Dear all,

I hope you are all coping the best you can with the madness that comes with this new state of being!

I empathise with you all; with a 6 year old at home it’s certainly been an unexpected new challenge to balance working from home with also being Mrs Brown from school! However, if I give Holly the craft box or a Lego set it’s not long before I’m presented with a gift. That certainly puts a little sunshine into the days!

I wanted to start this blog to take you through the journey of some of the projects we undertake here at HP Landscapes throughout the year and the change in seasons, but also through my own garden, down here in the West Country. We may have a different climate but plenty of the ideas are adaptable to any English garden. After 17 years in London, I made the move down to the farthest South Western tip of the country for a new adventure. I am fortunate get the best of both worlds as I commute up to London every week to oversee the maintenance department and of course visit all your lovely gardens!

Hopefully this blog will inspire you to take on some new horticultural designs or challenges in your own garden which I am always enthusiastic to help guide you through!

Our first topic will be the veggie patch! I will be showing you how easy it is to get into veg and fruit growing with whatever size space you have. You never get over the thrill of putting your own home grown additions to a heart family meal, extras make for a thoughtful gift for a neighbour, relative or a friend - and dare I say - they taste better too!

This month I will be planting my edible garlics, onions and a few spuds. You can do this too, these veggies are happy in any space; small or big pots, borders or raised beds.

This is the time of year to dig your patch over if you do already have one, and remove anything from last year that isn’t growing. You can put some organic matter down to replenish the soil and then we’ll need to wait for some warmer weather before we sow the new seeds! If you already have a patch, or something to keep in mind of next year if you do, you’ll still have some veggies ticking over ready to harvest such as; leeks, kale and swiss chard. If you want any further information drop me a line and we can discuss getting started, current frustrations, tips and tricks and much more!

Some of the other garden tasks I’ll be tackling over the next few weeks before we meet again on my next blog post are;

• Mulch the borders - to feed my plants and expose those early spring flowers. This year we planted thousands across the gardens we look after in London. A good weeding of the border, collecting up any fallen leaves followed by a bed mulch will help expose the fantastic variety as they come up.

• Restore my lawn. In a reluctant water-logged patch in my own garden, we have decided this year to do away with the grass and plant a small 2x3m patch of wild flower meadow. This will certainly keep the bees happy and it creates a more interesting view out onto my garden. I will keep you posted how this develops! For the rest of my lawn I will be scarifying, top dressing and reseeding, so come spring it’ll be lush and pleasant for the family’s lunch break! Scarifying can be an arduous job but the moss won’t go without it! That’s where our team can step in to get it ready! It will look a little raggedy but with patience and a good top dress/reseed it will be green come spring!

• Prune the Wisteria, this is the last chance (your deadline is the last day of February! Otherwise you’ll be pruning the buds that are ready for this year!) I’ll be pruning away any old buds to encourage it into a strong bloom this year.

• Lastly pruning roses, bush roses or vines. A necessity if we want to get the best bloom in June/July!

If any of the above has inspired or reminded you for anything to do in your garden, our fantastic maintenance teams can be sent out to your gardens so you can check it off that list!

You can email me or give me a call via WhatsApp and we can go on this garden adventure together! To keep safe we can video call or you can send photos of your garden.

I look forward to hearing from you and stay tuned!

Anna

maintenance@hplandscapes.com

078155 05149