The Handsome Gardener

Home
United Kingdom
Knutsford
The Handsome Gardener

�The Old Post Office garden makeover�
�triumphs & fails�
~Wildlife Friendly �
~Sustainable & Organic ��

11/06/2024

I brought the hydrangea sculptures back from Le Jardin Le Point Du Jour, an hour east of Paris, as an anniversary gift for my wife.

They are her favourite flower (1st equal with peonies I think).

I think for once I actually favour the sculptures to the real thing, although I must admit there are a handful of varieties that are trying to change my mind about that recently!

I like to use garden sculpture in a subtle way, trying to blend them within the planting rather than making them the star attraction. I’ve always loved the romance of an abandoned garden, a la The Secret Garden, where nature has started to take over again - that’s the feel I go for, a garden teetering on the edge of natural chaos (and occasionally crossing that line!).

There are a handful of other pieces dotted across the garden, all acting as subtle points of interest rather than the focal point at this time of year.

They really step up in the winter as they become crucial structure alongside the evergreens while everting else dies back to the ground.

Are you a fan of sculpture in the garden? or do you prefer it left as the plants’ domain?

🗿

29/02/2024

Maybe 2024 will be the year I actually get to taste a peach from the stone-grown tree in my greenhouse.

It has flowered and fruited for a couple of years now, but I am often away at crucial points in the year that mean I have missed out on sampling a juicy, ripe fruit picked warm from the tree.
😋
To be honest, it is a true survivor. It has tolerated poor care on my part, intermittent watering and a pot that must be a couple of sizes too small for it now. Plus I’ve still not got round to dealing with the scale insect issue either, which costs the tree vigour and the occasional young branch.

Yet the blossom returns annually! and this year there is more than ever.

Maybe I will get round to giving the tree a little TLC this year…or maybe life will take over again 🤷🏻‍♂️

27/02/2024

A Malibu sunrise over the frosty front garden this morning, a scenic backdrop for the pink of the camellia.
🌅

12/02/2024

The birthday pots continue to provide a smile 🙃

After a sedentary period over winter, when they do the valuable job of providing an evergreen focal point of height & texture, they start to transform now with the hellebores in full flower and tulips starting to push through.

So far they have required very little maintenance and are now into their third year; an autumn/spring mulch, handful of bonemeal & chicken manure pellets and a refresh of the tulip bulbs are all it really takes, then I throw in a couple of floral annuals to each pot when the weather picks up and let them do their thing.

With pots, I think bigger is better, even in small spaces. These guys stand at around 3ft tall and have enough space in them to create some interesting perennial combinations. Because of their size, they are much more tolerant to variations in weather and can handle themselves just fine if you take a short summer holiday too.

I filled them 1/2 - 2/3 with rubble before adding the compost on top. No point in wasting good money on expensive compost that roots will never reach, plus it helps prevent frost damage that can be cause by expansion & contraction of waterlogged substrates.

They improve my view from the kitchen window everyday 😁

02/02/2024

Hot, buttered crumpet with candy-stripe leaves. Maybe I shouldn’t write captions when I’m hungry.
😋
It is nice to see the crocuses opening up though. There have been years gone by where they have remained resolutely closed, resembling tiny light bulbs💡 for the whole season.
☀️
Crocus flowers display a controlled movement known as ‘nyctinasty’. There are various factors that can determine movement in plants, including temperature, weather, light levels & direction and internal circadian rhythms.

My personal experience is that crocuses usually open up on warmer days when the sun is out. Apparently they close back up at night too, but I’ve never donned the headtorch and crawled around the lawn to check this for myself!
🌒
The science on nyctinasty still seems to be inconclusive, with theories ranging across possibilities such as pollen conservation when the elements are unfavourable for pollinators, protection of reproductive organs from damaging conditions and reducing scent production at times when pollination is unlikely.
🐝
However, all theories lead back to one central pillar; flowers move to increase the likelihood of successful reproduction. The extra energy cost of repeated opening & closing of petals seems to have been a fair trade to allow several of our earlier flowering species to thrive and we the gardeners can be glad of that!

💚

26/01/2024

Happy Friday 🍻 (and New Year 😬)!

The garden is showing early signs of life after winter. Snowdrops and hellebores, viburnum x bodnantense and even the first of the naturalised crocus. They’re a little floral teaser for the 2024 ahead. I’ll try and get snaps of them all to share with you soon.
📸
In the meantime here’s something a little more exotic that’s blooming in my greenhouse right now.

