• Edibles,  Food,  Gardening,  gardens,  Landscapes & Gardens,  Nature,  park,  Vegetable Growing

    Growing Trends that have been around awhile….

    Let's dance !
    Let’s dance !
    When Ann & I started  ‘Growing Trends’ the web site, blog and radio show, we weren’t sure how to engage all of you. It seems a little wit, the odd anecdote and should I say a touch of knowledge has helped us enormously.

    In a very short time we have built an audience of readers, listeners and fellow Horticulturists, they have come from :-

    United States, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, Columbia, Germany ,United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Denmark, Romania, France, Netherlands, Jamaica,Barbados, Egypt, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Japan, India,  Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Republic of Korea,

    We are just stunned…  thank you all so much. Please if you have time send us a picture of your favourite space, garden or landscape with a few notes, we would love to hear from you.

    Today, as we have a holiday weekend here in the USA, it seems that our blog should be a little in this spirit, so I’m going to try and find a bunch of pictures of projects we’ve completed along with pictures of unusual items used in the urban landscape that perhaps some have not seen before.. hope you enjoy them..

    So let’s start with a really big tree being  moved, it was one of many on this site, weighing some 600 tons and approximately 60ft tall!

    Really it's that large !

    One of my favorites a flower clock in Geneva, Switzerland.

    Geneva, Switzerland
    Geneva, Switzerland

    This one was ‘snapped’ in Amsterdam, it’s an old cannon, now serving as a vehicle bollard !

    An old cannon being used as a bollard

    The next is fairly common – creating a bubble fountain using an old natural millstone wheel.

    Original granite millstone fountain
    Original granite millstone fountain

    This method completely softens a brick pier and makes it look ageless – we used a single canted brick on each corner, and added a double layer of tiles ‘Creasing Tile’ before the soldier course, the resultant ‘shadow line creates interest and helps the wall to ‘weather’ much better.

    Brick Pier with creasing tile
    Brick Pier with creasing tile

    This one is much harder to do, it’s a circular patio of natural setts – they tend to be slightly different sizes. When laid like this, in a circular pattern creates a feeling of movement and space, in what is a fairly small area.

    Small setts laid in a radiating pattern
    Small setts laid in a radiating pattern

    When you have a natural random wall it is always hard to create a ‘finish’   , we solved this by bonding a brick coping to match the drive brick edge.

    Brick Coping Course
    Brick Coping Course

    What is really interesting is, if you look really carefully you can see the brick coping running into the driveway as the wall ends, this looked so good, the red tarmac ( which is quite expensive) helps with the overall effect.

    Driveway
    Driveway

    Many years ago, we needed to find away to create ‘Raised planters’ on a roof that were exceedingly light weight, contained and yet attractive. We think we succeeded with these specially made by us artificial rock faced grp planters. – we won an award for the project , which was fun !

    Artificial Rocks
    Artificial Rocks

    Some 30 years ago we started building gravity walls with ‘TimberGrid’ , then we thought let’s add some plants, it worked great..!

    Treated Structural Green Wall
    Treated Structural Green Wall

    It wasn’t long before they started to ‘Grow’ well you know if you try hard enough it becomes a ‘Trend ‘

    Tall timber gravity wall
    Tall timber gravity wall

    Sometimes it’s fun to experiment, so here we came up with a ‘curved’  wall

    Creating movement
    Creating movement

    Finally a simple picture on a very clear day !

    Looking Up
                           Looking Up

    Hope  you have enjoyed,  do drop us a line

    or visit our website at www.grotrends.com

    or listen to our internet radio show  Growing Trends

    Ann & Chris

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  • Edibles,  Food,  Gardening,  gardens,  Landscape design,  Landscapes & Gardens,  Nature,  park,  Vegetable Growing

    Have you included herbs & veggies in your landscape?

    Could you grow these?
    Could you grow these?
    The Victorians, were an inventive bunch, they invented and developed so many things, today we seem to spend more and more time with new technical inventions rather than try and solve the many issues facing us with the environment.

    Perhaps its simply we do not spend enough time outside to enjoy the sun, stars,landscape and the water?

    Going back to the Victorians, they have been credited with developing the regimented summer bedding displays, they developed huge estate layouts with ponds or should I say lakes, they were instrumental in cut formal lawns, I think Ransomes was one of the first with a horse drawn mower?

    What they also did was include vegetables within the garden landscape,as did the Germans and French, it’s a great way to grow veggies and herbs as it is almost invisible, yet so effective and pleasing to grow your own.Plus invariably the food is both fresh & free of those pesky pesticides.

    Have you included herbs & veggies in your design? – a question for your landscape designer perhaps?

