This month I want to look at structure in the garden because it is in the winter that it is most visible and has to do much of the heavy lifting with regards to the garden aesthetics. What is structure? In this instance we are referring to the permanent/semi-permanent elements within the garden that denote pockets of space, dictate how you move about and experience the garden, and often give a stylistic context to everything else within the garden. These can be built elements such as...

As the landscape is alight with fiery colour at present, it seems a good moment to examine why some plants change colour in the autumn, and lose their leaves, and indeed why others don’t.  Firstly though why do plants have leaves, what do they do? Plants unlike animals are able to synthesise their own food/energy stores, and the leaves are the main areas of energy harvesting.  Through the process of Photosynthesis plants are able to combine molecules of WATER and CARBON DIOXIDE into SUGAR and...

As gardeners you may think that winter is the time to start thinking about next year’s garden and planning the jobs ahead. Certainly it...