Happy Place Planting and Design

09/09/2026

BINDWEED love it or hate it?

Like with most plants it's a case of is it growing in the right place? At the end of a garden or growing over a fence maybe it deserves its keep by covering an unsightly fence and importanly providing nectar for pollinators and home for some moths to lay catepillars. Though (imo) growing in flower beds amongst wanted perennials and shrubs it's not the one.

Field and Hedge bindweed are classed as UK native wild flowers and habr grown here for literally 1000's of years. Most of us will either have it in some quantity in our gardens or certainly have seen it growing wildly. The plants can grow up to 3m tall climbing and smothering wanted plants as it grows. If left to its own devices it curls up the stems of plants taking control and eventually strangling the plant 😭 (sad times)

There are two ways to tackle it in the main they are either the DIG or SMOTHER methods.

I prefer the dig which is what I have done today in a clients garden. Using a fork or my hori hori knife to get beneath as much of the white root as possible and gently teasing it out. This will not eradicate it as the root system is vast and goes deep underground, but over time (years) with a consistent approach of removing on sight the plant as it pops it's head above the soil, will weaken it. You can lay cardboard then add compost or mulch but bindweed WILL grow back through. If you have a bare soil space with it growing in you can smother it by laying a tarp for a long period of time which will starve it of light and water. Again it will not eradicate it but when you pull the tarp back you will easily see the clusters of then white bindweed to be able to dig it out. If it is growing through a flower bed it will no doubt be growing through the roots of your wanted planted so you could at this time of year lift them and remove any visible root before replanting.

What to do with the roots? Don't add them to compost piles but store for a year in a black bag or leave in sunlight to brown.

Just keep tackling it, don't give up or lose faith our wanted plants need us to give them a hand.

How do you tackle bindweed?

08/09/2026

Autumn is such a great time to plan for and plant/replant a garden, even into the Winter months so long as the ground isn't frozen.

Have you thought about wanting to make improvements to your garden for 2027? Are you moving home? Did your garden suffer in the Summer drought? If you are based in the Worcestershire up to Halesowen, Birmingham area, please do get in touch as I would love to and can help you with your garden goals.

If now isn't the right time to plant for you but you would like for planting to take place in Spring 2027 then let's chat too. I offer a free 30 minute consultation and can walk you through the plant planning/design process specifically for your garden.

Because the right plants planted in the right place will make a garden that extra bit special ✨️

Email me at: [email protected] or drop me a DM

Let's make your 2027 garden spectacular! 💚

09/08/2026

Here is an update to the kitchen and estate garden taken on Friday.

This is an ongoing project to redesign planting areas and to reinvigorate the whole kitchen garden. I've worked onsite since mid-May for a day or 2 a week with another gardener who is focused more on grounds maintenance. 12wks down the line it felt a good point to step back and take in what had been changed for the better.

My clients are waiting on a garden design to improve on the hardscaping so further changes will happen and the kitchen garden will be planted with seeds I have sown and grown on for 2027. The planting in the main central border is more Summer focused versus the planting across the front of the house being more Spring focused with Summer flowering plants coming through. 4 trees were added this week 🌳 and we are creating a wildlife area in the grounds with the wood we are moving from across the garden.

Its a great project and one that will see us work on the compost bays, meadow, back half of the long border and the walled garden borders through the Autumn/Winter months along with looking to add a more automated watering system for 2027.

Section by section improvements are being made, starting with improving the overall soil health to support moisture retention and healthy plant growth for the future with a focus on increasing the number of drought tolerant plants in the garden.

Whether you've a large garden or a more modest space, if you are looking to improve or add to your current planting scheme, soil health or enhance the enjoyment you get from your garden for next year please get in touch with me. Autumn/Winter plant designs can be brought to life well in time for 2027 ✨️🌻

01/08/2026

I loved working within this Worcestershire garden last week. For wonderful clients Karen & Bill who enjoy gardening but knew they wanted to completely transform the space they had inherited when they moved into their home in late 2025. Transforming it from overgrown and tired to colourful, interesting and polinator friendly 🐝 🦋

It all started back in May with a hope for change, that I got down on paper by way of a plant plan and mood board so that my clients could see and get a feel for my vision from our initial consultation, then the installation was booked in. I started out by clearing the space and trimming back several bushes and trees, sadly we had to remove 2 small shrubs that had seen better days before getting to work on installing the new planting scheme into a fresh layer of high quality compost, topped with mulch to retain moisture, creating this warm and inviting space.

It was immediate from the plants arriving to when the bees and butterflies found them, its really quite remarkable how this happens 🐝🦋

Please get in contact with me and book your free 30 minute consultation. If you are looking to achieve more enjoyment from your garden for Autumn and into 2027. I am taking bookings for plant plan/designs from September onwards and can book installations for planting anytime from Autumn into Winter and Spring 2027.

also offer support on plant aftercare and can offer an ongoing maintenance service on plant installations.

*plant plan costing dependent on the size of the space to be designed

Planting for real people with real gardens, let's create your happy place 💚

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23/07/2026

22/07/2026

Lets talk about super thirsty plants planted in the ground 🥵

We are now in day 32+ of no rain in the UK so it is no surprise that our gardens are showing signs of stress.

Do not fear if you have certain plants looking limp, these just need a little extra tlc. By directing water to the base of a plant you are watering the roots which is exactly what plants need to maintain health through dry periods. For particularly thirsty plants this deep watering might need to be repeated for a few days until the foliage rises again telling you that normal service can resume.

