In which I come across a bit poetic.............

I don’t like the cold weather; I’m a lizard and only really come to life with the sun on my back. However in late January/early February you do get some of the most spectacular, breathtaking nature-related stuff.

I was driving home from my Mum’s house in Buckinghamshire today, back to Evans Towers in Bracknell, Berkshire and I found myself holding my breath as the day drew to a spectacular close. The black, skeletal outlines of trees were backlit by the most amazing apricot sky, shot through with gold, with blue/black clouds like bruises on its face.

I was listening to a fantastic Stu Cox remix of euphoric, uplifting trance which if you were dancing would make you raise your hands in the air, or at least above waist level for the less exhibitionist amongst you. This made the experience even better. For those of you who don’t love spending time rammed in a noisy club with a bunch of friendly, but sweaty strangers you probably won’t get this at all. Don’t worry whatever your favourite soundtrack would work just as well, each to their own.

Ooooh! It’s made me positively poetic.

Planning my 2010 Allotment

I'm starting to think about the coming growing season and what I want to plant. There are some things that really worked last year veggie-wise, the Rainbow Chard was not only gorgeous to look at it was delicious and easy to grow. I think I'll grow some the the ordinary white stemmed variety this year as it seems to grow taller and last longer into the Winter.

I really miss my Spinach, but in the last couple of years it hasn't done well, in fact this year, I planted loads of seeds and hardly got any leaves to eat. Some of it was pecked off by the pigeons, so I covered the plants with Agralan Enviromesh which sorted that out. But, despite experimenting with different varieties, plants either bolted, or did not germinate, or were weedy and hardly produced any leaves. I read this intersting article and am wondering whether I'm planting it at the wrong time - I'm going to try planting it earlier and later to see if it does any better. It's very galling, some of my fellow allotmenteers have tons of lovely spinach.

I'm delighted to report that every one of my Garlic plants has sprouted. Last year I had a success with one row, but the other did not thrive. The problem with the second row was entirely mine. I was over zealous with my Winter mulch and they did sprout, but subsequently rotted under a thick coat of stable manure. The first row were gorgeous. It's the first time I've planted garlic in the autumn to over-winter and as a result I got proper bulbs with individual cloves. There were so delicious and fragrant - you just can't buy garlic like this, but they were soon used up in curries, and chillies, and mushroom bolognese, and spinach dhal, and walnut rocket pesto, and you get the picture. So, this year, I left no room for failure and planted four different types in two long rows, and if all goes well I'll have a year's supply of different strengths and flavours of garlic for use in cooking next year. Can't wait.

My French beans were not so prolific this year, but I'm sure this is because during the extremely hot weather I wasn't able to get down and water every day. My tomatoes, on the other hand, were fab. The outdoor ones only succumbed to blight at the very last, and I managed to freeze enough to last almost until I grow the next lot. I froze them in different ways. I made batches of tomato sauce (onion, tomatoes, blender) with and without garlic. I normally add some red wine to my tomato sauces, but the flavour of the tomatoes was so intense that I didn't want to interfere with it - I may add a splash of wine when I use the sauce. I simply chopped others into quarters, open froze them on trays and then put them into bags. I use these to just drop into anything that needs a bit of tomatoeiness. Others I sieved for passata, the rest I skinned and chopped.

The Broad Beans last year were not as good as in previous years and I had a dissappointing crop, so I decided to try over-wintering them, it seemed like they were a massive success until it snowed. I was so mad. This is the first time I've got round to over-wintering my Broad Beans and then it goes and snows on them! They look a bit flat and sad, but I've still got hopes for them. I'll also grow some in my greenhouse in pots as soon as the weather warms up a bit. I've gone back to growing trusty old Aquadulce and Red Epicure.

I shall grow Cucumber Burpless as usual - they are tasty and easy to grow. I train them up a trellis and two plants produces more than enough for two people. I will not be growing Gherkins this year - they were a pain and I had hardly any fruit from them at all.

The Vivaldi potatoes were brilliant and I'll definitely grow them again. I always grow Rocket as my first earlies and Juliette as a salad variety. I'll grow Courgette Defender again, but I might try a different yellow variety this year as Parador did not do so well. I'll also be growing the same carrots - Flyaway and Purple Haze as they are both delicious and do well for me. I companion plant them with marigolds which I grow in the greenhouse and this seems to keep off the carrot fly as well as looking really pretty.

I've resolved not to grow either onions or shallots this year as I've had miserable crops in the past, but I'm sure I won't be able to resist the lure of the packets of sets in the garden centre. Any suggestions for improving the size of my crops gratefully received.

