One of the good things to come out of the 14 week full Scottish COVID 19 lockdown has been the decision by our local council to do away with the maintenance of streetside borders normally planted out with annual bedding. The council contacted Dollar Horticultural Society with the offer to either grass over the border at the bottom of our street or put its care into the hands of the community. Well, that was not a difficult decision to make! This particular border sits alongside the main road through Dollar and is perfectly positioned for the enjoyment of local residents and passers-by ..read more

Dollar Open Gardens is a fundraising weekend held in May, every 3 years, in support of Strathcarron Hospice. This year would have been the 5th time the the Shades of Green garden had opened to the public but sadly the event had to be cancelled, as Scotland is still in lockdown to prevent the spread of the  COVID 19 virus.  These are some of the highlights of the garden in May 2020: https://www.shadesofgreengardendesign.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dollar-Open-Gardens-LockDown-2020.m4v The post Dollar Open Gardens 2020 appeared first on Shades Of Green Garden Design ..read more

I have been as busy as ever this year, juggling new and ongoing projects with my charity work for The Uphill Trust. The big project for the first half of the year was the design, construction and planting of a small garden for a lovely existing client who had moved house once again. I first met Gill in 2010 when she invited me to redesign the rather bland garden of the home she had just moved into in Abernethy. Having downsized once again, she and her partner wanted me to help them to create a plant-filled but relatively easy-care, outdoor room-style,  garden that they could enjoy together whe ..read more

Children growing up and leaving home is often a trigger to finally ‘do’ something with the garden. Sometimes it is  the absence of footballs and projectile hazards that reduces the need for a large expanse of lawn and allows more interesting planting options; or it may be that time and energy once spent bringing up a family can now be channelled into creating and maintaining an attractive outdoor space. This month’s case study shows one of these ‘change of use’ transformations: Large area of grass plus low raised beds with shrubs that need to be pruned hard each year to keep them in check Slip ..read more

I often keep in touch with clients for a few years after a fully planted garden is handed over and return visits are used to provide advice about garden maintenance and to teach clients new gardening skills/techniques. Due to the severe illness and eventual bereavement of one of my clients, the Japanese-inspired meditation garden I designed in 2011 was left to it’s own devices until March 2019… At the start of this month I was contacted by the widow with a request for help and guidance to refresh the garden, as she was getting married again and the garden was going to be the backdrop for the c ..read more

I often keep in touch with clients for a few years after a fully planted garden is handed over and return visits are used to provide advice about garden maintenance and to teach clients new gardening skills/techniques. Due to the severe illness and eventual bereavement of one of my clients, the Japanese-inspired meditation garden I designed in 2011 was left to it’s own devices until March 2019… At the start of this month I was contacted by the widow with a request for help and guidance to refresh the garden, as she was getting married again and the garden was going to be the backdrop for the c ..read more