The Plotting Shed

What to do if your garden is on a slope, whether its and upslope or downslope, gardens don't have to be made flatter to become better! Brilliantly simple design tips to help you understand how you can create a functioning but beautiful garden when the ground is not flat! Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

Front Gardens are so important, yet are often left as uninspiring gardens. But the front garden is what you and your visitors walk past to get to the front door - so the garden should say something about you! So, this week's episode is dedicated to helping you transform your front garden into a place that puts a smile on your face and welcomes you home. Support the show Support the Show - Tha...

Life would be so much easier if gardens were regular shapes, but more often than not now gardens come in all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes. So how do you design a garden in one? Well, there are some easy tips and hints to help you start the planning process and work out how you can fit a gorgeous garden into an odd shape.  Phew! Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Wa...

Gardens come in all shapes of rectangles - these can be long narrow rectangles, wide shallow shaped gardens or perfectly square spaces. So what makes for an interesting design in a regular box-shaped garden? PlantPlots YouTube Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

What does family-friendly mean in design and layout terms? Most gardens have to be multifunctional spaces, providing space for little people to boom about in BUT that the adults can relax and enjoy themselves in. So what should you consider if you need your garden to work for everyone? INSERT VIDEO LINK HERE Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com...

You may think of garden styles as Cottage, Mediterranean, Contemporary, Minimalist etc but it's actually much simpler than that. But before you lay the styling out, you need to understand how each of these 3 main styles works and then decide which one would work best in your space. INSERT VIDEO LINK HERE> Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos faceboo...

The key principle when you are faced with lots of decisions is to break these down into simpler decisions. And that is really all design is about, asking simple questions, the result of which will help you understand how you need your garden to be.  It's not about imposing a shape style or planting scheme IN the garden. To learn a bit more - try here or you could take a look at my book Suppor...

I am a lazy gardener, I want to spend time enjoying being in the garden, not fussing over the jobs and chores I think I need to do. If you are like me, then listen in, and I will give you the best tip for making looking after your garden less stressful! Which has to be worth a listen - don't you think? If you want to know a bit more - try here Support the show Support the Show - Thank you Pla...

Designing a garden can be daunting, especially if you don't know much about design, plants or gardening.  But you can design your garden well, if you follow some simple steps. The first one is eliminating negatives, you need to understand what are the emotional negatives and practical negatives your garden has. Resolve these and the garden is already a better place for you. For some more real...

What makes a garden truly amazing? The truth is nothing  - it's a choice; Does the garden amaze us? Creating an amazing garden isn't then an impossible dream! If you want to know how you can transform your garden from ordinary to amazing, listen to this series. Oh and thank you if you do. For more really helpful design advice - try here Support the show Support the Show - Thank you Plant...

Absolutely one of the best colour combinations in a garden is green .... and orange! So why do so many gardeners shy away from orange-coloured plants in their gardens? Bright colours are brilliant, but there is a way to use bold colour combinations and a way to not do them.  It's very simple to understand and I guarantee a happy flower in bright orange, vivid red or acid yellow WILL put a smi...

If space in the garden is limited, vertical gardening is a must, but how can you get it 'right'?  What are the best plants to use and what are the pitfalls and problems to consider before you put your plants on the wall? Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

All gardens have boundaries, but these can often feel like barriers. Personal security is an issue, but if your boundary becomes a barrier, you will always lose more than you gain. So what makes a boundary a barrier and how can you blur the edges in your garden? Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

How to Become a Plotting Shed Pioneer. This week Rachel challenges you to rethink your gardens, made simple changes to your gardening habits and set the trends for everyone else to follow. The aim; to do less but enjoy more (and be good for the planet too) Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

Most if not all garden design is based around a similar format, we create space in the middle of the garden and plant round the edges - but does this make for the best and most interesting gardens? Or are we simply creating an empty space in the middle that we don't really use? Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/Plan...

OK, what's a garden referee? Well, it's all about your relationship with your garden and how a few simple changes to your perception of gardening can transform your relationship with your garden.  Allowing you to enjoy more but do less.  Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

The lawn can be a glorious thing, but most lawns aren't. This week Rachel challenges the idea of what a perfect lawn is and discusses how big or important the lawn really is in the garden. And asks whether we need to change our idea of what a perfect lawn is. Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

I went to Chelsea and had a lovely day wandering around the flower show and this is what I think you need to take from this year Gardening is in an evolution revolution - so listen in, and learn how simple changes to your garden will benefit you and your garden equally. And the best bit, it involves less work! A win-win then for everyone :) Read more and see lots of lovely photos  Support the show...

You've decided to get the experts in, so what's best for you? A landscape gardener or a garden designer - in fact, what's the difference between them? And what questions do you need to ask them to make sure your new garden is right for you? Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

Creating a new garden can be overwhelming, there are so many decisions to make about layout, styling and the materials to use. And then there are plants - how on earth can you choose plants when your horticultural knowledge can identify a rose.... but not much else! This week Rachel helps chat through a process to lessen the decision-making burden and help you plan the process of redesigning your...

How can you create a beautiful garden design if you haven't got a clue about gardening? Welcome back to the first of this season's podcasts. This week Rachel talks about prepping your garden thought process.  Understanding what you need your garden to do. It's all part of the 5P's.... proper planning prevents poor performance. The problem is what do you plan for? Support the sh...

Gardens don't exist in a photograph or a moment in time.  Picture-perfect gardens are not real, all gardens create work. Large gardens create a lot of work, so how do you ensure the design itself doesn't create unnecessary maintenance or build in additional costs to look after it? Can a large garden really be low maintenance? Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com W...

The buzzword for many gardeners is low maintenance - but we have the wrong concept of what low maintenance should mean. The best low-maintenance garden is one where the plants look after themselves. This week, Rachel looks at the wood-wide web and how it can help you create a low-maintenance, well-balanced healthy garden - for free. This week is the last in this series of the Plotting Shed. We wil...

Large Garden Design Tips This week Rachel details those useful questions and design tips you need to ask before you embark on any large-scale garden redesign.  What questions should you ask and what are the simple tips to start the process off? Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

Gardens are not outdoor rooms, you cannot apply interior design principles to a garden. Nature does not exclude certain colours or shapes or plants, the landscape is merely a reflection of the plants that thrive in the conditions that prevail. So if you try to micro-manage the garden style and planting colour themes, the overall effect begins to look too sanitised. The best approach is with a few...