An artist’s home by the sea

Finding inspiration in a new timber-framed home-cum-studio on the Kent coast

You see the most remarkable skies here – like a miracle of heaven and earth together,” says artist Rachael Dickens of the view from her newly built home, between Herne Bay and Reculver on the Kent coast. A keen outdoor swimmer whose work is often inspired by water, Rachael was first drawn to this site by its setting. “I walk on the beach and swim in the sea nearly every day,” she says, “and the vision for the house was very much about being able to see the sea.” The result is an arresting contemporary home whose jet-black weatherboarding and corrugated roof echo the tarred fishermen’s huts and net lofts typically found in nearby Whitstable.

Rachael came across the plot by accident during a day trip to Whitstable with her sister in 2014. At the time, she was house-hunting without success in south London, after selling her home in Sydenham with a view to moving closer to Brockwell lido. (Rachael has been cold water swimming since 2006 and helped to reform the lido’s original 1930s swimming club: The Brockwell Icicles.) While walking along the east Kent coastline, looping back from Reculver, the sisters stumbled across a small 1930s bungalow for sale right by the shore, but it was in need of modernisation.

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How to plant a wellbeing garden

From herbs to aid sleep to trees that tackle pollution, plants can provide more than just a visual feast

There is an ever-growing body of scientific evidence that gardens and gardening are good for our physical, mental and social wellbeing. Having something to nurture brings a sense of unpressured purpose to our lives. And if you choose the right plants and design, you can enhance the wellbeing your garden provides.

A considered, layered approach to planting can block traffic noise; the right trees and shrubs can combat pollution; certain flowers can keep pollen counts low, while still encouraging bees and insects; and scented plants can reduce stress. Here’s how to do it.

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Gardening tips: plant cowslips

Then read a handy guide and make holes to let hedgehogs in

Plant this Cowslips (Primula veris) will colonise ground around ponds or add sparkle to damp lawns, sending up spikes of buttery blooms in April and May that provide pollen and nectar for bees. These British native perennials prefer chalky or neutral soils and will grow in containers if kept moist.

Read this If you’re feeling engulfed by “garden overwhelm” (a common phenomenon come spring) a new book, The 5 Minute Garden (£9.99 Pavilion Books), might calm your nerves. Writer Laetitia Maklouf puts the case for five-minute garden forays that, done daily, will help you create a beautiful plot.

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How to toughen up seedlings for planting in the ground | Alys Fowler

Hardening off has to be done slowly, or a sudden cold shock will check growth

There is so much to be done at the moment: all those seeds that need to be scattered and the seedlings that will be rapidly outgrowing their pots. But if you are just opening your first seed packet, don’t panic. It’s always tempting, particularly when Instagram is taunting you, to think that you are behind in sowing. You are not. Don’t get distracted by false gods.

As my mother always reminds me, the hardier veg (beetroot, spring onions, lettuce, carrots, parsnips, basically anything other than chillies) sown later in March or early April grows at such a pace that it will quickly outstrip the early birds. I say this over and over again, in part to remind myself; but seeds sown in step with the season grow in time with the lengthening days, and are much more likely to take on the slugs, snails and other marauders out to get them.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2WbTsTH
via IFTTT

How to plant a wellbeing garden

From herbs to aid sleep to trees that tackle pollution, plants can provide more than just a visual feast

There is an ever-growing body of scientific evidence that gardens and gardening are good for our physical, mental and social wellbeing. Having something to nurture brings a sense of unpressured purpose to our lives. And if you choose the right plants and design, you can enhance the wellbeing your garden provides.

A considered, layered approach to planting can block traffic noise; the right trees and shrubs can combat pollution; certain flowers can keep pollen counts low, while still encouraging bees and insects; and scented plants can reduce stress. Here’s how to do it.

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2wZuDQ8
via IFTTT

Gardening tips: plant cowslips

Then read a handy guide and make holes to let hedgehogs in

Plant this Cowslips (Primula veris) will colonise ground around ponds or add sparkle to damp lawns, sending up spikes of buttery blooms in April and May that provide pollen and nectar for bees. These British native perennials prefer chalky or neutral soils and will grow in containers if kept moist.

Read this If you’re feeling engulfed by “garden overwhelm” (a common phenomenon come spring) a new book, The 5 Minute Garden (£9.99 Pavilion Books), might calm your nerves. Writer Laetitia Maklouf puts the case for five-minute garden forays that, done daily, will help you create a beautiful plot.

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3cYiNqk
via IFTTT

How to toughen up seedlings for planting in the ground | Alys Fowler

Hardening off has to be done slowly, or a sudden cold shock will check growth

There is so much to be done at the moment: all those seeds that need to be scattered and the seedlings that will be rapidly outgrowing their pots. But if you are just opening your first seed packet, don’t panic. It’s always tempting, particularly when Instagram is taunting you, to think that you are behind in sowing. You are not. Don’t get distracted by false gods.

As my mother always reminds me, the hardier veg (beetroot, spring onions, lettuce, carrots, parsnips, basically anything other than chillies) sown later in March or early April grows at such a pace that it will quickly outstrip the early birds. I say this over and over again, in part to remind myself; but seeds sown in step with the season grow in time with the lengthening days, and are much more likely to take on the slugs, snails and other marauders out to get them.

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2WbTsTH
via IFTTT