Think big - think Allium giganteum

If it's a statement you want to add in your garden, place a focal point or just want to add something fun the Allium giganteum  bulb is a must. This bulbs grows into a monster, up to 1.5 metre in height and a perfect purple rounded flower head. As with most Alliums the foliage starts dying just as soon as the plant is ready to flower so plant in the middle of a border to hide the foliage at the base, you might also want to plant this bulb in a  sheltered position (because of its height) and although these bulbs are expensive as far as bulbs go plant in small groups of 5 or more for maximum impact.

Allium giganteums are not fussy about soil type, chalk, clay, loam or sand but plenty of sun is a must. If you are planting in a clay soil dig in some grit, this will improve drainage and stop any winter bulb rot from excessive winter wet. These really are the giant allium bulbs, don't be confused, many suppliers are offering other allium bulbs confusing the matter by saying "giant flower". 

Sit and watch chicks hatching from your living room (or anywhere in the world)

Springwatch gained a huge audience this year with their 24/7 coverage of different breeds of  chicks hatching in different nest box boxes , it was pretty amazing to see . You can easily have this too, watch your own nest boxes whenever and wherever you want with a bird box camera, you can even watch streaming on the internet from wherever you are.  Handykam stock lots of different kits and their site is full of useful information helping you to choose the right system. 

I will be putting a system into a garden design I am building and will update with you how this goes in the Spring. 

A Splash of Autumn Colour

With most flowering plants now done and dusted for the year (or on their last legs) this plant is a must for late season colour. Helianthus "Lemon Queen" is a real beast and needs to go at the back of a border, reaching up to 2m in height .It does need full (ish) sun but does not seem to mind soil type, I have them growing in two different planting designs, one in clay soil the other in a dry, poor soil and they are both doing as well as each other.

 Being a late flowering plant consider planting Helianthus "Lemon Queen" with  tall Miscanthus which is also flowering at the moment. I took this picture  at the weekend so you can see it's at its best at the moment and also providing much needed nectar to bees late in the year. 

Helianthus "Lemon Queen" is available from Crocus 

Landscape Gardeners

A full list of  landscape gardening services we offer in SW London. When you do not need a garden design and a landscape gardener is all that's needed   we are happy to help with your requirements.

Patio install

We can plan and install your patio with minimum fuss and disruption. Samples are available of all the different types of stone we install, sandstone, limestone, slate, travertine and granite. If you prefer to supply your own patio stones we are happy to work with your choice. All patio installation is carried out to the highest standard and follows all recognised standards, no short cuts are taken, ensuring your patio with last for years to come

Pergolas

Supply your own or we can supply a tailor made one for you in a choice of soft or hardwood. 

Raised borders

We can build these for you using brick, rendered block work or soft or hardwood timber sleepers.

Fencing

Overlap or close board style, all fencing work is built to last.

Water features

If you have purchased a water and need it installed or need some creative ideas then we are pleased to help.

Garden Paths

These can be formal in style ie paver's or patio slabs or more informal using bark or gravel

Ponds

We can work with you to landscape a natural wildlife pond or a pond for fish (the two do not normally go together)

Border Work

Creating new borders? With our design experience we can help you plan, create  and plant these. 

The list of landscape gardening services is exhaustive, our thinking is "if it's in the garden we do it".

Our landscape gardener services cover the following areas:

Barnes , Putney, Richmond, Twickenham, Mortlake, Sheen, Clapham, Battersea, Wandsworth, Kingston, Raynes Park, Wimbledon, Isleworth, Hammersmith, Balham, Earlsfield, Fulham, Roehampton. Chelsea

Rains chains - do away with the ugly drain pipe

Install a rain chain instead of a drainpipe.

What I love about garden design is there is always an attractive  solution to almost everything you come up against. Rain hits the roof of your house or garden building , gets channelled into a gutter and then down an ugly black down pipe to be whisked away. There is an alternative to this ugly pipe, enter the "rain chain"

There are 2 styles of rain chain available. One is a simple arrangement of interlocking chains which the water runs down and a cup style. The chain style is more suited to garden buildings as they tend to splash more where as the cup style acts just like a normal down pipe would without much splash or spill. 

