Tag Archives: gardens

PUBLICATION DAY SPECIAL: THE FOREVER GARDEN BY ROSANNA LEY

Posted on by

I’m a big fan of Rosanna Ley’s books and this was no exception; in fact, it’s one of my favourites. The characters are instantly believable, the descriptions sumptuous and the whole story is perfectly tensioned between three viewpoint characters and two timelines.

The story is told from the points of view of Lara (in the 1940s and present day), her daughter Rose, and her granddaughter Bea, and it revolves around two very special gardens. The first is in Dorset, created by Lara’s mother based on the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement. It is this garden that Lara promises her mother to protect, which is the starting point for the drama that follows. The second garden is one that Lara later creates in Puglia.

The relationships between the women – and their gardens – are beautifully drawn. That Lara left the Dorset garden behind is evident from the outset, but in the hands of such a skilled storyteller, my desire to find out the whys and wherefores made it hard to put the book down. The Forever Garden will not only transport you from Dorset to Italy and back, it’s a journey you cannot fail to enjoy.

I was so entranced by the gardens that I asked Rosanna what her inspiration for them had been, and what her own Dorset garden is like:

 

I’ve always loved gardens. My parents were both keen gardeners and I have happy memories of running around our back garden as a child, playing out imaginary stories, dodging amongst my mother’s washing pegged out on the line and my father’s precious raspberry canes and gooseberry bushes.

Our own garden here in Dorset is not large but it wraps around the house and so I feel cocooned and sheltered – which is good as we live near the sea and it can be very windy! Because of the sea air I have plants that can withstand these conditions such as lavender, rosemary, thrift, hollyhocks and erigeron daisies. I am a fan of the cottage garden and of fragrant plants that attract insects, butterflies and bees – natural gardens and wild gardens. The garden also has two bird baths, two tamarisk trees, a pergola of clematis, honeysuckle and roses and a couple of places to sit and write or think in. And we are very lucky because it also has a sea view…

I was inspired to write about an Arts & Crafts garden after I visited Barrington Court in Somerset. The gardens there were laid out in the 1920’s to a structured design influenced by the famous Arts & Crafts garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. She believed passionately in the beauty of the natural landscape and – like me – valued the ordinary plants familiar to gardeners today, such as hostas, lavender and sweet-scented old-fashioned roses.

I immediately loved the Arts & Crafts concept of the garden being a continuation of the house, and of that garden being made up of several small rooms – each one with its own character and flavour. After all, when we go into a garden, we don’t always want to do the same thing. We might want to grow vegetables and be in the mood for some hard-core digging, or we might want to sit quietly in a soft and beautiful space that enables us to reflect, read a good book or just watch the birds go by.

In an Arts & Crafts garden, plants are sometimes chosen for their colour. A white garden, for example, can create a sense of tranquillity through the green of the foliage and the white flowers which are often considered healing for the mind and spirit. Or they might be chosen according to season. In ‘The Forever Garden’ there is a spring garden full of early bulbs such as daffodils and tulips which represents hope and new beginnings; this symbolism becomes very important to Lara in the story.

I like to think of the ‘Forever Garden’ as an important character in the book. For Lara it is both prison and sanctuary. The garden saves her and it also sets her free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gardening Fun for the Kids

Posted on by
The Children's Garden

The Children’s Garden

There are two ways of getting your children into the garden and away from their Xboxes and Playstations. Either you can lock them outside and ignore their frenzied screams, or you can buy them a book like this.

The Children’s Garden is written with parents in mind. it has lots of great ideas and projects, so that youngsters can actually enjoy their time in the great oudoors. You can have a lot of great fun, with very little money if you do simple things such as pond-dipping or going on bug hunts to uncover beetles and woodlice and other creepy crawlies

The book has chapters devoted to simple things such as growing vegetables, including potatoes and spring onions, which can all be done in just about any container. And it makes the very valid point that children are more likely to eat things that they’ve grown themselves. And they can have lots of fun growing flowers from seed such as nasturtiums and sunflowers – which are really great because they are completely edible so even if the seeds end up in a toddler’s mouth, they won’t do any harm.

This book is a handy size – not too big – and has lots of great pictures. And if you want to inspire your child with a lifelong love of gardens and gardening, this is a great place to start.

The Children’s Garden by Matthew Appleby is published by Frances Lincoln, £14.99

.

 

Who you gonna call?…APL

Posted on by

The Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) are looking to promote the good name of landscape gardeners after a clean sweep at the recent Chelsea Flower Show.

Every single member of the APL who entered the prestigious and iconic show last week came away with coveted medals, including three golds and the Best in Show, Urban Garden award.

With some 76% of garden owners believing it’s important for their garden to look good, professional assistance is in demand, but a number of gardeners have learned the hard way that not all landscape gardeners are qualified to do the job.

APL say their exceptional record at Chelsea is testament to the extremely high standards required of and adhered to by all APL members and are urging those gardeners who lack green fingers to call a quality assured member of the APL to get their garden in perfect shape for summer.

For the first time, garden owners can view behind the scenes footage of the rigorous inspection process all APL members undergo each year to ensure APL Customer Charter criteria are being met. The ‘APL Inspection Video’, created by SweetPotatoPictures can be found on the APL website, www.landscaper.org.uk and shows independent inspector Neville Stein carrying out an assessment of a Holland Landscapes project in Essex.

Stein, along with other independent assessors visit members each year while they are working on a landscape project to evaluate everything from paperwork to technical processes – including assessing everything from the quality of hard and soft landscaping and technical competencies through to insurance policies and risk assessments. Over and above these stringent inspections, the APL is also the only landscaping scheme operator of TrustMark, a Government-endorsed initiative promoting professional trades people to consumers.

Stein said: “The whole process is extremely thorough. We scrutinise the fundamental elements of landscaping such as examining the health of plants, checking if trees have been planted correctly and even ensure that all correspondence between the landscaper and client is clear and detailed. I am confident that every customer who deals with an APL certified landscaper will receive the highest quality landscaping in Britain.”

Mark Gregory, Chairman of the APL and Gold Medal Winner at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show added: “ Rogue Traders get lots of publicity which proves a big problem for the landscape trade. Luckily, we’re able to reassure customers that as an APL member, we’ve been thoroughly vetted by independent inspectors.

“I would encourage anyone out there who has been freshly inspired by Chelsea, to get creative in their gardens and contact their local APL landscape contractor in the knowledge that they will be dealing with true professionals.”