Of course, I'll be planting loads of Radishes, Spring Onions, Coriander, Basil, Parsley and salad leaves. The raspberry canes and fruit bushes will get a good dose of fertiliser and some extra mulch. I'm going to totally ignore my Gooseberries this year as a friend has told me they crop better if you don't mulch or feed them Last year and the year before I pruned them correctly, fed them, mulched them and got very dissappointing results. So, I'm going to treat 'em mean, I'll let you know what happens.

I'm sure I've missed something. I need to make a list and finalise my choices. I'll definitely try at least one new thing, but haven't decided what yet. I also need to look at my crop rotation plan - yes, I do have one, it's the only way to remember where things are in order to make sure you don't plant the same crops in the same place each year.

In which I am dragged kicking & screaming into the 21st Century

I have resisted the inevitable for too long, now I have no choice but to succumb and I’m a total convert. What are you wittering on about now Linsey, I hear you ask? Well, ever since I became a garden designer and stopped being a propeller head clients have been asking me whether I prepare my drawings on CAD. ‘No’, I say proudly, ‘they’re all hand drawn’. People are impressed – there’s a lot of detail, pretty colour, little daintily outlined plants, each paving slab drawn in by hand, lovely! This is all well and good until you get so busy and your design projects get larger and more complex and you find yourself working every day and most evenings in a bid to keep up.

So, finally, after much procrastination, I have invested in super duper, state of the art CAD landscape design package. I have chosen Vectorworks Landmark as it is widely used by garden and landscape designers and there’s loads of support and training available.

I didn't like the look of the graphics when I first looked at Vectorworks. The Master Plan is how I convey the overall concept of the garden to clients. It’s a sales document and communication tool. It helps get the client to buy into my ideas, and making it look attractive is important for helping to convey how the finished garden will look. CAD drawings don’t have that same hand finished look to them which clients seem to like and I wasn’t sure how I would introduce some personality. However, like any piece of software there are degrees of sophistication that can be utilized and having purchased my software and attended my first day’s training I’m absolutely hooked and can’t wait to get cracking.

There are ways of personalizing the drawing and introducing your own style, but I am less concerned now with this aspect of the design process. Its more important that the design of the garden is good and works for the client and their circumstances. But, its easy to get carried away with aesthetics of the plan and invest too much time in prettifying it. The Vectorworks software gives you the ability to create multiple perspective views and walkthroughs which are so invaluable for communicating your vision to the client and giving them a better idea of how the garden will feel and how they will use it when it’s finished. I think this more than compensates for a slight dumbing down of the graphics.

For larger projects it’s hard to believe I ever managed without it. Most landscape design projects will require changes and amendments and even the smallest adjustment can take hours by hand, but is particularly true on a larger scheme. Using the software this can take a matter of minutes. The many construction plans, planting plans, lighting plans, drainage plans and other technical details can be much more quickly prepared with no loss of accuracy. It's also going to be really useful to be able to send plans to architects and engineers by email and being able to import their drawings straight into my software.

As you can tell, I am really excited about my new toy and can’t wait until I produce my first design – as soon as I do I’ll post it. So, thanks to the fabulous Tamsin Slatter and her team including husband Adrian for bearing with me whilst I made up my mind.

Garden Design Bhopal, India

I'm currently working on a really exciting project in Bhopal, India. I'm doing the whole project over the telephone, email and from architects drawings. It's not how I usually work, but it seems to be going well at the moment. I've started a project diary on a great property development Web site - Developadream. Please click on the link and have a look to see how it's going.

A steamy time was had by all ........

As usual, over the Christmas break I bucked the trend by refusing to sit around watching rubbish TV and eating Quality Street – well apart from Christmas Day on which these are mandatory activities. Instead, I do what I always do (see Christmas Time is Mulching Time) and stood knee deep in my local stables’ muck heap shoveling lovely free manure into bags and ultimately dumping it out onto my allotment. Four van loads of 40 small bags are sufficient to cover my entire allotment and work off any excess food consumed during the seasonal blow out.

The cold, snowy weather made this always enjoyable activity (I know, most people think I’m slightly strange) even more pleasant – most bracing as well as deeply satisfying. The steam coming off the muck heap as we dug down into it really sorted out my blocked sinuses (a hangover from a vicious virus that was refusing to go away). This same steam also caused great amusement to passing walkers, one even stopped and asked if he could take some photos. Ever the opportunist and a shameless self-publicist I said no problem as long as he sent me a copy and whipped out a business card. So, here are a couple of shots of me and my chum Bob hock deep in muck and loving it!

I am already anticipating a bumper crop next year – can’t wait to get digging which is another of my favourite activities.

It may be winter outside

It may be winter outside, but in my heart it’s spring – so go the lyrics to a Love Unlimited song (written by Barry White, doncha know?) have a listen I guarantee it will cheer you up.



