by GillianPolley | Feb 18, 2020 | 2020, Amelanchier, April, autumn, autumn colour, autumn colour in the garden, back gardens, bees, bees and insects, blue, bulb planting for insects, bulbs, Colour, Colour 365 days a year in your garden, containers, Cornus, Cornus 'Midwinter Fire', Crocus, Design, designing your own garden, Edinburgh, February, front garden, Galanthus, garden inspiration, habitat for wildlife, insects, Iris reticulata, long flowering period, low maintenance plants, March, Mixed bulb planting, Narciccus 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation', Narcissus, Planting colour for Dreich February Days, Plants, Polley Garden Design, Ribes sanguineum 'Elkington's White', Ribes sanguineum 'White Icicle', Snowdrops, Spring, spring blossom, spring colour, windy conditions, winter, winter colour, Winter colour and cheer in the garden, winter scent in the garden, winter structure
As the year moves through February and March you can have another layer of colour and interest to your winter planting with additional shrubs and early flowering spring bulbs. Ribes sanguineum is a really tough early flowering shrub (March/April) usually seen with...
by GillianPolley | Jan 27, 2019 | 1930's house, 2019, Acers, autumn, autumn colour, autumn colour in the garden, back gardens, box balls, bulbs, Colour, Colour 365 days a year in your garden, colour in the garden, container growing, containers, Copper Mango Ltd, Copper Mango Photography, cyclamen, December, Design, design balance, designing your own garden, driveway, Edinburgh, Euonymous alatus 'Compactus', evergreen plants, February, Festive plant container, focal points in the garden, front garden, front garden/driveways, garden inspiration, garden transformation, garden views, Grasses, gravel, Hellebores, herbaceous perennials, Iris reticulata, January, Japanese gardens, long flowering period, low maintenance plants, March, Mixed bulb planting, O-Karikomi, O-Karikomi gardening technique, October, outdoor furniture, Polley Garden Design, Sarcococca, seats in the garden, shapes, shrubs, Spring, spring blossom, spring colour, summer flowering plants, winter, winter colour, winter scent in the garden, winter structure
How many plants do you have in bloom in your garden in January? You will be astounded to know Tresco Abbey Gardens in the Scilly Isles had 289 on the 7th January. Aah – to have their climate. But even as winter is upon us, in Scotland it is possible to have...
by GillianPolley | Nov 2, 2017 | 2017, a woodland garden and driveway, Acer, Acer palmatum Dissectum Garnet, autumn colour, autumn colour in the garden, back gardens, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, colour in the garden, Edinburgh, Euonymous alatus, Euonymous alatus 'Compactus', focal points in the garden, front garden, Fuchsia Mrs Popple, garden inspiration, Grasses, herbaceous perennials, Kniphofia rooperi, long flowering period, low maintenance plants, October, Polley Garden Design, september, Stipa gigantea
With winter almost on our doorstep, it is a good time to cast a critical eye over your autumn garden and judge if you are making the most of the stunning colours of autumn. This final blaze of colour is a joy to the eye and spirit and with a little careful...
by GillianPolley | Dec 6, 2016 | 'Lelystad' bulb mixture, 2016, autumn colour, back gardens, bees, bees and insects, bulb planting for insects, bulbs, Crocus, Edinburgh, front garden, Holland, JUB Holland, Keukenhof Park, long flowering period, Mixed bulb planting, Muscari, Narcissus, Plants, Polley Garden Design, shrubs, spring colour, Tulipa fosteriana Orange Emperor, windy conditions
After my flying visit in the spring to the Keukenhof Park just outside Amsterdam, inspired by seeing 7 million bulbs in bloom. I wanted to add more bulbs to my own garden – albeit in a much smaller way! Packing a very big punch were large borders of mixed bulbs,...
by GillianPolley | Oct 1, 2015 | 2015, A Day Out, art in the garden, autumn colour, BBC, BBC Gardeners' World, Colour, colour in the garden, Edinburgh, garden inspiration, garden views, habitat for wildlife, herbaceous perennials, insect habitat, insects, Lawns, long flowering period, low maintenance plants, naturalistic planting, Plants, Polley Garden Design, Prairie planting, sculpture in the garden, seats in the garden, september, sussex prairie garden, sussex prairies garden
If you are down in Sussex and looking for a good garden to visit, don’t hesitate to go and see Sussex Prairies Garden, we had a lovely afternoon in the beautiful garden a couple of weeks ago. You can wander in eight acres of naturalistically planted prairie...
by GillianPolley | Nov 6, 2013 | Acers, autumn colour, bare root plants, Birds, bulbs, Colour, Edinburgh, Grasses, Green house, Hedges, herbaceous perennials, insects, Jobs to do in the garden, Plants, Polley Garden Design, Roses, shrubs, Snowdrops, Spring, trees, wind rock, winter colour
As I write this, it is raining hard, the wind is blowing strongly around our garden and autumn leaves flying everywhere. The first frosts of the season are about to arrive, the clocks have gone back and it is time for hearty autumn and winter soups to warm you up...