Get Your Garden Touched by the Design-Hands of the Greatest Gardeners of our Time – Without the Expense of Meeting Them
Get Your Garden Touched by the Design-Hands of the Greatest Gardeners of our Time – Without the Expense of Meeting Them
Critically Acclaimed Gardening Greats: John Brookes (MBE), Noel Kingsbury, & Michael King, Launch New Online Courses with MyGardenSchool to Propagate Gardening Excellence Globally.
Perhaps the most influential living landscape designer of our time, John Brookes MBE, is launching two new online garden design courses with the world’s first virtual gardening school – MyGardenSchool.. The new gardening courses - ‘Design Your Own Small Garden’ and ‘Design Your Own Large Garden- are designed to enable enthusiasts across the globe create their own designer gardens under John Brookes’ careful guidance. . Both design courses start in May to coincide with the Chelsea Flower Show (and then run the first Saturday of every month). They are bookable now via the MyGardenSchool website. Brookes’ two new courses: enable students, wherever they live in the world, to produce their own garden designs, with the help of expert tuition, and a little of the John Brookes magic. Brookes’ existing MyGardenSchool garden design course has proven to be a great success over the last year with both aspiring garden designers and enthusiastic amateurs alike.
Brookes explained “The ‘virtual’ teaching method I use at MyGardenSchool simply works. I enjoy it because it gives me an exciting and eclectic classroom, with students from as far afield as the US, Japan, Croatia and Holland. Students love it because they can benefit from my personal tuition, and personalised garden plans, without the inconvenience, and cost (to both themselves and the planet) of having to travel to get them. MyGardenSchool enables me to teach, and for students to learn, from the comfort of our own homes. Of course this also enables us to keep costs down, which means the students get incredible value for money, and come away with a designer garden at the end of their courses, which will hopefully give them pleasure for years to come.’
Joining Brookes in launching new MyGardenSchool courses are Michael King and Noel Kingsbury. Both acclaimed gardening authors, they have collaborated with Dutch designer and plantsman Piet Oudolf, on seminal planting design books. Michael King has spent the last twenty years living in the Netherlands where he writes, designs and gardens. His new MyGardenSchool course on Designing with Grasses will be available in late Spring/Early summer.
Best known for his ecological or naturalistic approach to planting design, Noel Kingsbury has written some 20 books on various aspects of plants and will be launching a course on Perennial Planting in the Late Summer/Autumn. International writer, and acclaimed plantsman and lecturer, Noel Kingsbury has developed this online gardening course to teach you new ways of planting design with perennials. Noel takes you through a broad look at a variety of contemporary approaches to using perennials, with a particular focus on naturalistic approaches. The course provides a particularly strong theoretical basis, but with plenty of plant variety tables provided for helping you choose plants.
Noel is a great advocate of a new way of using perennials that works with – rather than against – nature. On the course, Noel explores how to make planting schemes designed to suit the existing condition of your own garden, covering a wide range of temperate zone climates; for example if your soil is poor and fast draining, he will guide you through the basic principles of choosing plants which not only survive but flourish in these conditions.
Noel has made a particular study of contemporary European planting styles, and has collaborated on several books with leading designer Piet Oudolf, so he is in the best position possible to outline how to make successful planting designs which combine structure, a long season of interest, support for bio-diversity and sustainability – reducing or eliminating irrigation and minimizing maintenance. Noel Kingsbury shows how it’s done from first principles. A one off opportunity to get personal tuition from a world expert in perennial planting.
This means your garden can now be touched by the design-hands of the greatest landscape designers or horticultural writers of our time – without the costs associated with meeting them in person.
Elspeth Briscoe, Founder of MyGardenSchool added: “We’re launching the new John Brookes design courses to co-incide with The Chelsea Flower Show. Chelsea inspires a global audience to turn its attention to its own outside space, but sometimes people need that extra guidance to see it through the design and implementation phase. We’re also very excited to have Noel Kingsbury and Michael King teaching with us – imagine having their advice on your own garden, without even having to leave home to get it. ”
She added: “MyGardenSchool aims to provide the best authors and designers in the gardening industry with a global stage on which to share their knowledge – and gardening enthusiasts, wherever they live, with a place to go to get first class teaching in their homes. We are the facilitators, fulfilling a hunger for high quality gardening expertise online in the global market”
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About John Brookes, MBE.