Bonus points for anyone who can identify it!

I’ve been growing this type of plant for the last 6 years, mostly treating it as an annual. It isn’t frost tolerant, so I need to be on my toes when cold weather is forecast. It’s really simple to propagate and in milder climates it can be a nuisance through proliferation. No risk of that over here though.

That’s enough clues for now. Any guesses?

05/09/2023

A handful of longer shots of the disorderly gardenerless garden.

It had about 3 weeks left to it’s own devices this summer. For the most part I think it has held up well and is an endorsement for the densely-planted perennial style of garden if you want something relatively low maintenance.

Some of the benefits of packing them in include almost zero weeding and absolutely zero watering (once the garden is established). This makes input from both a resource and time perspective pretty low, if you want it to be.

Then there is the ecological benefit. Having a variety of densely planted flowering perennials provides forage and shelter for a vast range of life, year-round.
🐝🪲🪱🐸🦔

No garden is zero maintenance, but if you get your plant selection right I think this style of planting can give you a lot of joy without needing too much back from you in return.

💚

16/08/2023

The other one.
💜
This is Thalictrum delavayi ‘Hewitt’s Double’. I grow alongside T. delavayi in the central island bed of the Flower Garden.

‘HD’ as a plant is similar in form to regular Thalictrum delavayi - same delicate, ferny foliage and wiry stems, same upright habit and polite manner, same airy height - but it differs in it’s flowers. Its purple clouds contain smaller, ruffled double flowers. More Pom-Pom-esque. A bit like the classic florists’ gypsophila in appearance.

I ran a poll on my Stories yesterday between regular T. delavayi and ‘Hewitt’s Double’. At the time of writing they are only separated by a single vote!

I like both, but I would always opt for T. delavayi if I could only have one. The single-flowered species is popular with insects, whilst double-flowered ‘HD’ is a human creation that offers little to pollinators.

It’s the same with all flowers; roses, dahlias, gypsophila and the rest - opt for open-flowered types to maximise the biodiversity benefit in your garden. Little choices like this can make a big impact on a small scale.

💜

12/08/2023

‘Painterly’

That was the word of the Chelsea Flower Show earlier this year. It was frequently used in reference to that remarkable garden by .

It was a garden that had magic woven through it. The palette, the space, the shapes and textures. The way it worked with the light.

From the reaction across social and printed media, it was clearly a garden that blew people away.

For me, it was a lesson. It was one of those rare moments in life when a door you didn’t even realise was there opens up and you discover there is a whole space full of new opportunities and ideas. A different way of doing things. It wasn’t like a garden I had ever seen before and it was inspirational to me. I felt the same when I first saw ’s work.

Tom’s style, Pam Lewis’s nature-focussed Sticky Wicket garden and the herbaceous combinations at were the 3 main influences for my own garden design. And occasionally I get lucky with the light and something ‘painterly’ emerges through the tangle of plants.

The problem with loving gardens so much is that one space is just never going to be enough to satisfy all those creative juices. I don’t have any space left to experiment with the new lessons I’ve learned from Sarah Price!

Anyone want to lend me theirs?!

11/08/2023

Phlox paniculata ‘Bright Eyes’ is a consistent performer in the Flower Garden.

Low maintenance, needing just one chop back a year when it loses its structure. No need to stake.

It is robust enough to withstand any border bullies trying to steal territory. At the same time it is a polite neighbour, staying upright & compact, without encroaching (or flopping) on others.

It has bulked up steadily over the years, making an easy division to dot through the border to give that aesthetically pleasing repetition.

I have a white phlox elsewhere, and given the room I would love to have lots more. One day…

👁️

10/08/2023

Something solid & simple, punching up through the floaty backdrop.

🥊

09/08/2023

If you’ve followed me for a while you’ll recognise this plant straight away.

I’ve been doing my best over the last few weeks to not just post endless pictures of Thalictrum delavayi. Nobody likes a plant bore! But I can’t let the floral year pass without sharing at least a handful.

So here’s your first - a shoal of tiny, aerial jellyfish floating through purple bubbles.

💜

Address

Knutsford
WA16 6

Website

https://tinyurl.com/YoutubeTHG

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Handsome Gardener posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to The Handsome Gardener:

Shortcuts

Want your business to be the top-listed Home Improvement Business in Knutsford?