Lamium orvala 'Silva' at peak loveliness in this Kentish Town garden. Beautiful wild form and full of bees. Planted at the end of last year the garden is filling out after blossoms from all four of the trees have finished. Epimedium x youngianum 'Niveum' with its delicate stems and the warm new fronds of the Dryopteris erythrosora are unfurling with plenty more to come.
Built by @wilder_landscapes
In November we planted hundreds of bulbs in this Leytonstone garden - a perk of planting in Autumn! Tulips Van Ejik and Purissima are in full force with Queen of Night not too far behind. Narcissus Tete a Tete and Thalia are just going over making way for the Alliums and Camassias. Beautifully timed with the Malus 'Evereste' and Amelanchier blossom. The perennials are sitting underneath waiting to get going. The low species lawn is full of daisies and makes for a soft landing after a session in the sauna.
A few snapshots from a visit to @omvedgardens at the weekend. Spring sunshine for their first open day, the site was full of architectural materials and features. Even the toilets, compost bays and bird baths were beautiful! Lots of inspiration in the middle of North London. Just a shame it's not open to the public more often!
Another garden created in the mid-winter. A small space soon to be filled with Amelanchier blossom and then Saxifraga, Aquilegias, Astrantias. I've used Panicum 'Rehbraun', Rodgersia 'Chocolate Wings', Persicaria 'Rosea' to bring out the beautiful red and rust tones of the clay pavers and corten steel. The contemporary features have been softened with rustic stepping stones and I love the existing feature of the garden gate to nowhere. The steps will have Pulmonaria, Epimedium blurring the sharp edges by Spring. This is the most dormant it will be before a burst of growth and all the Solieria and Thyme knit together. Three multi stem trees including Acer japonicum 'Aconitifolium' and Heptacodium miconioides will give the garden height and enclosed the patio in summer. 🏵️
This Kentish Town garden was planted late last year and is settling in nicely even in the depths of winter. Lots of natural textures with stableyard cobbles, hand-dressed stone steps and self-binding gravel create a calming space to sit around the fire-pit.
The floating stone steps will eventually have a green tapestry of Saxifraga, Pulmonaria, wild strawberries and ferns knitted together up the sides.
The idea was to have as much space for planting as possible, keeping an existing cherry tree and adding crab apples and an Amelanchier.
Stepping stones with mind-your-own-business and violas creeping in-between and a reclaimed water trough create beautiful focal features that will be in full-view from the house.
Can't wait to see how the planting grows and develops over the summer 🌿
Build: @wilder_landscapes
Gravel Green Roof. Back to check on this front garden roof planted up earlier in the year. Using a mix of small plugs and seeds the planting has really come into its own this October. The Californian poppies have seeded and bloomed. The Euphorbia and Tulbaghia are already looking at home. Even though it's a wild look the colours, textures and silvery tones create cohesion and I love how different it feels to the standard sedum roof. All it needs now is some patience as the existing plants seed around and acclimatise to the hot, dry conditions and some simple editing.
The entangled courtyard planted a year ago. Doing really well despite a brutal first growing season. In midsummer Thymus 'Pink Chitz' carpeted the garden and the Scabiosa and Geranium 'Rozanne' have been flowering for months. Clematis 'Comtesse de Bouchard' is in full bloom on the back wall. The Amelanchiers are starting to turn their burnt red autumnal colour 🍂
I got married in the field next to my parents garden. After a hot summer and a hosepipe ban it meant that some of the flowers my mum had worked so hard to grow had gone over. DIY wedding flowers and floristry is no mean feat!
A second flush of wild carrot and hawthorn trees full of berries were the perfect backdrop to an end of summer wedding. A group effort to fill the bud vases and vintage bottles I had trawled through auctions to find.
Flowers were topped up by visits to local flower farms @bloominggreen and @nate_moss so that all the flowers were grown in Kent. Apart from the gypsophila in my hair!
Down the road I had a flying visit to @palmstead where I picked up plants in bloom that fit the scheme and clumped them still in their pots around the guide ropes. Lucky lingering guests got to take them home the day after.
Beautiful watercolour pear name places and table numbers by @madebymaika .
Thankful for very talented friends!
Around the poles we cut and tied plum and hawthorn that had self-seeded in my parents garden.
Willow rings were stuffed with wheelbarrows full of foraged clematis, hops, grape vines, ivy and wild roses from my parents scrub, perfect to ceilidh under at night.
Walking through the garden I grew up in to get married was a magical way to end a long summer ☀️
Photos by @dav.sear
First photo by @beanstudioslondon