John Brookes MBE FSGD has designed and built well over 1000 gardens during a career spanning 50 years. His extensive portfolio includes traditional English gardens both formal and informal, modern, minimalist, Islamic and wild gardens. He has won numerous awards throughout his career including 4 Gold medals at Chelsea, and recently the Garden Media Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. John is also a successful and prolific author, having written 24 best-selling books, and countless articles for newspapers and magazines. He lectures on garden design in UK and overseas and runs a design school in Argentina.
About Michael King
Michael’s passion for gardens and plants started in his teens and lead to a university degree in botany and microbiology in Great Britain. A career in finance, lead to the position of Secretary to the Board of Trustees of the world famous Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.. For the past twenty years Michael has lived in the Netherlands were he, writes, designs and gardens. His first two books, written jointly with Piet Oudolf, revealed how to use ornamental grasses and other perennials in the new naturalistic gardens. In all Michael’s books the emphasis is on how to use plants to best effect in a garden’s design.
About Noel Kingsbury
Noel is internationally known as a writer – about plants, gardens and the environment. He teaches and lectures, and is also a garden/planting designer and horticultural consultant. Best-known for his promotion of what is broadly called an ecological or naturalistic approach to planting design, Noel’s written some 20 books on various aspects of plants and gardens, two of them in collaboration with Dutch designer and plantsman Piet Oudolf. Over the years Noel has written for Gardens Illustrated, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Garden, Hortus and many other publications.
About MyGardenSchool
MyGardenSchool is the world’s first online gardening school where students can learn from gardening experts about how to do absolutely everything in the garden from keeping bees or hens, landscaping, design, growing vegetables and herbs, building treehouses or growing the perfect roses. And everything in between. All of our tutors are outstanding in their field (and gardens), being accomplished gardeners and acclaimed gardening writers. Gardening courses are four weeks long, and video tutorials are delivered weekly, together with course notes and assignments assessed by your tutor. You also get to chat to your tutor online, as well as your classmates, in the ‘virtual classroom’. MyGardenSchool will teach you everything about gardening – virtually. But don’t take our word for it – check out our course pages here: (http://www.my-garden-school.com/courses/)
Floriade 2012 – First Impressions from Michael King
Floriade 2012 – First Impressions from Michael King
Every ten years an international garden festival takes place in the Netherlands called Floriade. It is open from spring until October 7 and this time it is situated in Venlo, in the south of Holland, near to the German border.I visited two weeks ago to find out what was there and to catch the tulip plantings which are a particular passion of mine.I was not disappointed, the tulips were good and the extensive perennial plantings throughout the site looked promising as most were clearly planted a year or more in advance of the opening.
The site is organized into a number of different themed areas which are linked by a cable car. Even when making use of this, you should still plan a full day of walking to see everything even without spending much time in the many exhibition pavilions sprinkled throughout the extensive site.
All photographs copyright Michael King.
You will find a more comprehensive report on what I found there on my web blog at www.perennialmeadows.com ; what you see here are a few photographs to give you and impression of what’s on offer.
Anyone planning a visit to the Netherlands this summer or passing through on their way to Germany should certainly try and find a day for Floriade 2012. I shall be returning a couple more times as the seasons unfold to report on progress. These will all appear on www.perennialmeadows.com
Gutter Gardening
Gutter Gardening
We have all heard of Window Boxes but what about Gutter Gardening?
Alaskan resident SUZANNE FORSLING has come up with a novel way to grow her salad vegetables
Suzanne was faced with some fairly uniquely difficult environmental and climatic circumstances; include frozen soil, (she lived near a glacier) shade, and slugs, not to mention porcupines, cats and the odd marauding bear.
Only one side of her house ever got any sun, as the rest of the garden was shaded by trees. After several months of sleeping on the problem, she awoke one morning with the idea of using drain pipe as window boxes.
Having run the idea past her husband Pete, they set off to the local DIY store and bought some “attractive” blown plastic guttering with and caps and fasteners. Pete drilled a few small drainage holes in the bottom.
Suzanne filled them with a mixture of soil based compost and slow release fertilizer and sowed her seed directly into them. She says she has to water carefully so as not to damage the wall, but now has a very successful crop of Simpson lettuce ,mixed lettuce, French breakfast radish, Swiss chard, beets and turnips.
We say “Congratulations Suzanne for being so creative”. This idea not only looks good, but is practical and productive. If you are short on space, or have a limited growing area, then why not try out Suzanne’s idea and start you’re own Gutter Garden.
