Peace, Love and Plants Ltd

04/03/2025

28/02/2025

This climbing rose occupies a north north west facing wall with plenty of overshadow from opposite trees.

The reason it flowers so well is due to a direct beam of sunlight from the south west, insulation from the wall and a detailed pruning session each January, plus mulch.....deadheading in summer too.

Roses are extraordinarily tolerant of pruning. It realaese the hormone auxin which promotes growth when emerging from dormancy.

They prefer neutral soil and can be pruned super hard or with more detail.

I never spray..I'm 100 percent organic. There's no need to stress our cells, the soil, insects.....anything.....with herbicides.

We don't truly know the harm these 'legal' chemical do to our bodies.

Son salvia are great companion plants to roses, they're excellent at helping with black spot.

22/04/2024

Summer bed prep.....

Manually w**d, remove tap roots thoroughly and brush off w**d seedlings.....feed the soil and cut back perennials.

I leave seedlings from annuals that have self sown. One lay method of understanding what might be a w**d is observing how vigorous its frequency is.

Self Seeded wildflowers, perennials etc should look different to many w**d seedlings at this point in the year. If in doubt, check photos online.

Self seeders can show up later too and packs of annual seeds are great value.. you can't go wrong with a monthly sowing of cornflowers (to August if warm!).

20/04/2024

I mainly work in the suburbs but occasionally get the call to do inner London jobs (green walls, tropical scapes etc).

Inner city temperatures can be comparatively higher by 3-5 degrees! Compared to Paris, London has few trees adorning its busy highways.

This Euphorbia and Echium planting is mostly shaded but the warmth and irrigation system moisture (not every day) keeps it looking incredible.

If you want something different to silver birches and box hedges, contact us for bespoke soft landscaping.

We are organic, sustainable and work with nature to provide stunning planting arrangements.

14/04/2024

We designed and planted this bed and an array of shady borders in a heavy clay soil garden last November.

The landscaper already added tonnes of cow manure and did a great job with drainage, the soil is showing structural improvement (Thankfully not horse manure....greater potential for herbicides passing through).

The Tulipa colour scheme looks great with Heuchera and Tiarella. Bulbs were purchased from a bio supplier (there aren't many).

Queen of The Night are making an entrance....although we can't guarantee how many years they will flower in their bred colours. So often Tulips revert to orangey-red, white and bright red.

We will be adding June-November flowering perennials soon and manually w**ding the beds every few weeks.

11/04/2024

To forage or not to forage, that is the question.

Allium ursinium, wild garlic, grows abundantly in many locations less than a mile from my home.

It self-propagates underground by bulb division and overground by self-seeding (although the former is its primary way).

If a plant is endangered or vulnerable, I would not harvest it. The pe**te cactus and in places, B. Caapi - both desired by westerners seeking enlightenment, tourists feasting without considering the wider consequences......

You don't need to travel to Mexico to switch off parts of the brain that open up spiritual doors, although I've heard there is a shortage of Shamans in the UK.

There are many fruits, herbs and vegetables that need to be picked to multiply, this is permaculture.....

Wild garlic is abundant.....I still never pick more than I need, and I am conscious about not depleting the land for my own pleasure.

I soaked a bowl in a 3 percent hydrogen peroxide solution and apple cider vinegar for about half an hour, then rinsed it.

Pesto is a good choice and freezes easily enough. I've opted for garlic butter to spread on a long ferment sourdough plus added seasoning to yemista, tzakiki and keftedes....Greek food is prized in my abode.

**te

11/04/2024

This is w**d management.....with aesthetic appeal.

Brush cutting does not clear w**ds: it prunes them and gives them more impetus to grow.

This border is tricky. To underplant successfully, an irrigation system is required, along with large quantities of resilient perennials and select shrubs.

We added many tonnes of wood chip, removed the most vigorous of w**ds from root and added a layer of light excluding material. In a couple of hours we have transformed this dry, w**dy bed into a sympathetic border.

So many suburban properties have large conifers that are not in the right place......these trees need acres of space; their roots spread as wide as they are tall.

**d

30/03/2024

Unless disastrously toxic chemicals are used, Helix hedera, common Ivy must be manually removed and managed......pick off new growth and minimise its adventitious root activity.

Even if chemicals are used, once they have poisoned the plant, ground and billions of insects, the family dog, children and other plants; the effects are not permanent. Ivy will find a way, it is one of the most resilient plants on the planet.

The weight of this root mat was too great and it began to collapse into the bed. We removed it and neatened to a point in the plant where it wasn't collapsing. We will populate the bed with interesting and vibrant evergreen shrubs.....

28/02/2024

Hellebore heaven

Under this Acer, on fairly neutral well-drained soil in the suburbs of SE London lies a blanket of Helleborus.

Shade and moisture conditions are perfect....we will remove the leaves now for aesthetic and horticultural reasons.

I've spotted four bumble bees and a few honey bees in this garden that has an abundance of sustenance for them...

We are rich in Pulmonaria too here.

18/02/2024

We have been pruning and prepping roses all January.....some needed light work, some full restoration.

Rosa are one of the most resilient plants in the garden but are also susceptible to greenfly damage, black spot and other problems that we don't treat with chemical sprays.

Our goals are to minimise damage by pests and diseases: companion planting, relocating if needed, beneficial insect boxes, soil amendments for health.

22/12/2023

We specialise in low waste and permeable landscaping solutions....

This gravel path separates a full and part-sun border that has been heavily mulched and densely planted to assist with w**d reduction.

Final additions to the planting design will go in around March.....just before the Tulips poke through.

The path was created with only the eyes as a measuring tape - gently curving in sympathy with the flower beds and existing hard landscaping.

All credit to my assistant (.nash ), who works creatively and collaboratively - this is his handywork. (My strengths are planting and horticultural jobs).

Apart from surveying the essentials (pipes, light, soil, access etc), I like to let the garden unfold with plants, curves and materials that work with nature.