Organic Gardening Services- Design & Maintenance

Like Monty Don, I have no horticultural qualifications, so please don't ask. What I do have is passion, enthusiasm and 27 years experience of gardening organically.

I have learnt through watching and helping others, including my father in the early days of our allotment when I was a child, reading countless numbers of books, and mainly through my own experiences, successes and  failures. Its the failures that I have learned from the most!

I have worked on the development of the gardens in our former and present homes (which we opened up for the National Garden scheme over 4 years) and over the last 11 years as a jobbing gardener, I have developed, constructed and maintained a large array of gardens with an array of challenges including differing aspects, soil type, shading, elevation, exposure, drainage conditions, formal, informal, wild, edible, etc.

Some gardens I have taken on and developed, adding to their beauty and practicality. Others I have started from scratch from areas rife with builders rubble and/or full of pernicious weeds. 

Whatever the starting point, my priority has always been to firstly get the soil right, increase biodiversity, provide low maintenance and of course make the garden attractive, appealing and productive where required. 

I believe I have been successful in achieving these goals in many gardens.

Wildlife Gardens

Wildlife in gardens is hugely important to many of our customers. We can convert gardens to become havens for wildlife no matter what the starting point. We can create wildlife habitats including ponds, log piles, dry stone walls, hedgerows and trees. We can plant for biodiversity through our experience of a large range of wildflowers and pollinator attracting plants which we grow ourselves in our own garden and nursery. We can convert soils to be abundant and healthy in soil life, through the use of compost and mulches,  which will reflect outwards onto the entire garden. We can get your compost bins (or build them for you) working effectively and efficiently with the QR method (or we can provide our own  compost) and show you how to make good compost. Bees,  butterflies and birds will be attracted to your garden.  Birds are great indicators of a biodiverse garden. They will visit your garden without the need to put out birdfeed!  

This garden was taken on as a design, develop and maintenance project. The long border was constructed and mulched with barley straw to eradicate the weeds present in the clay type soil. The straw was applied in the autumn and lifted in the following May for planting. The greenery in the straw is barley which has sprouted from seed left in the straw. It is easily removed.

An array of robust perennials, shrubs and wildflowers make an attractive border from spring through to late autumn. The plants selected did not require any staking. Maintenance relatively low with hoeing every other week and cut back in late winter.

This garden was undertaken initially as a maintenance project and has been enhanced and developed to become a beautiful and tranquil retreat.

This rill was constructed on a slight gradient. this was used to advantage so that water is pumped from the deep end of the pond in the foregroind up to the top of the stone cobbles and then trickles into the pond flowing down to the deeper end again. Herbaceous perennial planting and pond plants provides cover and habitat for wildlife.