Why? In short, because of the adverse effects of artificial light at night on wildlife (and us). Given that light pollution is one of the drivers of the decline in biodiversity and we need to share our gardens with wildlife to help reverse this decline, the least we can do is not light our gardens (or the outside of our houses and driveways) unnecessarily at night. See Artificial light at night: its effects on wildlife post for more information on this. Moodlighting: well-directed mini-spot lights (75 lumens) gently lighting a sculpture at night. Photo credit: John O’Connor Sculpture -Chelsea ..read more

Infographic from Owens et al. 2020. Thinking of adding lights to your garden, to the outside of your house or driveway? Then read on to find out the effects on wildlife of artificial lights at night. With an increasingly urban landscape, natural ecosystems are being put under immense pressure and the world is losing an unprecedented amount of biodiversity. One of these pressures is artificial light at night coming from direct and skyglow from street lights, car lights, shop lights, advertising, house lights and garden lights among others.  All living things, including animals, plants, an ..read more

Sneedville from The Lorax (2021) - the plastic city: image Screenshot by musingsforus.com In a world that is experiencing a rapidly changing climate due to man-made fossil fuel consumption, a world where natural resources are quickly running out and we are seeing unprecedented loss of biological diversity, we need to carefully consider what we put in our gardens and built landscapes - think The Lorax (2012) where the city was covered in plastic. Natural grass - an ecosystem above and below the ground Artificial lawns are plastic. They are made out of fossil fuels and need fossil fuels to p ..read more

The Healing Power of Scent Long Border at RHS Chatsworth Flower Show 2019 designed by Rachel Bailey and Nicola Sweeney Scent is personal. Visit gardens to find the scented plants that stop you in your tracks and compel you to find out where it is coming from. Repeat (1) at different times of the year to build up a list of scented plants that work for you. Sheltered areas are best for trapping scent. Note the sheltered areas within your garden that are close to where you might walk or sit at different times of the year and those areas that are in shade or get sun - whether daytime or ear ..read more

  Shrub Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll' *  Grasses Sesleria autumnalis Briza media Herbaceous perennials Achillea millefolium 'Martina' Astrantia ‘Roma’ Anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing' Centaurea montana 'Black Sprite' Digitalis purpurea Erigeron karvinskianus Herbaceous perennials Geranium himalayense 'Derrick Cook’  Knautia macedonica  Polemonium 'Lambrook Mauve' Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna'  Thalictrum aquilegiifolium Trifolium ochroleucum   *main scent component to border View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View f ..read more

The Healing Power of Scent Long Border at RHS Chatsworth Flower Show 2019 designed by Rachel Bailey and Nicola Sweeney. Photo credit: Rachel Bailey Scent is personal. Visit gardens to find the scented plants that stop you in your tracks and compel you to find out where it is coming from. Repeat (1) at different times of the year to build up a list of scented plants that work for you. Sheltered areas are best for trapping scent. Note the sheltered areas within your garden that are close to where you might walk or sit at different times of the year and those areas that are in shade or get ..read more

For me, it’s not just the sights and sounds in nature that offer me solace from everyday stresses, but also the smells around me too.  Photo credit: Rachel Bailey Getting my hands (and feet) in the soil whilst hearing the birds and bees singing and buzzing; the grasses and tree-leaves swaying in the breeze and seeing the beautiful colours, shapes and textures of the myriad plants in my garden bring a smile to my face and to my heart.  Sedum with foraging bee. Photo credit: Rachel Bailey This is not surprising if we consider that people have evolved with plants and we tend to ha ..read more

The Healing Power of Scent I'm delighted to announce that we were selected to exhibit a long border at RHS Chatsworth from 05 to 09 June 2019! We will be working with Scottish nursery-people (Binny's Plants; https://www.binnyplants.com) and a local craftsman, Chris  Barrowman  (http://www.fluxworx.com) to create our exhibit.   As mental health issues affect many of us at one time or another in our lives, our border will highlight the importance of scent in emotional well- being. Smell directly influences our emotional responses, memories and physiology, driving our behaviour at an insti ..read more

We are delighted to have been awarded the Best of Houzz 2019 Customer Service award. Our commitment to our clients has always been to meet their needs, create a beautiful garden that they can enjoy for many years to come and to guide them through the design and build process. We also love to revisit the garden in the following months and years to ensure continued enjoyment and offer advice when requested.  So we are over the moon that our customer service has stood out among more than 2.1 million active home building, renovating and design industry professionals on Houzz®, the leading pl ..read more

Creating planting schemes that are sustainable is a goal we should all strive for, allowing our plants to cope with extremes of weather. However, newly planted plants even if carefully selected to withstand some drought will struggle in the first year if they are not watered during times of dry weather, especially if it is windy - a bad combination for plants and one that we in the West of Scotland have experienced over the last month. The wind in particular will strip water from the plant and as they have not yet established their root system at the same time as drying the surface of a ..read more