Blog, Container gardening, Grow Your Own Food, Self Sufficiency, Vegetable Gardening
Great Places to Buy Plants and Seeds Online
Great Places to Buy Plants and Seeds Online
Where can you buy plants and seeds online?
Mr Fothergills Direct – is one of the UKs quite traditional suppliers of flower and vegetable seeds and plants backed with traditional family values – they assure quality and service They have a reasonably good range, and also stock plenty of bedding plants and perennials, flower and vegetable seed, fruit and seed potatoes all available through catalogues or online. They offer free delivery on all seed only orders, two packets of free seed plus free seed sowing guide with every order of five packets of seed or more. Mr Fothergill’s Direct claims to one of the most extensive ranges in the UK
This site is for those of you wanting to perfect growing fruit and vegetables They claim to sell everything you need for your garden or allotment, offering great quality and value for money. They offer a good range of vegetable seeds, potatoes, onions, garlic, vegetable plants, soft fruit and fruit trees all available through catalogues or online. Free delivery on seed only orders, plus a free packet of trial seeds and labels with every order, plus great potato and fruit tree promotions.
With over 200 years of gardening knowledge and expertise, Suttons Seeds have built an solid reputation for quality products and services. Whether you are looking to grow your own vegetables or create a spectacular flower display to picking your own fruit in your garden, you are likely to find what you need here. Also worth checking for deals – as their volume is high, so they do good reductions. Equally good for veg and flowers.
Established as a producer of tulip and daffodil bulbs in 1973, Van Meuwen diversified into mail order in 1977. Today Van Meuwen is a horticultural mail order specialist – they work hard to ensure you receive good quality plants and bulbs in existing varieties direct to your home. A good global outlook – they claim ‘ our buyers are on a constant search for new and exclusive ideas from all parts of the world allowing us to bring you top quality and exciting products at affordable prices’.
Crocus is the only gardening website that specialises in plants (rather than seeds). They sell everything else you’ll need for the garden, but plants are their thing. Crocus prides itself on being able to offer you the biggest choice of plants in the UK. To give you an example, a good garden centre can give you around 400 plant varieties to choose from. Crocus offers over 4,000. They are also considered of high quality (although prices reflect this), and they do supply some of the gardens for The Chelsea Flower Show.
Dobies have been supplying flower and vegetable seeds direct to gardeners since 1880, starting in the Chester area, and for over fifty years now, to customers throughout the UK. Like many online suppliers – they are really a catalogue business which has gone online. They offer the largest range of young annual plants available by post, plus bulbs, fruit and garden equipment. Dobies have been awarded the coveted “Best Buy” Seed Supplier by Which? Gardening with “an impressive 91% of seed producing healthy seedlings.
Nickys seeds gives ideas and inspirations for the edible garden, patio pots and hanging baskets. They supply quality garden seeds for hanging baskets, containers, flower garden, landscaping, ornamental garden, vegetable garden and greenhouses at competitive prices. Nicky’s claims you can “Grow all your favourite rare and unusual garden plants from seeds”.
Seeds include a good range of garden vegetables from seed inc: chillies, tomato seed, Oriental vegetable seed, heirloom vegetable seed, organic vegetable and baby leaf seed.
Marshalls is very established and has a good reputation, and a wide range of seed and plant products across the board. Importantly they give a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.
“Should anything fail to meet your expectations when delivered or (given reasonable care and protection against infestation, disease and unsatisfactory weather conditions) should any item fail to grow satisfactorily, you can be certain we’ll put it right. We will provide a replacement or refund, together with helpful, friendly advice.”
Unwins still maintains very much a family brand which includes customer care. Also an excellent range. In their words’: “Every operation – from sowing, through “roguing” (the elimination of off-types), to harvesting and sorting – is performed by hand. Seed is hand-picked into an apron-pouch and emptied into clearly-labelled sacks supported by metal tripods. On arrival at Unwins’ premises in Britain, the seeds are then tested for vigour and their powers of germination in the company’s seed testing laboratory, prior to packeting.”
A great convenience site – as it’s all also available on Amazon. The company is highly automated which means that your order can be processed swiftly and with no loss of quality due to cumbersome procedures. “We deliver effectively from Soil To Soil in just a matter of days. We have a super modern warehouse and thousands of square meters of greenhouses situated right in the middle of Holland’s famous bulb fields.”