    The marigolds help reduce the bugs
    The marigolds help reduce the bugs

    Our first interview for our Growing Trends radio show,was with a couple that do just that, – we are due to return shortly to see how the fruits of their labour has gone..

    Their garden has between 350 – 400 Trees,Shrubs, Perennials, Annuals, and at least 75 Herbs & Veggies. It still has this beautiful pool to relax in !

    Can you spot the herbs & veggies?
    Can you spot the herbs & veggies?

    Even if you only have a small area it is very beneficial to grow say just a pot or two of herbs, not only are they fresh, they keep on producing throughout the season, (saving lots of money) all you need to do is water, and take any seed heads off as they form.

    Stacked herb pot.
    Stacked herb pot.

    For the more adventurous a larger area can be created, this requires more commitment, the rewards are much greater with more produce grown and the satisfaction of growing your own food.

    An example from a Chelsea Flower Show exhibit
    An example from a Chelsea Flower Show exhibit

    Of course you could get completely carried away, employ a full time team and develop a world class garden, that attracts thousands of visitors a year.. feeding an awful lot of folks into the bargain !

    Simply stunning !
    Simply stunning !

    How do I start ? I hear you say. Well the best way is always start in a conservative way, the easiest is probably to start with herbs, which will grow throughout the growing season, once thats mastered, try a quick growing veggie such as lettuce, it has a short cycle and is relatively easy to grow. If you don’t want the hassle of growing from seed initially, it’s possible today to buy ‘plugs’ that are pre started and likely to produce quite quickly, then progress from here, adding interesting varieties of say garlic, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes….

    Weekend Garden Kit from Picagardi
    Weekend Garden Kit from Picagardi

    This garden was planted just 2 weeks earlier with pre started plants. The trick if you haven’t grown many plants yourself is to start small, then as you find that the weather and conditions are unpredictable, you can try a more adventurous approach. Remember though that even hardened gardeners find that some plants some years just do not flourish as expected.

    The rewards are so worth the effort, producing your own food, saving money and having a healthy outdoor activity.

    Hort Cuisine anyone ?
    Hort Cuisine anyone ?

    Ann & I will be talking to some new gardeners, along with some seasoned,experienced gardeners in the next few weeks… the trick is always to have fun and experiment just a little !

    You can hear more of our interviews at  Growing Trends 

    Or drop by our website at www.grotrends.com  

    We would love to hear your suggestions, comments or requests….and we would really appreciate a like on Facebook !

     

    Ann & Chris

     

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  • Growing Trends,  Landscapes & Gardens,  Landscaping

    A rare moment of peace in the perfect haven of a landscaped garden

    Classic English Garden
    Classic English Garden

    “The commitment & sheer hard work required to achieve career success nowadays takes a heavy toll on our lifestyles. All of us need to counterbalance a busy working schedule with the right level of relaxation. For centuries gardens have been places of retreat and contemplation where our minds, detached from everyday problems, can resolve conflicts and plan confidently for the future.”

    “A rare moment of peace in the perfect haven of a garden brings us renewed harmony with nature”

    A short stroll to the patio
    A short stroll to the patio

    There is something rather special about returning home from work , seeing your beautiful landscape, perhaps pouring a glass of wine, or beer, then taking a walk around your landscaped garden enjoying the trees, flowers, shrubs, all whilst listening to the insects & birds, before an evening meal.

    This tends to be a bit of a chore when the temperature is over 90f with sweat  dripping off  your forehead with each sip, however once the temperature falls to below 80f  it is very much more relaxing.

    It’s a great time to water the container plants ,dead head the flowers, check on the veggies , check on the water levels of the ornamental ponds, maybe even pull the odd weed from your immaculate borders.  You do have immaculate borders?  I mean what would the neighbours say ?

    Garden Pond
    Garden Pond

    Finally stroll back to the main terrace to complete or restock the beverage..mmmm ‘if only’ I hear you say, alternatively pop into a nearby park at lunchtime for a few minutes peace and relaxation.

    Soft brick & natural stone terrace

    Unexpected benefits of gardening

    Research is now emerging that suggests that digging in the soil is actually beneficial, as the microbes found in real soil are the very ones that help us feel good . – Perhaps its time for us to develop adult sand pits?  No just kidding, all that yucky sand traipsed indoors would wreak havoc with the carpets,  “She who must be obeyed” would read us the riot act.

    I do think that , garden landscapes are for using, they are not like a trophy, or picture hanging on the wall, they are alive, constantly changing ,constantly in need of nurturing, feeding, watering ,tending  but above all else enjoying.

    What better way to enjoy than to actually get into the midst of the garden and soak up all those positive ions?

