If any potter has caught the zeitgeist of the moment it is Forest Tozer of Together By Nature. Recently appointed New Maker of the Year at Great Dixter she creates beautiful plates, bowls, butter and soap dishes and candlesticks all
Perhaps every reader will have walked in one of the Royal Parks. I, for one, have often admired the striking planting in Regents Park and St. James’s Park as I hurry along. But I must admit that I have never
Dr Richard Claxton has an enlightened view of the myriad benefits of gardening for both mental and physical health. The patients in his Tonbridge clinic are fortunate indeed. When working as a Junior GP in London he first realised how
‘I’ve known about the National Garden Scheme all my life,’ says George. ‘My mother used to open our garden Goodnestone Park Gardens in Kent half a dozen days a year. She would despatch myself and my brothers on our bikes
Anyone interested in gardens and the therapeutic benefits of gardening needs no introduction to the dynamic husband and wife duo of Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith. Drawing on their prodigious knowledge and expertise they have started the Serge Hill Project, a
Seduced by Stokesay Flowers’ ravishing Instagram pictures, I was excited about meeting Victoria Martin, who with her husband, Barney grow thousands of cut flowers every year in south Shropshire. I wasn’t disappointed. ‘It’s all about romance. Everything we do is
Kent Wildflower Seeds, a recently launched offshoot of T. Denne & Sons, the largest processors of grass seed in the country has caught the zeitgeist and responds to the rapidly changing face of agriculture. Innovation, and no doubt a canny
All walled gardens undergo a renaissance at some point in their history. Just such a case is Water Lane near Hawkhurst, Kent. Its last incarnation was the Walled Nursery (see blog post September 2017). This wonderfully atmospheric 2 acre walled
The delights of the South London Botanical Institute, based at a Victorian villa on the busy Norwood Road, are myriad. ‘School children often gasp when they walk into the building. It reminds them of Harry Potter, says Nell Gatehouse, the
King’s College, Cambridge, has a new energy-efficient development on Cranmer Road, designed by Allies and Morrison and built to Passivhaus standard, to provide new accommodation for the College’s graduate students.It is a haven of floriferous joy: an exquisite slate memorial
Of the many imaginative creative projects that have sprung out of Covid, Maude Smith’s range of tea towels and tiles celebrating the natural world have jumped out at me from Instagram. (@maude_made) The beguiling tea towels have a naïve charm
Over the years, White House Farm, near Sevenoaks, has become a mecca for plantsmen the world over. Home to more than 200 different kinds of magnolia, hundreds of hydrangeas (many of them bred by Maurice), an outstanding collection of climbing