Not all plants require deep watering and drought tolerant plants such as salvias, lavender, sedum, geraniums, nepeta and what was formally known as perovskia will cope much better than thirsty plants like hydrangeas and roses. Observing your plants and getting to know them will help you to ID what they need. You can trim off any crisp and dry bits and if needed prune super struggling browned perennials to the base to allow them to recover from the root upwards and send up fresh growth, yes this will eliminate flowers for a while but saving the plant is what is crucial.

Mulching your soil is probably one of the best gifts you can give to your garden as not only does mulch act to retain moisture in dry periods it will reduce weeds and in Winter protect roots from frost. You can use specific mulch products, bark chips, well rotted garden compost or mineralised straw products, whatever you can get your hands on and though mulching is recommended for Spring and Autumn there is never a wrong time to mulch, just water before application.

The key is not to panic and to water deeply every 2-3 days in hot periods rather than sparingly on a daily basis as this will force the roots to go down deeper, ultimately creating stronger plants ☺️

Let me know in the comments if this helps 🙏

14/07/2026

A client installation from September 2025 revisited with more planting added to borders and containers today.

I first visited Lynn and Ranauld's garden back in Summer 2025, it was a beautiful large space, benefiting from a row of large conifers having been removed though lacking in planting personality. Lynn entrusted the plant design to me, just requesting for fairly low maintenance planting and some colour to be added.

I installed black powder coated steel edging from Woven Wood UK 🌱 to create a curved long border to both sides of the garden, it now has a chamomile lawn creeping from it. Trees including 2 sorbus, a cersis 'forest pansy' and a continus were added to grow on to offer privacy in the future, with flowering or foliage shrubs and plants such as daphnes, pittosporum, camellias, heucheras, forsythia, black lace sambuca and ferns for colour, year round interest and all spaced for them to grow into the gaps over time. Tomorrow a multistem Amalanchier Lamarkii is going in positioned to offer screening from the neighbours when the family are sat in their Summer patio.

It's a real pleasure to step into this garden now, and even more so to see how much joy this space brings to Lynn and her family.

Today 3 large planters from Planters.co.uk positioned around the summer patio area were planted up with salvia yangii (formally perovskia), nepeta, geums, verbena santos and stipa tenuissuma, the wonder being that bees and butterflies immediately found the plants and were flying all over the garden 'plant and they shall come'.

Supporting clients to add life into their outdoor space by way of planting and attracting wildlife, is also about creating a feeling or an experience which ultimately brings happiness for many years to come as plants settle in and mature. Lynn has since caught the gardening bug and is now adding plants into her garden, which makes me very happy to see.

If you're looking to add life into your garden or to change the planting you have and are based in or around please do get in touch with me for a free 30 minute consultation, many thanks Sam ☺️

19/06/2026

A week in a few photos 🌸

What a fantastic and busy week this has been, out every day in 4 client gardens, lots of new planting added, revisited 3 previous client installations, 2 new projects secured 🎊 and another soon to go into the plant design stage plus bumped into Giles • Eco Gardening • Worcester 🌱 and had a great catch up with Gardens By James Dobson

Feeling so very thankful for all of the opportunities offered to me and Happy Place Planting and Design given my business is not quite 9 months old it's a blessing to share my passion for plants with such lovely people across Worcestershire and to make their garden their happy place. Plus its a pleasure to be able to work with wonderful clients and peers in the industry, thanks to Paul Nicholson for your support this week and to Max a quality local tree surgeon it's always a great working day when your tunes are playing.

Now for some rest and relaxation, time in my own garden and an inspiring visit to GW Live on Sunday to see the borders, show gardens and plant exhibitor friends.

I am currently open to plant design bookings with installations available from mid-August onwards.

Please do get in touch if you are based in or around Worcestershire and wish to give your garden a glow up whether this year or into 2027 ✨️
Email: [email protected] or DM me

Have a wonderful weekend all, Sam 💚

17/06/2026

Nice front garden revamp project completed for lovely clients in Worcester this week.

The client brief was to open up the space by removing the deep laurel hedging that blocked the view of the road when reversing their car from the drive, using low maintenance, compact shrubs.

Plants added
🪴 Pittosporum 'Tom Thumb' and
🪴 Nandina 'Obsessed' both supplied by Fullbrook Nursery
🪴 Nandina'Twilight' supplied by St Peters Garden Centre

12 laurels were removed, chipped and the stumps dug out, my root slayer came in handy! Then 700L of a high quality compost/soil conditioner from Equigrow was added before planting. The pittosporum will, over a few years create a low lying evergreen hedge and the nandinas are now my clients favourite plants 😊

Also gave the choiysas, spireas and santolina a tidy up, they will all resettle and thicken up now the laurels are not pushing against them and dominating the light.

Looking forward to seeing this area mature, thanks to Veronica and Andrew for entrusting this project to me 💚

And thanks to Max for working with me to get the laurels out.

If you've a garden in in need of some tlc, new planting or a total overhaul/plant redesign please get in touch.

13/06/2026

This garden project is moving forward well now. This is the top section of a 36m long border that had not been maintained for several years but forms the focal point from the house through to the families Summer dining area so was well deserved of its glow up.

The first stage was to clear the ground by removing all perennial weeds and a hardy geranium that had all but taken over the space. Fresh compost was dug in and the bergenia taken back and relocated elsewhere in the garden. The decision was taken to dig out a tree that was sadly rotten and overcome by pests to make space for a stunning eucalyptus and a black lace elderflower.

The new planting scheme I designed with warmth, interest and pollinators in mind was then planted up adding texture and visual impact. The next step is to mulch this area to retain moisture and hold back the weeds and for my client to enjoy this area as it matures over time.

If you are looking to change your garden view and planting or to add planting borders, please do get in touch, I am able to offer plant designs now for installations from August onwards now. DM me or get in touch via [email protected] 🪴🌸