yardz

KNOT GARDENS

Inspired by English needlework patterns, Knot Gardens originated in the Tudor period. Today they are once again becoming popular as features in ornamental vegetable gardens. Using old gardening methods the low knot garden hedges were formed using individual plants grown and clipped until they had reached the required size.

Today, though, www.boxknot.co.uk have made the process simpler with their Boxknot kits. These kits contain a pattern, there are some great contemporary patterns, hedging plants already grown to size in metre long troughs and all the equipment including a spade and pruners to plant and look after your knot.

Looks great idea for a new look yard that will be reasonably low in maintenance needs and stunning to look at.

http://www.boxknot.com/contemporary.html

THE REAL THING

Sedum cauticola 'Coca Cola'

Wondeful ground cover that forms a grey blue mound. The foliage darkens with age and it produces starry pink flowers in late summer. Loves sun and prefers a well-drained soil.

THE SINGLE MAN'S BIRDHOUSE

I'm mad about modern wild bird care products with real design and saw these in one of my favourite sites www.myurbangardendecoguide.com

'Birdhouse

A pet is ideal against the single man‘s loneliness. But a hard working single man can‘t take the responsibility. Our birdhouse is glued on the outside a window, so the single man can watch his birds grow up from the inside!'

 

CUBE

CUBE designed by Jan Melis for Sywawa

A stool, table or parasol base - the garden furntiture with a retro 60's feel. Available in white, lime and taupe with orange, red or black cushions.

http://www.sywawa.be/CUBE.10.0.html

PRINTED POTS

Amazing  Amazing  Amazing....

These printed pots are made of fibreglass and can be produced with stock prints or custom prints - change with the season, change with your mood!

They have a built in planting pot and a stainless steel cap.

http://www.obbligato.co.za/printed.htm

GAY FEATHER

Gay Feather - Liatris spicata Kobald

My Liatris is just about starting to flower. It has superb long lasting spikes of magenta flowers that will carry through to the end of September. Birds and butterflies love them. They give a great vertical accent to container planting or grow them between blue grasses such as Festuca glauca. You can buy them as ready grown plants or as I did by them as dry corms in the spring.

www.crocus.com

SATELLITE - A SAD FAILURE!

Please excuse photo but it was raining heavily (see rain rain rain rain)

One of my failures of the year, Fuchsia Satellite.(see yardzplant 22.5.2008) I thought this new fuchsia would be just right for my tall granite feature pots but it just hasn't come up to expectations. Its growth is very spindly and extremely brittle, you only have to brush past for a branch to break away from the base. Also it has taken a long time to come into flower and there seems to be more foliage, the leaves being large, than flower. Not one I'll try again.

SUPERLATIVE BBQ STYLING TO BRIGHTEN THE WETTEST DAY

The Coleman Diamento designed by Pininfarina

This is the ultimate in bbq styling. Designed by famous Italian stylists Pininfarina it embodies all that you would require in a top of the range bbq. You really would need nothing else in your yard - except a chair to sit and drool over this amazing cooking machine. They are not cheap at just over £2000 but what the hell - sell your car or your mother-in-law this is something that would make even your worst day worth living.

It is available in three colour ways - varnish red, varnish blue and varnish grey and has an amazing array of accessories, including a deep fat fryer to do your fries, that clip onto the main body.

www.coleman-bbq.com

RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN.........

Here in the sunny south west of England we are in the middle of our 'monsoon season' otherwise known as summer. I don't know why I bother looking at leisure furniture and bbq's when all we get is rain and more rain. This is our second wet summer in a row - what ever happened to global warming?

The plants though are enjoying the weather, climbers and perennials are lush and rampant, but on the other hand the slugs are having a wild time! We can but hope for an 'Indian summer' and lazy September evenings on the deck.

WATCH THIS SUNRISE

Carex trifida 'Rekohu Sunrise'

This new golden sedge will be available in garden centres from this autumn and is definitely worth looking out for. A selected form of carex from the Chatham Islands, it has attractive, variegated, arching green and gold foliage. It is hardy and evegreen making it ideal for containers.