Heres a throwback to one of my first gardens, which flows down to the Thames. I worked on this with the most lovely clients for over 10 years. This was one of my favourite views into the sunken garden through the hornbeam towers over the Libertia and with the Ceanothus in the distance. Im going back soon to see how the kitchen garden and meadows with hugels have matured. How lucky we are to be able to build communities of plants. Also have the sound on for the river and birds (mostly parakeets!) but they also deserve somewhere nice to hang out. #gardendesign #landscapedesign #plants
So lovely when happy clients send you pictures! They wanted to hide their garages and outbuildings from the front drive. Swipe to see what a difference a year makes - Before, March and After, May the year after.
Today revisiting a site to plant their front garden. This planting in the back garden, to hide the swimming pool we designed behind, was completed in April / May. 6 months on and the exuberance of this is making my clients and I very, very happy!! Erigeron, Pittosporum Nanum, Symphyotrichum Little Carlow, Pennisetum Red Head, Amelanchier lamarkii and a very blue sky.
When you take a photo but it’s video. It’s just ‘Lovely’. Today we had Humaira and co visit us. It’s RHS Chelsea time. @studio_ikram@rosyhardygardening@the_rhs #hardysplantsrhschelsea26 #rhschelsea #roshardygardening #hardyscottagegardenplants hardyscottagegardennursery
Update - all free tickets have been allocated. Sorry! I’ve always loved the thrill of being at Chelsea, and want to share that with others. Now that all of the gardens are relocated for good causes this makes even more rewarding. I’ll be there on Thursday 19th March, to answer any garden or Chelsea questions with so many other people who have worked at, designed and been part of the RHS Chelsea experience. Just an fyi ., there will probably be loads of stories about hairdryers! Message me if you can come and want a ticket as I have 20 to give away for free! On the RHS website: We are delighted to be bringing to our Lindley Hall in London a joyous event hosted by TV and Radio broadcaster Zoe Ball, where a panel of incredible horticulturists, garden designers, our RHS historian and RHS Shows team will share their Chelsea secrets and behind the scenes stories. See original post and link in bio @the_rhs for more details about this event and come and say hi or just ask me questions, if you do make it!
Apply via our website - carenotcapital.org - and there’s a link in our bio.
We are looking for people with, ideally, at least two years professional experience though this can be negotiable.
We particularly welcome applications from minoritised groups as well as those who are economically disadvantaged to try and ensure our trainees are representative of a variety of backgrounds and perspectives.
The training will take place in John’s pioneering and experimental Essex garden, Hilldrop, over five days this summer. We receive a large number of applications, so please ensure you are able to commit to all of the below dates:
Friday 15 May
Friday 5 June
Friday 19 June
Friday 26th June
Friday 26 July
DEADLINE: 28 FEBRUARY 2026
We’re excited to announce our free Modern Gardener Training for the second year. Gardeners will be able to apply via our website later this month.
We are looking for people with, ideally, at least two years professional experience, though this can be negotiable. We particularly welcome applications from minoritised groups as well as those who are economically disadvantaged to try and ensure our trainees are representative of a variety of backgrounds and perspectives.
The training will take place in John’s pioneering and experimental Essex garden, Hilldrop, over five days this summer. We receive a large number of applications, so please ensure you are able to commit to all of the below dates:
Friday 15 May
Friday 5 June
Friday 19 June
Friday 26 June
Friday 17 July
Sign up to our website - link in bio - to be the first to hear, or email us if you have any questions.
Please do forward this information on to any people or organisations who might be interested.
Photographs 3,4,5,7,9 and 10 by the brilliant @you_dig_gardens
#carenotcapital #gardenersfirst
Well.. this is awesome! I think that I am pretty ordinary. I think that we should try to consider the planet as well as people when we design, people should be valued and paid for their skills and experience, if possible, people from all backgrounds should be part of the landscape design projects and that beauty should be for everyone. Ie access to beautiful/nurturing/green spaces both physically and emotionally is pretty important too. The people who need these places most often have the least access to them. I think most people think this as well ( don’t they?) so I’m not sure about being a rebel, but thank you for allowing me to get on my soapbox and raise these points again. @greenwichgardener for making me sound interesting, @dan.the.earthworm for asking me to contribute, @the_rhs and their magazine and @neilhepworthphotography for taking the best most tanned and healthy picture of me ever in my garden. And look at the rest of the incredible line up!!!Come on .. Let’s all be rebels!!
