by GillianPolley | Dec 18, 2015 | 2015, advent season, back gardens, bulbs, Carex comans bronze, Carex oshimensis 'Evergold', Christmas, colour in the garden, containers, cyclamen, December, Design, Edinburgh, evergreen plants, Festive plant container, focal points in the garden, front garden, garden inspiration, Grasses, herbaceous perennials, Heuchera 'Plum Pudding', livingreendesign, long flowering period, low maintenance plants, Plants, Polley Garden Design, Sarcococca Purple Stem, scent, shrubs, Skimmia japonica, winter colour, winter scent in the garden
Christmas is here, and people are busy decorating their christmas trees and decking their halls, but don’t forget your garden. A festive styled plant container in a position near a door or viewed from a window really cheers up a garden. At plant nurseries and...
by GillianPolley | Nov 19, 2015 | 2015, back gardens, Design, DIY, Edinburgh, front garden, habitat for wildlife, Hedgehog facts, hedgehogs, hoglets, Polley Garden Design, The Gardener's Friend, wildlife
About 3 weeks ago at night we came across a hedgehog in our garden. I thought we might have some visitors as our garden is hedgehog friendly, so it was great to see it in person. ‘Him outdoors’ got inspired and after checking out several ‘How to...
by GillianPolley | Oct 29, 2015 | 'garden tree', 2015, autumn, back gardens, bare root fruit trees, colour in the garden, cooking apples, Design, Edinburgh, fences, focal points in the garden, front garden, fruit trees, garden gifts, German Apple Cake, pears, plums, Polley Garden Design, Potager, sculpture in the garden, september, spring colour, trained fruit trees on walls, Tweed Valley Fruit Trees
I think growing fruit adds another dimension to a garden, from beautiful blossom in spring to watching the fruit slowly mature and ripen and finally enjoying the taste of your own apples, pears and plums. From growing fruiting trees to wiring up a boundary wall or...
by GillianPolley | Aug 11, 2015 | 2015, Acer, Acers, Architectural Plants, Buxus, Design, evergreen plants, front garden, garden inspiration, garden transformation, Japanese gardens, O-Karikomi, O-Karikomi gardening technique, Plants, Polley Garden Design, shrubs, trees, winter structure
Design ideas come from everywhere and everything, sometimes you immerse yourself in an idea, work at it and develop it, then it sits in the back of your mind and simmers slowly. I find the ‘simmering time’ vital as you take the idea, push and pull it...
by GillianPolley | Jun 12, 2015 | 2015, August, back gardens, bees, bees and insects, Chelsea Flower Show, Colour, colour in the garden, Design, early summer, Edinburgh, evergreen plants, front garden, Geum 'Cosmopolitan', Geum 'Lemon Drops', Geum 'Prinses Juliana', Geum 'Totally Tangerine', Geums, Geums - stalwarts of the flower border, herbaceous perennials, long flowering period, low maintenance plants, Plants, Polley Garden Design, stalwart garden plants, summer, summer flowering plants
Geums have been one of the talked about plants at Chelsea in the last few years – the orange coloured ‘Prinses Juliana’ (height 60cm, spread 50cm), flowers May – July, and ‘Totally Tangerine’ (height 75cm, spread 50cm) flowers April...
by GillianPolley | Feb 28, 2015 | 'Home Ground: Sanctuary in the City", 2015, Acer, Dan Pearson, Design, designing your own garden, driveway, Edinburgh, February, front garden, garden transformation, March, Polley Garden Design
After spending 12 years designing client’s gardens, I am finally designing my own front garden and driveway and I get to please myself. Now this is a great feeling, but it is also slightly scary. Garden designers find it notoriously difficult to design their...
