Author's articles

Building a Night Garden

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

The week before last I was lucky enough to attend Custom House’s Grand Designs convention, wherein over a thousand different exhibitors displayed a range of new products, techniques and disciplines, applicable not only to interior ...

Building Your Boundaries

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

There are a variety of different reasons for establishing definite and long term boundaries around your garden and these can include privacy, security (from natural, as well as human threats) or just protection for your ...

Gardening Around the World: The Top Ten Gardens to Visit – Part 2!

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

Continuing, as promised, from last week’s article which began this title race for, what could be considered, ‘the greatest garden design standing’, we now have for you numbers 6-10 of the premier league of horticulture. ...

The Future of Hemp

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

For much of the last century Hemp was vilified for its reputation synonymous with Cannabis, and, unfortunately, the fear campaign waged by western politics pigeon-holed a crop of high economic potential, as a dangerous and ...

Rejuvenating Britain’s Heritage Crops

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

Some jubilation is in order, for recent news has been dominated by stories of a general revival of Britain’s agricultural heritage. In the 1970’s, EU regulations concerning the stringency of seed testing, and also the ...

Gardening Around the World: The Top Ten Gardens to Visit – Part 1!

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

As gardening is such a global pursuit, is important that those of us who hold an interest in horticulture should be encouraged to pursue the purveyors of the craft’s excellence – and to the ends ...

Flying the Flag

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

One of the major headlines that have dominated the domestic press runs this year has been Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, the celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th year on the throne - a feat only ...

Some Fine Ferns

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

Ferns are something of a British institution, being one of the most common members of most of our forest and woodland based eco systems. Ferns are also an extremely diverse family of plants, as they ...

The Veg of Tomorrow, Sown Today

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

Being the month of May, we each of us have an opportunity now to begin sowing new crops in time for a summer harvest, more specifically salad and vegetable crops that, weather willing, we’ll be ...

Bamboozled!

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

A short time ago, in our review about the RHS London flower show, we talked about the value of natural screening in the garden and this week we wanted to devote some more time to ...

The Return of the Butterflies

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

You may remember some time ago we published an article covering the necessity of a healthy butterfly population to the British ecosystem, that due to particularly rainy summers and springs, their numbers had been dampened ...

RHS Cardiff Show

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

A couple of weeks ago began the years first major garden show, courtesy of the people of Cardiff and of the RHS and the Cardiff Flower Show is as much a celebration of the beginning ...

Choosing a Lawnmower

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

While mowing the lawn may seem a mundane and at times trying task, it needn't be. Indeed the maintenance of a fresh, emerald swath can be extremely therapeutic, provided you have the right tools for ...

The Ides of Spring

By Joshua Ellison · 11 years ago

Due to the uncharacteristically wet springs we have suffered in recent years (although not so much the early part of this year), our blossom trees have suffered accordingly - an unfortunate and somewhat alienating side ...

Friend or Foe?

By Joshua Ellison · 12 years ago

It is often disputed whether an insect population as a general concept is beneficial or detrimental to a gardener, however this subject cannot be decided with a simple black/white frame of mind. Like their micro ...

A Climber for Every Corner

By Joshua Ellison · 12 years ago

A while ago we released an article on the increasing encroachment of urbanization on personal green spaces, stating some means by which a lack of space can become an opportunity, rather than a hindrance to ...

Blue Foliage Plants

By Joshua Ellison · 12 years ago

Following on from last week’s article concerning silver toned foliage, this week we will be covering the colour blue, and a selection of the most effective cultivars for displaying this hue. As has been mentioned ...

Green Roofing

By Joshua Ellison · 12 years ago

Continuing the theme of the importance of sustainable gardens, here we will discuss what are known as ‘Green Roofs’, the different types available and why they have become such an integral part of modern horticultural ...

Gardens through the Ages

By Joshua Ellison · 12 years ago

As a pursuit built as much on our own foresight as it is on our creativity, it is important to reflect on the schools of thought that drove previous horticulturalists, because, as influential as the ...

Five Snow Whites (no dwarves)

By Joshua Ellison · 12 years ago

Continuing our weekly periodical on colour based cultivars, we bring to you a selection of white and cream hued blooms to accompany those other tones we’ve already covered. The White Garden at Sissinghurst is a ...