Huge congratulations to three of our KLC Garden Design students who have been announced as finalists in the SGLD Student Awards!
Being recognised at a national level is a fantastic achievement and a real testament to their creativity, hard work and design thinking. We’re incredibly proud and can’t wait to see what comes next!
Congratulations to all of this year’s finalists, and the very best of luck to everyone when the awards take place in February — we’ll be cheering you on!
📸 Image credits:
Robbie Avey – Wolves Lane – Design for the Environment Finalist @aveylandscapes
Victoria Butler – Restoring Roots - Design for the Environment Finalist @victoriabarbourdesign
Helen Swan – Blackhorse Commons - Design for the Environment Finalist @helenswanstudio
Helen Swan – North End House – Student Design – Domestic Finalist @helenswanstudio
#KLC #GardenDesign #SGLDStudentAwards #StudentSuccess #FutureDesigners
Nursery series: Larch Cottage Nursery, Penrith
It was my first time in the lakes and I was staying in the Premier Inn in Penrith. Normally when I’m going to smaller nurseries often no one has heard of them but the receptionist told me I was in for a treat! So I knew it would be good!
@larchcottage was set up by Peter and is run by him and his wife Jo. Peter says that he is the ideas guy and Jo has the hard job of keeping the place running. They don’t just sell plants, they have an acclaimed Italian restaurant, an art gallery, and they also sell a huge selection of specialist plants.
We came for their dwarf conifers. They may have fallen a little out of fashion recently, but are having a resurgence at the moment and they did not disappoint!!
Peter has had an interesting journey to being a nursery person. He was a pretty accomplished ballet dancer (the Royal Ballet were interested), had his own landscaping company, set up the nursery because it was impossible to find the plants he wanted in the Lakes and then he created a little part of Italy here at Larch Cottage, before he had ever even been to Italy!
This is a family affair and 3 of their 4 children are working on the site today and Peter built a chapel so that he and Jo could get married there.
Over 40 years on site they have created water reservoirs, produce their own clean compost, have bantams as pest control and they also support a different local charity every year. It’s pretty impressive! Get down there! Buy conifers,art and eat cake! It’s just the best day out! For more on this story look out for the full article in Gardeners World Magazine in 2026.
Pics: the family, the nursery, the gw team the conifers, Abies Koreana Kohouts Ice Breaker, Pinus leucodermis Aureospicata with its yellow tips, the bantams. Thank you to the @gardenersworldmag and the team @emma_crawforth and @jasoningram
With their rich diversity of foliage, ferns are a great option for shady areas, in the ground or in pots, and are easy and undemanding. Here, Claire from Macplants shows us how she divides ferns for propagation 🌿
For more from Macplants, including their top three ferns to try, pick up the July issue of BBC Gardeners' World magazine. In the first of a new series showcasing notable UK nurseries, Humaira Ikram explores this Scottish nursery, which grows and sells a range of desirable ornamentals.
#Ferns #Propagation #FreePlants #PlantTips #Gardening #GardeningTips
I wanted to make special mention of this garden - The Garden of The Future by @butlerandparker - one of the medium show gardens at this year’s Chelsea. My friend @studio_ikram (another Chelsea staple in my life) WhatsApped me a number of times on my first day to say I should go and visit the garden she was planting on, because Matthew Butler and Josh Parker were “so nice! The nicest designers!”. She wasn’t wrong. Jolly and sweet and kind (“would you like to go on the roof? Would you like some plants to take home? You like that decoration? Oh you can have that later! What do you need? Of course we’ll move everything for you immediately”).
Their garden - a groundbreaking demonstration garden that showcases how we can grow food and crops more sustainably- made me want to go home and entirely rearrange my allotment. Chickpea plants, trailing sweet potatoes, a solar panel that powers an irrigation pump, a research space, a state of the art lavatory that creates biochar compost, foxgloves and grasses in the lemonadey light. Beautiful planting, beautiful ideas. Well done you brilliant team.
Shot for The Daily Telegraph.
#butlerandparker #gardenofthefuture #sustainability #chelseaflowershow #gardenphotography
