As a garden designer in Oxford encouraging the next generation to garden is important to me.  What better way to inspire enthusiasm than actually providing the right garden tools for children.  You wouldn’t ask a child to play cricket with a tennis racket.  

Plastic Tools

Garden tools for children are really important to nurture their enthusiasm in the garden.  When they’re very little plastic tools and a wheel barrow are great to get the children out.  Little children love discovering  insects, making a mess and generally having fun.  Hopefully not eating too much mud!

Children’s Garden Tools

When children are  a little older a plastic spade just doesn’t work.  I decided to get some decent tools and wasn’t disappointed.  Burgonandball offer the perfect mini version of a spade, a fork, hand trowel and hand fork.  They are beautifully crafted and a pleasure to work with.  You will often see me pinching them.

With these mini scaled tools children can happily be part of the growing season. They’ll be digging the allotment, discovering the potatoes and trampling over the lettuces!

Bulldog Tools also offer the above and other tools such as a hoe which is very useful for keeping the weeds at bay

Samantha Willis is  garden designer who’s designed vegetable gardens and gardens, if you’d like some help with your garden so you too can be out inspiring you’re family please get in touch.

Christmas Rose a gift idea 

As a garden designer in Oxford creating all round colour is imperative to me.  One plant that I particularly like is the Helleborus niger.  This perenial plant is evergreen, and has beautiful white flowers in the winter.  It’s flower resembles the rose hence it’s name.

There are many Helleborus but the niger is the Christmas rose, so a lovely Christmas idea for someone to give in a pot or for a shady spot in their garden.

Story of the Christmas Rose

The story of the flower is that it was created when a little girl, Madelon visited Christ’s birth place in Bethlehem and was sad as she saw the kings and the shepherds bringing gifts to the little boy.  As her tears fell to the ground so the Helleborus niger grew.

There are many other Hellebore varieties providing pale pint to deep purple flowers such as the Black Swan from thomas morgan, they will flower from January to May so a great addition to the garden.  If you’re adding them to a slighly woodland area they will self seed and assuming you don’t weed the area too much produce a lovely display in a few years.

Some history for the Christmas Rose

Apparently the Christmas Rose is a toxic plant but never fear as it is rather disgusting to taste, so I’m told it is quickly spat out.  In medieval times it was known for it’s healing properties as well as it’s poisonous ones. It is said that the leaves were crushed and fed to Alexander the Great but no one really knows the cause of his death.

That said this plant is a beautiful plant that brightens up shady areas and whilst it has poisonous properties it also has healing properties, so I’d consider this plant as a lovely Christmas gift.

 

 

Spring Colour inspired by the Oscars

Oscar dresses are mirroring  the English Spring colour this year with yellows,  red and peach and the softer tones. So whilst we might not have the occasion  to wear an Oscar dress, we can all have the joy of the colour in our garden with some Plants for the Spring.  I’ve reviewed the dresses

Plants for Spring

The beautiful dress designed by Stella McCartney and worn by Olivia Munn reminded me of the colour of Geum  ‘Dolly North’ which I like planting with Euphorbia martinii.  The Euphorbia’s little

Lamprocapos previously Dicentra Spectabilis Valentine, well known for it’s drooping heart shaped flowers, this is a lovely red colour with slightly dark stems.  This is perfect for a shady spot but if you have a sunny area that could do with a lovely splash of red try, Pulsatilla vulgaris ‘Rode Klokke’.  Pulsatilla’s not only have large flowers but when the flower dies they have a wonderful silvery seedheads that you just want to touch.

Alicia Vikander wore a dusty yellow Louis Vuitton, if you’d like a little spring yellow in your garden, Doronicum x excelsum ‘Harpur Crewe’ is a lovely bright yellow flower that will brighten up any shady or semi shady spot in the spring time.  Prumulas vulgaris, whilst the common primrose I adore them, they soft yellow 5 petalled flower with it’s darker yellow centre cheer up any spring morning.

For a lovely deep blue not quite as dark as Brie Larsons’ but beautiful non the less try Omphalodes Cappadocia ‘Cherry Ingram’ another shade loving plant but plant in in a shady corner and add some lime green with ferns to the area such as Dryopteris cycadina.

For those that prefer softer tones, the Tulip Angelique is one of my favourites and if you find some, you can always place them in your garden in pots and remember to buy the bulbs them later in the year.  Pulmonaria ‘Sissinghurst White’ is a lovely spreading ground cover plant, plant that with some Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’.

Christmas Flower and Shrubs Gift Ideas for Gardeners

If you’re looking for Christmas ideas for gardeners in my opinion there is nothing as lovely as some Christmas flowers as a gift ,  the delicate flower and scent of the Paper White daffodils or the  red trumpets of the Amaryllis standing to attention in their pots all add some festive cheer to the place.  I grew up in Cornwall and being given a bunch of Cornish narcissus is a genuine delight, Fentongollan  Flower Farm offer a postal service as well as a lovely on-line Christmas shop of goodies.

But whilst you can enjoy these flowers in the house there are an array of shrubs and plants that provide delicious scents as you walk around the garden and would make a lovely present for a gardener.

As a small Christmas flower you cannot ignore Hellebores, the Hellebores niger or Christmas rose will be coming into flower just around Christmas, usually beginning of January.  It is called the Christmas rose as it is said it grew where a young girl’s tears fell as she didn’t have a present to give baby Jesus.   Other Hellebores with their dark green leaf and droopy flower add an interest to the garden if you manage to have time and look at the flower they can be quite intricate.

Deciduous Shrubs

These shrubs will give you Christmas flowers but these shrubs are more renowned for their garden scent.

Viburnum bodatense New Dawn has pink fragrant flowers from November to March. it’s a dense medium sized shrub and a delight to walk past on a cold winters day.

Hamemelis x intermedia ‘Diane’ this witch hazel has lovely coppery red flowers which I prefer to the Hamemelis mollis with it’s yellow flowers.

Chimonanthus praecox (Winter sweet)  really doesn’t look much in the winter but as it is a large shrubs it is usually at the back of the border being unnoticed but the scent will make you stop in your tracks.  The delicious sweet spicy scent that oozes from this plant is intoxicating.  The flowers when you take the time to look at them are beautiful.  This is one of my garden musts for a large garden and a perfect present for Christmas.

Evergreen Shrubs as Christmas Flowers

If you’re looking for Evergreen Christmas flowers there are a number of shrubs but these are two that I like.

Skimmia’s are a lovely, ‘Rubella’ is probably the variety that you will see in shops with it’s tight red buds and dark leaves creating a perfect Christmas colour.  These plants are great for shady areas when you decide to plant them out.

Sarcocca confusa, the Christmas box.  This plant has the lovely dark leaf of the common box but in winter if you plant it by your door and brush past it it will have a delicious scent.

If you’re planning to buy a plant for a Christmas present check the pot sizes, ideally 2L or more.  With the internet it is easy to order online you can do this from nurseries or from retailers have a look at the RHS for some inspiration.

If you’d like some winter colour in your garden and need some help from a garden designer contact Samantha Willis 0771 858 6105