙁
Hope you’re weekend is going well.
My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from a random clump of hazel on the garden. Now looking much better covered in winter squash plants, so you can’t see just how ramshackle it is. I like to think it has a certain home-spun charm .

Great for small space gardening, imagine how much room you need to grow these without vertical supports.

I’ve got 2 Uchiki kuri, lovely nutty flavour.
1 Turks turban, for its flamboyant shape & colours, though it also tastes good.
One unknown, grown by my grandsons in their homeschooled science lesson.
Close-ups of the squash over on my stories.
Stay cool my friends x
I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium reg I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium regale) which is flowering right outside our bedroom window. 
It gets sun for about 4 hours only, you can order the bulbs now for planting in September. It’ll reappear every year & waft delicious scent around your garden, or through your windows.
Have a very happy Monday x
It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be said for fabulous seasonal flowers that haven’t travelled thousands of miles ...... & are wonderful for biodiversity
A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-s A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-summer!) & it’s, mostly, all growing nicely.

Spinach, courgettes & garlic in shot here. 
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday x
Hope is a decision I’ve thought long & hard abou Hope is a decision
I’ve thought long & hard about how to view the tumult in the world we’re living in now. 
The only thing that works for me, is to choose hope.

It’s a tall order, but avoiding mainstream news & speculation helps avoid the anxiety, that’s often waiting in the wings.

One day soon there’ll be grandchildren clambering over this again.
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