I was given some seed bombs for Mothers’ Day. They are fascinating and full of promise! The seed bombs are firm and heavy with seeds and earth packed tightly together. These ones were made into cakes with an embossed motif on the top and were the size of a chocolate brownie, but one contains the seeds of red clover Trifolium pratense and the other of wild...
Learn More
I saw this article today in The Guardian and it helped me understand what’s been going on. I thought I’d been choosing the wrong plants for our changing weather, but no, it’s nature itself playing a wild card. “A large number of shrubs and...
Learn More
Childwickbury on the first day of spring and already showing signs that the seasons are changing. Robust Helleborus x hybridus and delicate Crocus Queen of the Blues have both escaped being eaten by deer and rabbits.
Learn More
‘At Heartwood Forest near Sandridge, St Albans, the creation of England’s largest new native forest is well underway. We have ambitious plans to create an 858 acre woodland with a total of 600,000 newly planted trees, all planted by volunteers. There will also be a community orchard, new wildflower meadows, open spaces and miles of footpaths and bridleways ...
Learn More
The lovely people at Palmstead Nurseries in Kent delivered our plants on Friday 4 March 2011 and we were able to get started. We used all the compost in the compost heap to enrich the soil then got to work setting plants out and planting up. I encourage planting with my clients and today the three of us were able to enrich the soil, set out and plant up in four...
Learn More
I visited the Ecobuild show on 2 March. It was good to talk to the exhibitors about their products and see them in real life. As a garden designer, there were some areas that were more appropriate to me than others of course, and something that caught my attention was buildings from straw bales. In the right location, these are great! You put straw bales onto firm...
Learn More
I like bird-watching and took part in the RSPB annual bird-watch on 29-30 January 2011 by counting the birds that visited my garden in one hour over that weekend. I saw 2 blackbirds, 7 blue tits, 2 great tits, 1 coal tit, 1 chaffinch, 2 green finches, 1 magpie, 2 robins, 2 wood pigeons and 2 dunnocks. I took some photos of birds that had eluded me before and I take my...
Learn More
John Cullen Lighting offer CPD masterclasses in garden lighting and a morning spent in the company of Sally Storey and her team was really inspiring. She speaks with great knowledge and passion and I am keen pass this on, creating magical garden lighting for every garden! Many garden rooms have large windows looking out onto the garden and by using a daylight sensor...
Learn More© Amanda Shipman | Amanda Shipman, 14 Corinium Gate, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 4HX | tel: 01727 837 280 | mob: 07787 554 900 | 
Recent Comments