Here in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey we are well and truly snowbound and I hate it! I hadn’t appreciated fully how much time I spend outside all year round. However, I’m not just sitting inside feeling glum (although there is a bit of that) I’m having a good old think about what I want to do in my garden this year. It doesn’t matter at what stage of development your garden is, there is always some small tweak that can make it better, or something that isn’t quite working and needs sorting out. A garden is not a static thing – even an inside room will need maintenance, so a garden which lives and breathes will need occasional adjustment and additions to keep it looking gorgeous.



If you’re going to make changes in your garden now is a great time to get your thoughts together. If you’re going to consult a landscape designer start doing your research and considering how you want to use the garden. Think about what things you need to make the best use of your garden. Get ideas from books, magazines and the internet to find out what you like in terms of aesthetics, style, planting. Decide how you want the garden to feel – is it to be a cool, urban retreat for partying with friends, or a relaxed country garden with space for wildlife, or a place to indulge your gardening hobby. Do you need to think about elderly or disabled visitors? Whatever you want in the garden make sure you plan it and consider whether it meets your needs before you ask anyone to put a shovel in the ground.



For those of you who, because of the state of the housing market/economy, have stayed put in a house that you were planning to sell don’t be afraid to make improvements to the garden. Whatever money you spend will be a good investment – my estate agent friends tell me that a good garden always helps sell a property and you will get your investment back when you sell. In the meantime you can enjoy the garden yourself – a true win/win situation.

Best Water Feature Ever!

Whilst on holiday in Tenerife in November 2008 I drove to Guia de Isadora, a very pretty small town. I was nosing over a garden wall and spotted something intriguing and kicked myself for forgetting my camera. I went back again this year, made the perilous drive back to Guia de Isodora and took this photograph.







When I first saw this I wasn't entirely sure what it was, although it was clearly a water feature. It was my eagle eyed partner, Spencer, who identified it. Tenerife is a volcanic island and its volcano Mount Teide is still active. This water feature is, in fact, a scale model of Mount Teide, when switched on water comes out of the top of the volcano - genius! Maybe not, but amusing anyway.

Garden & Landscape Lighting Design

Let’s face it we have a lot of dark, miserable days in this country, and for a good percentage of its life your beautiful garden in which you’ve invested considerable time and money is invisible. Not only can you not use it, you can’t even see it. The solution is to make a feature of the garden by night using dramatic lighting effects that are actually quite simple to achieve.

Garden and landscape lighting is often overlooked or ends up being just the bland wash of a security floodlight and maybe some ugly, low-level spreadlights illuminating paths. That’s because garden lighting, like anything else in the garden needs to be planned if it is to succeed on anything other than a purely functional level.

You can change the entire feeling of the garden by night simply by uplighting some key architectural plants, a sculpture, or a water feature. You can even create different effects depending on your mood or the occasion – an intimate dinner, or a lively party. Instead of looking at the rain on the window, you can look out on a dramatic scene with depth and emphasis created by lighting.

Walk around your garden, look out of upstairs and downstairs windows and take account of the focal points and viewpoints. Viewpoints are places from which the garden is viewed. Focal points are those things that are important within the view. Then decide which of the focal points is most important (primary focal point) and those that are less so (secondary focal point). Light the primary focal point more brightly than the secondary focal points, which ensures attention is directed to the most important features in the view. Washing surrounding planting and hedges with a lower level of lighting than that the more brightly lit features create a backdrop for the focal points.

Security lighting does not have to be bland, doorways can be lit by downlights that graze brickwork and create a warm, inviting entrance. Instead of using spreadlights to illuminate paths, washing the adjacent planting or hedge with light will provide a more subtle effect which is quite sufficient for safe navigation. Where security lights are essential, for example, to access the garage, these can be put onto a timer with a movement sensor so that they are only on when absolutely necessary. Modern movement sensors can be adjusted so that they are not triggered by nocturnal animals.

Consider what you will want to do where in the garden and put in extra lights to accommodate these tasks, for example, getting to the shed, cooking or eating. Then have more than one circuit so that you can switch on the extra lights when needed.

You can use concealed, spike mounted spotlights to create some really interesting effects in your garden, transforming it into a dramatic night time space. Try downlighting, uplighting, shadowing, grazing for emphasising texture, washing to draw attention to colour, crosslighting to change how a sculpture is viewed, and moonlighting down through trees to create dappled effects. I like to downlight pergola posts as it throws light onto the flowers of climbing plants and creates pools of lights at the base of the posts which provides a lovely gentle light for a summer al fresco meal.

Lighting for Gardens has a wide range of different lighting products with variation in strength of light and beam angles. LED lighting is improving rapidly, it is much cheaper to run than mains voltage lighting and does not require transformers (which can be ugly and expensive) like low-voltage. Unfortunately, I have yet to find any low cost LED fittings that I like the look of, so I only use them when they can be concealed.

If you’d like any help planning your garden or landscape lighting scheme please get in touch.