Samantha Willis Garden Design

Samantha Willis Garden Design

RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2015

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image of garden

This year, the designers battled their way through the wind and the rain ready for the opening day of the RHS Malvern Spring Festival which was fantastic. Whilst I felt the disappointment of not doing a garden design this year, it was lovely to have the time to admire the show and catch up with friends and colleagues.

The Villaggio garden deserves the best in show, the attention to detail was incredible, the water feature was carefully considered as in Andalusia the village fountain is fed from the mountain, so when it rains it gushes and the fountain is full but in the summer it is a little trickle.  With the whitewashed walls, mature olive trees and red geraniums I was on holiday.

The Floral Marquees was bustling and I couldn’t resist taking home a fern from Bowdens,  Matteucia struthiopteris Jumbo, it’s lime green colour and the anticipated height of 5-8ft.  The collection of plants all gathered in one area is the equivalent of a sweet shop treat for children for me, a complete delight.  The skill these nursery men have producing top quality plants for the show is astounding.

I also walked out with armfuls of Clematis from the 3 Shires Garden Centre, great quality and great prices and if you need supports you can find these too.

Of course there is not only the plants but the lectures, Raymond Blanc was his usual enthusiastic self and an inspiration to us all advising us to go for taste not looks with apples, Snow White chose the red shiny apple and look what happened to her!  Ok well yes she did get the handsome prince in the end but that is not the point.

This year was a treat.

Winter Colour

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Hellebore

Colour in the Garden

The Hellebores are great little flowers that are often hidden by their leaves and their drooping flowers.  Look underneath and you find this wonderful flower from the white Christmas Rose Helleborus niger to the deep dark Helleborus x hybridus ‘Blue Lady’.  The Christmas Rose flowers around Christmas time and then you can have flowers right through to March/April.

These plants are easy to look after and grow well in shady conditions.  Ideally plant the paler flowers in the shadier spots to light up the darker corners.  The darker flowers need to be seen and they won’t be stuck in a shady corner, so semi shade for them.

Another great little winter plant is the Cyclamen hederifolium, these hardy plants make lovely swathes of colour.  If you plant them in semi-shade in a humus rich location that will not dry out in the summer they will thrive.  I tend to plant mine underneath Cornus or Hydrangeas where they will get the shade in the summer to protect them.

If you’re wanting something a little more blousy and in your face the Bergenia cordifolia or Elephants Ears.  This plant has wavy leaves that are about 30cms long with stems of 60cms with sprays of  pink flowers.  They are again an easy plant to grow and unlike the two above enjoy sunshine or semi shade.  There are many varities, if you prefer white flowers Bergenia ‘Bressingham White‘ or purple leaves try B. cordifolia ‘Purpurea

Or a Bergenia that many plantsmen rate is the one raised by Eric Smith of ‘The Plantsmen’.

“Undoubtedly the best for winter effect; large, rounded, crinkled leaves have polished bronze-tinted surfaces while backs, caught in low sunlight, glow rich carmine-red. 46 cm.” BethChatto.co.uk

 

Garden Statues

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David Harber Obelisk

I first really started admiring garden statues at Cothay Manor where a magnificent stag lords over the wildflower meadow. Garden Statues focus the eye, enlighten a dull corner and will enhance a garden.  David Harber and his team clearly demonstrated their skill at designing and positioning statues at their show at Eaton Square where the Torus shone out in the simple design of lawn and trees adding a harmony where the shadows of the trees were brought down to our eye level. The show was a garden of treasures where David’s cleaver use of steel and bronze was a journey of delight. The Chalice pool, with it’s slow rotating water was soothing in the courtyard area.  At the end of a hot day, dangling your fingers in felt refreshing and relaxing. The bronze Quill was a really cleaver, illuminating the garden from it’s rather dark corner. I watched a number of people go up to look for the lighting but whilst it was gleaming in  the evening light there was no electricity. The Obelisk was an absolute treat as it was placed in the shady area and was so cleverly situated as at times it was almost lost.  It brought light and joy to a dark area. All was a  joy to see and whilst you might be disappointed that you missed this, I’d head to Hatfield House where some sculptors can be viewed along with other garden sculptor exhibits and I’m sure you’ll find a garden statue that will suit your garden. http://www.lovesculpture.uk.com/

Malvern Show 2013 – Something for Everyone

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Joe Swift and Mark Diacono entertained us enormously in the Good Life Pavilion;  in just 25 minutes Joe Swift showed us how to transform a  rectangular garden into a lovely garden design,  meanwhile Mark created cocktails using equal amounts of something flat and something fizzy, strawberries and a little grinding of the seed from the Schezuan bush.  We all had a nibble of the seed and it had us all laughing as our tongues went numb and then exploded into a tingling sensation.  My children rushed off to purchase the Stevia herb that was dropped into the cocktail as the leaves taste of sugar, ideal for adding sweetener to cocktails or a pudding, the low fat alternative to sugar.

