Author Archives: yourgardenpartner

Borders, and a shed for the Autumn

Posted on October 2, 2012

I’ve just come back from Yorkshire – the South Pennines, Brontë country – a wonderful landscape of moors and hills studded with stone-built towns and villages and mills- some abandoned, some still in use adapted to modern industry, converted to … Continue reading →

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A garden by the sea

Posted on June 12, 2012

If seaside gardening is meant to be difficult, and limit the choice of plants, Gertrude Jekyll didn’t know. You can hardly get more ‘seaside’ than Lindisfarne, the Holy Island of Northumbria, for most of the day there is sea nearby … Continue reading →

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The beauty of small things

Posted on April 3, 2012

The weather has been so glorious the last few weeks that my eyes have been drawn skywards – the glory of magnolias blossoming early against the clear blue skies of late March, the Clematis armandii (the species, and ‘Appleblossom’) in my garden … Continue reading →

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Hortus conclusus, The Serpentine Pavillion 2011

Posted on October 10, 2011

Sitting here on a wild October day, watching 40 mph gusts of wind blow through the birches round my garden, it is lovely to remember the shelter and intimacy of Peter Zumthor’s 2011 Serpentine Pavillion – a Hortus conclusus of … Continue reading →

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Gardens of the Real Alcazar, part 2

Posted on July 2, 2011

The ‘historic’ gardens of the Real Alacazar, which I wrote about in first part of this blog are all to do with close integration of indoor and outdoor space in Moorish/Mudejar design. Close to the palace there is a wall … Continue reading →

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Paradise indeed – The Gardens of the Real Alcazar, Seville, part 1

Posted on June 18, 2011

If you want to understand the long-term influence of the Islamic garden on European garden styles, a visit to the Real Alcazar of Seville will give you both a master class in design history and a walk-through lesson that will … Continue reading →

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Wildlife plant for January – the Winter aconite, Eranthis hyemalis

Posted on January 21, 2011

The Winter aconite, Eranthis hyemalis, is one of the earliest perennials to flower in the new year, often flowering before or at the same time as the earliest snowdrops.  This early habit alone would earn it a place in many … Continue reading →

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Holly for Christmas

Posted on December 18, 2010

In wildlife tree of the month for December I wrote about the native holly,  Ilex aquifolium – and how I was going to experiment with using holly as a Christmas tree this year. My idea is to use a containerised … Continue reading →

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Wildlife plant for December – Hedera helix

Posted on December 15, 2010

Well, it had to be really, didn’t it? With holly -Ilex aquifolia – as the wildlife tree for December, it would have been difficult not to follow on with its partner in poetry, song, and carol, the Ivy – Hedera … Continue reading →

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Wildlife tree for December, Ilex aquifolium – your next Christmas Tree ?

Posted on December 5, 2010

Before we were introduced to the Norweigan Spruce as our ‘Christmas Tree’ English households would use evergreen holly, laden with berries as a Christmas decoration. In Christian times the holly berries came to be seen as symbolic of the blood … Continue reading →

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