Alison

Plant Focus: Cotoneaster ‘Cornubia’

Plants, Plan Your Garden

Cotoneasters are generally very easy to grow – and fast growing - evergreen and deciduous shrubs, with white spring flowers,… Read more.

Alison

Plant to Watch – Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’

Plants, Plan Your Garden

I thought I would just share some details of this plant which was recently brought to my attention by several… Read more.

Alison

The Garden Designer’s Garden – February Update

ALDA in Action

As promised in last month’s blog, here are some photos of my new back garden patio, courtyard, mini formal lawn… Read more.

Alison

Designing & Landscaping A Garden Designer’s Garden

ALDA in Action

People always say to me “You’re a garden designer, I bet you’ve got a lovely garden”. Well, I have a… Read more.

Alison

Growing Brussel Sprouts

Plants, Plan Your Garden

“How about writing a blog on growing Brussel Sprouts?” Sarah, our web adviser suggested a short while ago. “But I’m… Read more.

Alison

Learning to love Roses… well, … like them at least

Plants, Plan Your Garden

Prospective clients often say to me "please don’t give me any roses - they're too much hard work", or "no, definitely… Read more.

Alison

Musings on choosing a garden designer

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

Garden designers need to know a lot about a lot of things. Just consider for a moment.  He or she… Read more.

Alison

Sedum ‘Jose Aubergine’

Plants, Plan Your Garden

I first came across this newish form of Stonecrop at an open day of our main perennial wholesale nursery a… Read more.

Alison

Growing Vegetables – Design Considerations

Plants, Plan Your Garden

This is the second of a series of design blogs aimed at encouraging people to make space to grow vegetables… Read more.

Alison

Plant Focus: Sorbus ‘Joseph Rock’

Plants, Plan Your Garden

Sorbus ‘Joseph Rock’ – a yellow berried form of Rowan / Mountain Ash  - is one of my favourite small… Read more.

Alison

Making room for vegetables

Plants, Plan Your Garden

I have been asked on numerous occasions over the years to give some tips and advice about growing vegetables and… Read more.

Alison

Plant Focus: Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’

Plants, Plan Your Garden

Following on from last month's look at Euonymus alatus, this month I want to share another of my favourites with… Read more.

Alison

Garden Designer: Artist or Problem Solver?

News & Musings

When I meet people for the first time and tell them I am a garden designer, their first response is… Read more.

Alison

Plant Focus: Euonymus alatus

Plants, Plan Your Garden

Every garden designer has his or her favourite/most-used plants, and I'm no different.  But rather than sharing a long list… Read more.

Alison

How To Cope With Shallow Soils Over Chalk

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

When we refer to chalky soil, we mean soil which has a layer of chalk below it.  Chalky soils tend… Read more.

Alison

How to Cope with Wide Shallow Gardens

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

If you have a wide and shallow garden it can appear to lack space and distance. But with some design… Read more.

Alison

Is It Safe To Plant In The Winter Months?

Plants, Plan Your Garden

Some clients get very concerned if we inform them that we are planning to undertake some of the planting in… Read more.

Alison

How to cope with… a sloping garden

Plan Your Garden, Steps & Slopes

Sloping gardens. They're challenging for home owners and garden designers alike. In this in-depth piece, we take a look at:The… Read more.

Alison

How to cope with… an open plan front garden – a case study

ALDA in Action

Front gardens are often purely functional.  Pull up into the driveway, park the car, put the bins out, ... you… Read more.

Alison

How To Attract Insects To Your Garden

Wildlife, Plan Your Garden

This blog was almost called “How To Attract Beneficial Insects To Your Garden”, but when we started to think about… Read more.

Alison

Working to a deadline (… and not just a normal one either!)

ALDA in Action

If you run a business, you'll know what it's like to get that warm fuzzy feeling inside when the hard… Read more.

Alison

Using gabions for retaining walls – a case study

ALDA in Action

Many of the gardens we design involve gradients to a lesser or greater degree.  If the gradient is relatively steep,… Read more.

Alison

An update on our recent work

ALDA in Action

We know those of you who read our newsletter regularly love seeing what we've been up to recently... so here's… Read more.

Alison

How to cope with… hot, dry areas of the garden

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

Hot, dry areas of the garden can be quite a challenge for the gardener, particularly if the soil is very… Read more.

Alison

No more garden flooding! Drainage case study update

ALDA in Action, Drainage

Back in January, we blogged about garden drainage and specifically mentioned two projects where drainage was a key 'challenge' (and… Read more.

Alison

How to cope with… a long narrow garden

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

Long, narrow gardens have several drawbacks, particularly if they are very narrow: the patio can seem very cramped for space… Read more.

Alison

Reflections On Chelsea 2014

News & Musings

This was my first visit to Chelsea for 4 years - and so I was on the search for any… Read more.

Alison

How To Cope With Rooty, Shady Areas Under Trees & Large Conifers

Plan Your Garden, Design Challenges

Let’s face it, there is shade, and there is gloom.  It's all very well people suggesting long lists of shade… Read more.

Like what you see?

From planning a new border to a complete garden remodel, we pride ourselves on transforming ideas into beautiful reality, with minimum disruption. If you’re based in or around the Reading and Newbury area, we’d love to meet and discuss your project in detail – book your free no-obligation garden consultation today. We do get pretty booked up, particularly during the Spring, so plan ahead if possible!