Little packets seeds of all kinds were there to tempt children and adults.  Pennard Plants packets had lovely illustrations perfect for little presents.

Strolling away from the pavilion we hit the largest vegetables I’ve ever seen, onions the size of dinner plates, cabbages, marrows, leeks etc..  James and the Giant peach came alive at this moment.

The autumn is always stimulating and walking around seeing so much blazing colour is as tempting to me as a sweet shop is to children.  I walked away with my 20 plug plants from Chyrsanthemum direct, a vibrant collection of lime green ‘Green Mist’,   reds ‘Quinty’ and ‘Misty Red’ and orange ‘Lexy’. Whilst I have always thought of Chysanthemums as an old ladies plant or a hospital bouquet this has changed over the years and I must confess I rather enjoy the blousy rush of colour that these plants give us in the autumn.

So inspired from the fabulous show I’m now off to plant my sweet peas, onions sets and garlic bulbs.  My chrysanthemums I’ll pot up and nurture this winter and although they may not be quote as big and bold as the vegetables we saw they should bring me a vibrant autumn bouquet next year.

A quick & easy Christmas table decoration

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As a little preparation for Christmas, go out and buy the Narcissi ‘Paper White’, a multi head narcissi with a delicious scent, and plant then up in a pretty pot and place in a dark area 8-10 weeks you should have a beautiful table decoration.

Sarah Raven sprays some twigs with silver and places these between them for support which will give you an added festive look.

Have children? Make the most of leaves!

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The leaves are turning and soon the winds will be pulling them off the trees, so why not take advantage of this and get the children outdoors and collect as many different types of leaves as possible.  You can then use them for a variety of pictures:-

  1. Simply gluing and sticking the leaves paper, willow leaves make great rabbits ears and oak leaves make reindeer antlers.
  1. Alternatively get some wavy crayons and place the leaves underneath the paper and rub over them, we’ve made some great sea scenes with field maple being coral and different shapes leaves being different fish.

The Allotment in Winter

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As we prepare for warm winter evenings in front of the fire there are just a few jobs you could do to on those lovely clear winter days.

  • In anticipation of frosts and winds, cover your root vegetables with straw or cardboard up to 30cms, to enable you to dig the ground when you want your vegetables. Also stake your sprouts and earth up your cabbages to prevent wind rock.  If we have a hard frost coming you can protect your cauliflowers by wrapping a few of the outer leaves around them.
  • Plant garlic anytime before Christmas in well drained soil; do not plant on freshly manure sites as the garlic is prone to rot.  There are varieties of onions that you can plant now which can be harvested in June.
  • Take hard wood cuttings of currants and gooseberries and indeed any other shrubs.
  • Protect any pots by wrapping them with bubble wrap and then if you think that is not aesthetically beautiful enough add a little hessian to the outside.
  • If you have existing apple and pear trees it is time to get out and prune them. You’re aiming for an open goblet shape, so remove any crossing branches, damaged and horizontal branches and prune to an outward facing bud. Do not prune your soft fruit trees at this time of year as you can damage them.  Also leave trained apple and pear trees alone such as espaliers as these require summer pruning.
  • If you want Rhubarb now is the time to plant it, you may be lucky and get a crown off a neighbour.  When you’re planting Rhubarb dig in a lot of manure around the crown and let the crown peek out and see the light it does not appreciate being buried.
  • Cut leaves from the crowns of kale to encourage side shoots for harvesting in late winter

About

My love for gardening started with my Nan where she nurtured her Cornish garden often rising at 5 to set to before the heat of the summer... MORE

How does it work?

My practice is based in Oxford. I work with small professional teams to develop everything from the tiniest urban hideaway to large country gardens... MORE

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