The Helpful Horticulturist

14/01/2025

Interesting event coming up at the Design Museum on 25 March. AI is becoming more and more prevalent in everyday life - what does this mean for the future of garden design?

26/08/2024

25/08/2024

All flowers picked from allotment - photo taken last night with gorgeous sunset behind. Flowers and fresh produce sold today at the excellent

Thanks to my assistants in the stall - Mia and Ruby (and mum Alison) who did a great job telling our customers about the allotment/kitchen garden at their school and how we sell surplus produce to raise funds for their school gardening program.

Such a lovely community atmosphere and the sun was shining today. Big thank you to and (who do a very yummy bbq on Sundays!)

☀️🌸🌹🌻🪻🌼🌺🍆🍓🌱🍎

19/06/2024

I look after these gorgeous planters on Kensington High Street in my role as Urban Gardener at Opportunity Kensington - a Business Improvement District (known as a BID) which aims to improve the public realm for local businesses, residents and visitors.

It’s a fascinating role in which I’m using some of the knowledge acquired in my Geography degree for probably the first time ever (over 20 years later 😬😆).

Green infrastructure is at the intersection of Horticulture and Geography, as well as being all about cities - so it’s right up my street (literally in this job)!

17/06/2024

Check out this sensory planting - planted with the assistance of the school’s Pupil Parliament who wanted to see, smell, touch and taste the plants!

We also have a kitchen garden at the junior school with abundant produce over the summer months. We sell our excess produce at in return for a donation to the school gardening program. Thanks to for this collaboration and to who funded our polytunnel.

Many of the plants were donated by our local store or funded via our participation in the RHS Campaign for School Gardening.

Recycled wooden planters funded by Learning Through Landscapes

planting

14/04/2024

Even the ‘w**ds’ look good in spring - but what is a w**d anyway? I’m trying to embrace the so called ‘w**ds’ in my garden - they are great for biodiversity and beautiful in their own right. The bees love them!

Oh and has anyone made ??

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14/04/2024

Spring has sprung in my garden!



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02/03/2024

Spring is here at last, there are flowers literally coming out of the cracks in my garden. This Pulmonaria growing in the wall is amazing and there are pops of Primrose everywhere! Can’t wait to see all the bulbs I planted in autumn come in to flower 😍

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07/12/2023

Early winter in the garden - love the russet tones of the leaves and the old bricks of the air raid shelter🧱 🍂

🍂 🍂🍁

23/10/2023

We went to the pumpkin patch today with my little ‘helper’! We picked out a few and now they look like this 🎃 👀 🎃👀🎃👀 spooky wooky!

Happy Halloween! 👻🦇🧙‍♀️🐈‍⬛

06/10/2023

As a new sustainable garden design business in the Earlswood/Redhill/Reigate area I am looking to develop my portfolio of work in local gardens.

If you have a garden bed, an area of your garden or even a whole garden space that needs redesigning, please do get in touch (you can comment on this post or send me a private message).

I will be happy to provide a free, no obligation, one hour consultation, followed up with a mood board of ideas for your space. It is then up to you if you would like to progress with the design.

To see examples of my work please see website link in my bio.

06/10/2023

Checking on plant progress at a client’s garden yesterday - pleased to report everything thriving and starting to spill over edges just as I had planned.

Lots of bees still buzzing about in this warm weather too!
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