THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Furzelea, Essex, NGS
Today Modern Mint visited another garden in Essex that was open for the NGS (last week was Ulting Wick.) The garden …
Val Bourne’s 5 Golden Rules of Planting
For those of you who missed the Gardens Illustrated piece, here are five pieces of advice by ‘Natural Gardener’ Val Bourne. You can’t go far wrong if you stay close to these… 1) Plant diversely and densely – using trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, ferns, bulbs and grasses. 2) Have flowers throughout the year – particularly early on, to help sustain bumble and solitary bees. 3) Only grow what suits your soil and enhances your setting. 4) Only grow plants that are worth a place in your garden. 5) Put your plants in the right place – this basic approach helps avoid disease. The …
Jump Over The Moon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlwoh4uliAI The video features Monty Don visiting different gardens in South Africa. If you watch a short section from 26-30 minutes you will see him with a man named Donovan, who has a garden called L’il Eden in Cape Town. “I see myself as an artist…” Donovan says, “… I come to my garden, I experiment, I play around with the rocks… it’s always changing.” The garden is also used to run a project introducing children to the pleasures of gardening. Donovan has a very clear idea of what his garden does for people, and what his role is to the …
Ulting Wick Garden, Essex, NGS
The National Gardens Scheme is well underway for 2014. Yesterday we saw the garden at Ulting Wick in Essex, owned by Phillipa Burrough and run by herself and full-time gardener Neil. This garden has been featured in Gardens Illustrated, and is renowned locally for the exuberant display of tulips in the spring. It was a real pleasure to walk around and superbly cared for – Phillipa herself was a pocket rocket dashing around with the lawnmower preparing for the big open day on Sunday 27th April. If you are free, do head to this part of Essex and take your …