Floral and Hardy

Blue Foliage Plants

Following on from last week’s article concerning silver toned foliage, this week we will be covering the colour blue, and a selection of the most effective cultivars for displaying this hue. As has been mentioned previously, it is interesting to consider... Read >

Floral and Hardy’s Top Ten Drought Tolerant Plants

To help your garden cope with the hosepipe ban and our seemingly changing climate, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite drought tolerant plants: 1. Abelia grandiflora – a large, easy-to-look-after, semi-evergreen shrub - properly tended it can reach ... Read >

Ways to Cope with the Hosepipe Ban

Despite our country’s worldwide reputation for being wet and grey, last year may have been grey but certainly it wasn’t very wet and, consequently, this week a hosepipe ban comes into force in many areas. Among the uses of hoses that are banned are wateri... Read >

Divided We Stand

Plant division is one of the most common, not to mention cost effective practices that ensures consistent propagation. This means you can get new plants that are true to the original for free, and now is a good time to do it for many cultivars. In this pi... Read >

London Orchid Show

A couple of weeks ago, the RHS celebrated its London Orchid Show in fine style, exhibiting the very best of England’s cultivars and awarding those of special merit. One of the country’s most prolific growers -The Chantelle Nursery - made quite an impact o... Read >

The Bees Needs

In previous articles we’ve talked about the environmental influence that our indigenous bee population has - from flower pollination and, subsequently, propagation, to their agricultural applications - indeed they are one of the most critically needed ins... Read >

The New School is Green

In recent news it has become a point of national pride that nearly half of Britain’s schools have not only actively encouraged their students to take an interest in horticulture, but that they have made a private space on their grounds a standard as much ... Read >

There’s a Bright Golden Haze on the Meadow…

Continuing with last week’s instalment on colour based foliage, this time we’re continuing with the gold tinted medallists of our gardens. That’s right - it’s time for the amber leaves of our locality to rear their gleaming heads. 1. Choisya ternata ‘S... Read >

More than Just a Lawn

Grass - it’s one of the most common elements of any garden style, be it as a simple filler or part of a practical play space, or even an all-encompassing border to divide different plant types. The majority of gardeners will recognize its basic applicatio... Read >

Don’t Make a Folly of Foliage!

Well it was inevitable – we have run out of colour schemes for your gardens bloomers, so natural progression dictates we focus now on the foliage of a garden and how this can be tailored to suit your colour choices. As with the floral side of planting, t... Read >

Third Degree Shade

Defining the border between privacy and security is a particularly precarious balancing act, especially when you are situated in the close quarters of urban living. In our previous article concerning hedges we named a few species which could provide adequ... Read >

Tulipmania

When it comes to the world of luxury, you can’t put a price on exclusivity, and horticulture is no different. Recently Thompson and Morgan made headlines and history in their successful bidding war for the world’s rare yellow variety of snowdrop, Galanthu... Read >

Irrigation: What’s the cost?

One of the key concerns that modern gardeners face is how best to utilize one of the most important resources to their projects, that is to say water. There are a of myriad different methods that deal with this problem and each has their own benefits and ... Read >

No School like the New School

Following on from our previous article, we’ll be discussing the ‘New School’ of garden design, how it has been shaped by the current ecological climate, and also the aesthetic focus, and how this has been supplanted by the concept of the interactive garde... Read >

Green Roofing

Continuing the theme of the importance of sustainable gardens, here we will discuss what are known as ‘Green Roofs’, the different types available and why they have become such an integral part of modern horticultural planning. As one can ascertain fro... Read >