This month I want to explain a little about how we put together a planting display. Now is the time of year when it feels everything is growing at its best and everything is out in flower. It’s sunny and the plants still have enough ground reserves of water left over from the winter. To help preserve that moisture we plant different species closely together. One might imagine that this would bring about competition but in actual fact plants tend to grow better when they have plenty of others...

As we head into the final month of spring the garden feels much more like summer as many of the roses start into flower after some warm dry weeks. Much of the fruit blossom has now disappeared as the trees get on with the job of developing fruit ready for the summer and autumn. As always the loquats will be the first across the finish line, with the other greenhouse trees - the nectarine, figs, peach and apricot, following closely behind. As these plants go about their work quietly and...

The start of the year sees the flushes of colour from early flowers such as snowdrops and daffodils, with the emerging foliage of plants helping to create an optimistic tone. However it is in April that the blousier flowers begin to emerge en masse. If you love your tulips then this is a wonderful time of the year. Flowers in this month will often utilise those pioneer insects such as bumblebees to help them pollinate, and dandelions are a useful source of pollen; these combined factors...