Rain Chain Styles  

Simple chain style in copper

  

Rain chain cup style 

 

Rain chains are simple to install and should come with all the necessary fixtures and fittings. 

Green roofs - how much do they weigh?

If you are embarking on a "green roof project" then these are the guide lines on the typical weight once installed. 

There are two types of green roof which allow for the growing of different types of plants. The most popular is a green roof system called "extensive". This is the lightest of the both with a load of 70 - 170 kg per square meter once planted. The big variation in load is due to substrate depth ( substrate is the growing medium, what the plant roots will grow in) An extensive green roof is also suitable for projects around the garden such as planting your shed / garage roof and storage units. 

An intensive green roof has a deeper substrate, allowing for a greater range of plants to grow and the load per square meter is between 290 and kg on the existing roof structure.

If you are embarking on an extension or new garden design then give a green roof some consideration, what is better to look at, a grey asphalt roof or an attractive planted Sedum green roof? 

Bike safety in your front garden

Front garden design has  changed over the past few years. With countless recycling bags for this, boxes for that and the dreaded wheelie bins the front garden space has to become a more  functional area rather than a showcase of plants. 

A front garden design can still look great with these additional storage considerations to be taken into account, just careful design and planning.

When I am talking with clients about re-designing the front and back gardens what  always comes up in the brief is how much storage is needed in the back garden for bicycles. In a typical London garden this can be up to 10% of the space available in the back garden, just for bicycles which seems a great loss of prized rear garden space when there are alternatives. 

 

Think about putting your bikes in the front garden! A bespoke unit can be built, even with a planted green roof , very attractive) with a "concreted in" bike stand. The bikes would be as safe as putting them in your garden (I have had a bike stolen from mine) and no more dragging wet and muddy bikes through the house every time you want to use it. 

There are many different types of secure bike stands available, (yes the picture shown is a bike stand) which can be either concreted in or surface mounted onto existing concrete base or patio slabs.

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Winter colour - think Hellebore plants

Hellebores,  evergreen herbaceous plants are invaluable in winter, with varieties flowering from early December right through to spring they really do add a much needed splash of colour to your borders until the spring bulbs emerge. 

Hellebores are shade loving plants and only plant in a semi - full shade area in your garden, they will even thrive under trees. With a range of colours from whites to deep purple there's always a spot in anyones garden to enjoy these fantastic winter flowering plants. 

Long cane raspberry plants available

This is the first time I have seen these offered. On early and mid season raspberry varieties you would have to wait for the second year for fruiting as they fruit on the previous years growth (autumn fruiting raspberries fruit on same year) but Dobies of Devon are offering the mid season raspberry, Glen Fyne, supplied as a 1.2 metre high cane that will fruit next year if planted over the winter. This is a heavy cropping, spineless variety.

Their offer is 12 Glen Fyne , 1.2 metre canes for £27.95. 

Click here to go straight to their website to check out these and other great raspberry canes deals they have. 

or Suttons for long cane Malling minerva

Click to buy 12 1.2m Malling Minerva long cane raspberry plants

Lawn Care for Autumn

This year has been a real tough one for garden lawns.  Especially in the south where most suffered with the lack of rain leaving a dry, brown lawn resembling that of saw dust. However, as usual, with a bit of rain most are back to something resembling that of a green lawn with fresh, green shoots of grass.

Autumn lawn care differs this year, do not dress your lawn with "Autumn Fertilisers" These will probably do more damage than good. The new grass shoots and young roots are too tender to cope with this type of food, the net result will be the possibility of scorching and the new roots not being able to cope. Generally, lawns are stressed and need some gentle TLC to get them ready for winter and promote plenty of new root growth for next year.

This years maintenance should be as follows.

1.) Mow the lawn, not too short, raise the height of the blades from your normal summer cutting height.

2.) Lightly scarify the lawn with a tine rake to remove any build up of debris and thatch.

3.) Aerate the lawn with a garden fork, about every 10-12" should be suffice.

4.) Spread lawn top dressing over the entire lawn, about Cm deep and brush this into the lawn, filling the holes made by the forking.

A good, quality lawn top dressing will contain small amounts of nutrients, all that is needed to prepare the lawn for the winter and up to the following spring. 

Rolawn supply an excellent top dressing available in bulk bags. Click here to buy Rolawn Lawn Top Dressing