Jersey Plants Direct are an internet and mail order plant company. They sell a year round range of Jersey grown bedding plants, perennials, shrubs, vegetable plants and seeds, bulbs and gardening accessories. Free delivery as well which is a bonus.
Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of catalogues and the operation of an award-winning website, Good place to get really good discounts and offers too.
Greenfingers has a large customer base, and is an internet only company. So is well set up for deliveries and dispatch. From the homepage – it is probably fair to say that greenfingers specialise in garden products, such as furniture, more than plants and seeds. But they do sell both – so worth a browse.
Good quality plants from here. And great stock clearance sales as well. This website is better looking than many others – and gives some inspiration on what to plant. It appears to be well thought out, and being run by one of the UK’s largest garden centre groups, has a good heritage.
Sarah Raven is more orientated to the garden design community, and does have lovely plants and planting combinations – but at a price. Shop here for your top choices and you won’t be disappointed. In her words “All our seeds, bulbs and plants have to not only look or taste fantastic but they must also be productive. Sarah trials her veg and flowers at her Perch Hill Farm and only those items that have stood the test of time will make it into our range, so you’ll be able to enjoy them for years to come.”
*This list is based on UK suppliers, some of which supply globally. This is simply because these are some of the most established. We will also shortly be looking at online suppliers by country and other global suppliers.
Allotment Gardening, April, Blog, Bulbs, Garden Design, Grow Your Own, Grow Your Own Food, Planting Design, Roses, Spring
Three Things We Must Do – To Save The Bees, Ourselves And The Planet
Three Things We Must Do – To Save The Bees, Ourselves And The Planet
The call to ‘save the bees’ has done a couple of circuits of the globe now and to those who can see the bigger picture, this crisis highlights issues that affect not just bees, but the entirety of life on Earth. It is becoming clear that we need to change our ways.
Here are three things – the ABC – I believe we need to re-think most urgently:
Agriculture – chemical farming is the number one killer of bees and birds, by pesticide poisoning and by herbicidal destruction of wild food sources. We need GM crops like we need to get hooked on heroine: the agri-chem-GM model is exactly that of the drug pusher, with promises of a better life turning to dust as the price rises with every dose and not-so-veiled threats if you consider kicking the habit. If you are gullible enough to believe the GM industry’s sales pitch, I have some beach-front property in Arizona you may be interested in.
There is plenty of food for everyone: the problem is lack of education and the politics of distribution. Learning to grow healthy food – along with principles of nutrition – should be as integral to a child’s education as learning to read. If you think more GM or more pesticides is the answer, then you are asking the wrong question. If you think massive grain monocultures can solve the problem of starvation in Africa or Bangladesh, then you have not been paying attention to reports of crop failures in Texas.
Biodiversity – is nature’s way. Mono-cropping may be cheap in the short term, but in the long term it is incalculably expensive, both to the health of the soil and of the people. Organic gardening is the way forward – nobody sprays the jungle, yet it feeds millions of creatures. Permaculture, forest gardening, aquaponics, all have a part to play in our future of abundance for all, if we kick the grain habit in favour of a multi-layered, many-flavoured, vegetable-based diet with wild and free-range protein supplements.
Conservation – Wild places are the lungs and kidneys and liver of the planet: they purify, recycle and replenish and we need more of them. Natural habitats must be conserved and protected and re-created where they are lacking. Nowhere have we ever truly improved on nature. Alongside this radical ABC, we also need to re-think beekeeping, which provides a metaphor for our overall treatment of nature since Victorian times. We have been taught to put bees in boxes designed not for their convenience but rather for ours, while applying medications designed to mask the problems we have created for them. We have shipped them around to service the mono-crops we have decided we needed – contrary to their natural world of diversity and naturally-evolved flora.
We all must now take responsibility for the abuse suffered by the planet and work to make it a better place for us and for the bees.
Phil Chandler is a tutor at MyGardenSchool, where he teaches a course in Natural Beekeeping For Gardeners. He has devoted his life to the plight of the declining British honeybee, and is author of The Barefoot Beekeeper, a book that champions sustainable, low-impact, low-cost, chemical-free, small-scale, ‘organic’, natural beekeeping, using simple equipment that almost anyone can make at home. http://www.biobees.com/
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Unwins Book of Bulbs
Unwins Book of Bulbs helps you to choose the right flowerbulbs for your home and garden, and tells you when to buy them. It tells you how to plant your bulbs – how deep, how far apart, indoors or outdoors, in pots or in the open ground. It advises you on what grows best in...
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