Ornamentally barking up the right tree | James Wong

Flowers get all the attention, but don’t overlook the dramatic effect that decorative bark brings to a garden

When it comes to picking out trees for small gardens, there are several attributes that jostle for top place on people’s wish lists: spring blossom, autumn colour and winter wildlife value to name just three. However, there is one spectacular feature guaranteed to delight the senses all year round that somehow rarely gets a mention, the dazzling colour and reach-out-and-grab-it texture of ornamental bark. With smart species choice and the right design technique, I believe bark can rival any other botanical feature for real wow factor, so here’s a beginner’s guide to doing just that.

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Hi-tech gardens bloom at London’s Chelsea Flower Show

3D printed soil, urban farming and artificial intelligence will all make an appearance at this year’s event

Weed is not a word often associated with the immaculate gardens of the Chelsea flower show. But with hydroponics and urban farming making grand appearances at this year’s event, it will be on a lot of visitors’ lips.

“With the right lights you can grow whatever you like, even if you’re inside a dark, north-facing flat in London or Birmingham,” said Jody Lidgard, one of Chelsea’s most decorated designers. “It’s almost like marijuana,” he chuckled. “It’s funny, but it’s true. They’ve been leading the way.”

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from Home And Garden | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Q9oJSi
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Hi-tech gardens bloom at London’s Chelsea Flower Show

3D printed soil, urban farming and artificial intelligence will all make an appearance at this year’s event

Weed is not a word often associated with the immaculate gardens of the Chelsea flower show. But with hydroponics and urban farming making grand appearances at this year’s event, it will be on a lot of visitors’ lips.

“With the right lights you can grow whatever you like, even if you’re inside a dark, north-facing flat in London or Birmingham,” said Jody Lidgard, one of Chelsea’s most decorated designers. “It’s almost like marijuana,” he chuckled. “It’s funny, but it’s true. They’ve been leading the way.”

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Ten legal terms first-time buyers should know Nottingham Estate Agents

The process of buying your first home can be daunting at times, especially when there are several legal terms to understand before signing on the dotted line. This guide should help to ease the process. To ensure important information is understood, it is really important that as a first-time buyer, you are familiar with some […]

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Good gardening is also about good eating | Allan Jenkins

It’s time to grill sausages and talk about hopes and plans for the plot

Spring barbecue, the tribal gathering. The collecting together of the allotment community after winter. Much strimming and sweeping of sheds and paths, cutting back overgrown spillage, sorting through the compost bays. With sausages, spicy chicken, vegetarian options.

It is the busiest day of the year so far. Tables are laid with an oilskin cloth. Chairs are cleaned, early summer flowers gathered for a jug: borage, dandelion, bluebells and forget-me-nots. There is a carpet of them, the beauty of benign neglect from a neighbour no longer with us. This was a favourite plot, a couple of fruit trees, a few cardoons, a quiet sitting space against a warming wall. It is more productive now, feeding a family, vines and yellow marigolds, a different beauty.

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from Home And Garden | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2YAdDIP
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Good gardening is also about good eating | Allan Jenkins

It’s time to grill sausages and talk about hopes and plans for the plot

Spring barbecue, the tribal gathering. The collecting together of the allotment community after winter. Much strimming and sweeping of sheds and paths, cutting back overgrown spillage, sorting through the compost bays. With sausages, spicy chicken, vegetarian options.

It is the busiest day of the year so far. Tables are laid with an oilskin cloth. Chairs are cleaned, early summer flowers gathered for a jug: borage, dandelion, bluebells and forget-me-nots. There is a carpet of them, the beauty of benign neglect from a neighbour no longer with us. This was a favourite plot, a couple of fruit trees, a few cardoons, a quiet sitting space against a warming wall. It is more productive now, feeding a family, vines and yellow marigolds, a different beauty.

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The artist’s mews: small and perfect in Devon

A considered layout and bold use of colour elevate this studio apartment in Devon above its humble proportions. Rachel Ward gets the grand tour

As an artist and interior designer, Gemma Dudgeon is used to transforming spaces on behalf of clients up and down the country. This studio apartment, however, proved a different challenge – one that involved designing for herself, and from scratch. “My work is very client-led,” she says. “Deciding for myself was much harder. I had a blank canvas, which was a privilege, but also quite daunting, as I understood the sheer magnitude of choice and looks I could go for.”

Dudgeon moved to south Devon with her husband Alastair, a chef, in pursuit of a better quality of life. “I wanted my kids to grow up climbing trees and playing on the beach – to be in touch with the environment in which they live,” she says. In 2017, they bought a house in the market town of Totnes, which they share with their two young daughters, Olive and Frances, and their whippet, Skye. At the same time, the couple also purchased Mount Plym mews, an 1830s coach house located 100 yards away, for far more prosaic reasons: parking. “It’s a real issue in Totnes,” says Dudgeon.

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