The Plotting Shed

Read more at PlantPlots.com Hanging Basket season is nearly upon us again. We don't like hanging baskets. Even worse than hanging baskets are hanging baskets filled with bedding plants - they are no good for your garden, create loads of extra work, they are really expensive and in most cases thrown away after the summer. We want to make gardening easier but hanging baskets most definitely do...

Read more at PlantPlots.com One of our 'little listens series' , here's 5 minutes of garden design advice on how to transform a small narrow courtyard into a tiny urban garden. The problem of 'dead space' and how to avoid it - small gardens suffer from dead space, so what is it and how do you 'design' it out Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlot...

Show Gardens are amazing - but don't forget they are just that a show. It's easy to be seduced by the gardens on show at places like the RHS flowers show at Chelsea, Hampton Court and around the UK. These gardens showcase the best and most avant garde designs, they inspire us to get into our own gardens and transform them, but are these gardens really aspirational? Can the ordinary garde...

A bit of 2 minute Soapbox moment, but we always look to make gardening easier, we want people to have gardens they can easily look after. So it really get's our goat when plant labels don't give real advice - like "don't plant upwind of a path or patio" for example. A simple sentence on the  plant label would enable you to make sure you don't plant a problem! Grasses,...

Gardeners are changing, a neat manicured bug free garden is now seen as one that is out of touch, creating gardens that are both beautiful but bee friendly are most definitely in. But is the horticultural industry really buying into this new trend? Garden Centres seem to be filled more and more with plants that are forced into flower, they are stacked to the rafters with massed displays of bedding...

How's about this, a podcast on garden paths.... but we all need them so we thought they were worth talking about. So you can read about how to make low maintenance garden paths It's easy to create a really ugly garden path that looks like a runway down the garden but paths can be lovely too. Read more at PlantPlots.com Exciting stuff eh? Bet you can't wait till next week :) Support...

Why do some plants grow so fast and others want to take over the world! - read more at PlantPlots.com Advice on how to keep your garden behaving itself See Plants to Avoid if you Don't Like Gardening Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

Where do you start when faced with an overgrown weed patch - it can seem a bit daunting. but you can start to turn this eyesore into a workable garden... and here's how. For lots more great garden advice visit PlantPlots.com Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

Garden Design is all about making the best of the space you have. But what if you haven't got much space in the first place. Well then we have to use a couple of simple design tricks to make the garden feel a bit bigger than it is... How to make your garden look bigger Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

Read more at PlantPlots.com   or you can watch out little short YouTube video.... on what a low maintenance garden actually is. The truth is any garden will create work, the trick to creating a garden that doesn't feel like a chore is to make sure it contains only those jobs that you actually like doing.  Think about what are the most time consuming chores and how can you avoid creating unnec...

We all want our garden to get get back looking it's best - but is a tidy garden really the best idea?   Remember Gardens aren't just for us #doingmybit Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

4 simple quick and easy ways to start getting your garden back on track after the winter. Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

How do we go about redesigning a garden, what's the thought process used? Listen to how we reshape a welsh garden into something much nicer in an affordable and practical way. If you want to see pictures of the actual design whilst you listen.... r ead about the design on our Plotting Shed Blog   Or watch a short YouTube on how we created this design also Support the show Support the Show - T...

Read more about designing really small gardens at PlantPlots.com The space we need to use in a garden doesn't shrink just because the garden is small - so where you put your seating and how you get there are the most important decisions to make. This podcast is one of our series on how to design your garden if..... where hopefully we debunk the mysteries of garden design and show you how you...

Where do plants get grown these days and can your plant buying habits be contributing to the warming of our planets atmosphere. The answer may just surprise you... Garden Centres buy in plants from all over the world, but is this really the most sensible sustainable solution when we want to buy plants for our garden, why can't they just be grown here? Read more at PlantPlots.com #amdoingmybit...

Read more on our series 'How to Design a Garden if...' at  PlantPlots.com We really try to make gardening easier, and this podcast is one on our series of how hot design a garden if... Small gardens have their own unique set of issues and design problems to overcome. But what about the plants for a small garden, what type of plant should you think about including and which ones should ne...

Have a Heart - Have a Hedgehog Hole! Every animal, insect, plant species on earth link together. Just like the film Avatar, all life is connected (even us). If we break one link, it affects thousands of other links. Hedgehogs are an apex predator in our garden, having a hedgehog is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. Have you seen a hedgehog recently ( that was actually alive!) Go and build that hedgeh...

How the humble button mushroom can help save the world..... but it needs a few cyanobacteria a bit of  graphene and a couple of nanocircuits..... Amaze your friends with this little gem of ecological /environmentally friendly 'here's how we can save the planet' piece of information! Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots...

Read more at PlantPlots.com Garden designers make it look so easy - a few plants here and a patio there, so why does it never seem to work in your garden. Well aside from the fact that most of us don't have a budget of thousands and a posse of expert gardeners on hand; how can you turn your garden into something more beautiful, interesting and lovely. Top tips to help you banish those boring...

Read more at PlantPlots.com We don't all have beautiful views of rolling green countryside to look at in our gardens. So what can you do to improve the view in your garden; and is both effective and affordable. PlantPlots - We make Gardening Easier Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

Did you know butterflies taste with their feet - so what would a butterfly think of your garden.... feast or famine? And what about garden sprays - bet they make the flower and nectar taste disgusting! If 80% of all the plants in all our gardens were fabulous tasty food sources for bees, butterflies and other insects and garden animals - we would all be helping to save the planet. Read more at Pla...

Craig Burrows Photography Flowers evolved for insects not humans - so if you thought roses are red you need to think again. Craig Burrows shows the real colour of flowers, the actual colours that the bees see.  Perhaps UV photos ought to be shown on every plant label; so that we'll know the flower can actually be seen by our bees too, when we buy plants in the garden centres Support the show...

Hedges are much better than fences - better for the planet, better for wildlife, they make better screens and windbreaks and they look better than a fence.... See Ingwe our topiary leopard - now you can't do that with a fence, can you! If you'd like ideas on how to grow a hedge that doesn't cause you too much work... read How to have a low maintenance hedge   Support the show Suppor...

Read more at PlantPlots.com Houseplants are really beneficial for us, but being indoors is not any good for plants. Quick tips and advice on keeping your indoor plants happy, healthy ... and alive! Monday Mist, Tuesday Turn, Wednesday Water  & Friday Feed folks! Support the show Support the Show - Thank you PlantPlots.com Watch our videos facebook.com/plantplots Pinterest/PlantPlots

Read the CNN article - and why not share it with your local town planning office! #amdoingmybit At PlantPlots we think gardens should look good but most importantly do good too. Our world is changing fast, sadly governments don't react fast enough, but as individuals we can: Share this with your local town planning office, environmentally green buildings should actually be green!    How wonde...