THE MODERN MINT BLOG
“No-one had ever seen anything like it. We were using perennials in a kind of meadow-like way, that was very …
James Van Sweden
This video is of Monty Don talking to the late garden designer James Van Sweden. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpn08JoNFFQ He was known, in partnership with Wolfgang Oehme, to have created the ‘New American Garden’ style – think tall grasses, great swathes of perennials and a wilder, more natural look. Pretty much the opposite of how we think of American gardens, with their tightly mowed lawns that are weedkilled, fed and watered all summer long. “Don’t put in three, put in 300… you have to think big. Think huge leaves, enormous grasses and flowers big as dinner plates. The worst thing you can do is …
Family Garden Ideas
Here are more family garden ideas for those with children who want to know how they can improve their garden. This is a follow-up to a post we wrote a few days ago (and which opened up a lot of discussion) on Child Friendly Gardens. The most important design idea is to have a place where you can relax and they can play. This could be a good-sized terrace to sit on with a comfy chair, while they have a space specifically for them within eyesight and easy reach. Think about what garden furniture you get too – not too …
Child Friendly Garden Ideas
Want a child friendly garden? Don’t know where to start? As many of our friends are now having children, we began wondering how to create a garden that places more emphasis on what they need, rather than us adults. We visited a community orchard at the weekend and the boys and girls (aged between 6 and 10) were playing ‘it’ around the trees and through the long grass and wildflowers… it was incredibly funny watching them, because they ran around with all the energy in the world while the butterflies (and there were many) swooped along beside them as if joining in! We …