    A maturing landscape
    A maturing landscape

    This beautiful award winning garden was developed some years ago for a very busy client, who had a passion for orchids , immaculate lawns, with filled to the brim shrub borders.

    Just using white summer bedding is very effective in such a large garden

    We were often asked how it was that most lawns had these long lasting “stripes”. The secret is two fold, first the mower used has to have a roller behind the cutting blades, it can be a rotary mower, although the best is obviously a cylinder mower, also the roller should be the drive method for the mower .

    The second is to make sure that each time you cut , you turn 90 degrees from the last.

    The advantage of the cylinder mower is, usually you are cutting finer grass, and it needs to be quite short, a rotary mower tends to tear the grass blades and thus causes bruising, so it never looks as good, but it is able to cut much tougher grass which is usually also much higher in length.

    A large main lawn
    A large main lawn

    Sometimes when I wished to get away from the constant ringing phone , a product of having great teams, being in constant demand and being easy to contact, I would head out to a clients garden and actually spend an hour or two cutting their lawn for them, although it earned me the reputation of ‘The Gardener in a Suit” as I always wore a suit and tie to work !

    It was a great way to recharge the batteries !

    The complete lawn
    The complete lawn

    Come listen to our interviews at Growing Trends they are all about these amazing folks with a passion for landscape gardening, the experts that help them and the wonderful folk that create them.

    We would love to hear from you too….if you visit us at www.growingtrends.org please spend a moment to click our Facebook Like !

    Ann & Chris

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  • Edibles,  Food,  Garden Design,  Gardening,  gardens,  Landscapes & Gardens,  Landscaping,  Nature,  park,  Vegetable Growing

    It’s all about the people !

    Digital Radio, always on, step through and listen now !
    Digital Radio, always on, step through and listen now !

    Listen here

    Most people are so interesting, it’s just a matter of coaxing them to talk to you, then asking the right questions.-

    Are you passionate about your garden ?,

    Do you have a favorite  landscape ?,

    Would you like to be interviewed ?

    We started this series of horticultural based interviews with one simple idea, which was, that within our very diverse industry there were many people :-

    both Homeowners,

    Designers or Creators,

    Builders,

    or Visitors  and Admirers,

    who had fascinating stories to tell about their everyday lives.

    We have not been disappointed , in fact, we have been surprised by how many folks have a real passion for all things outside, particularly by how many people would like to reconnect with nature.

    Tiger Rhus
    Tiger Rhus

    So with that in mind here is a day in the life of… Ann & Chris. the co-hosts of Growing Trends, we ventured out last Saturday, bright & early, just as the sun was rising :-

    5.00 am Saturday

    Ann & I had literally, a ‘field day’ on Saturday.

    We each got up at the crack of dawn, and went to interview Farmer Steve, at Weston Red Barn Farm

    We arrived at 7.30am and had already missed Steve, who had picked a crop of fresh peaches for Cindy ( his lovely wife) to take to market some 50 miles away.

    Early one morning , Weston Red Barn Farm
    Early one morning , Weston Red Barn Farm

    Steve & Cindy have, for the past 25 years been slowly developing Weston Red Barn Farm to a traditional working farm, specifically to show kids how farms are part of the community. They have Apples, Peaches, Chickens, Goats, Horses, a Farm Shop, Pumpkin fields,  along with a wedding venue. It keeps them very busy throughout the summer and autumn.

    8.00am

    One of Steve’s farm workers arrives to feed the chickens, goats, ducks, and horses, calls Steve for us, who appears over the horizon in a 4 wheeler…

    We set up the Mics, the recorders,then we interviewed Steve for around an hour, it could have been much longer, Steve had a fascinating journey and one that you will be able to hear on our show shortly at  Growing Trends Internet Radio

    A few snippets : –

    They have an amazing 12,000 – 15,000 school children visit them every year !

    They have 67 weddings at the farm in a year.!

    Old Milk Churns
    Old Milk Churns

    I happen to know one of the current family members , of the family that invented the milk churn, their company was called Express Dairies, they developed the original milk churn to take milk from the ‘shires’ to London on the newly built railways, for the burgeoning population of the city.Needless to say they made a handsome profit !

    Of course these days most milk isn’t delivered by horse & cart, or by electric milk floats – yes way back in the 60’s milk in England was delivered by battery powered eco-friendly milk floats, as a youngster I often helped the ‘Milkman’ on his rounds for an extra shilling or two.

    Express diaries
    Express diaries

    Ok, so back to the interview.

    The Farm is about to lay out it’s Pumpkins for sale so Ann found a few pumpkins lying around and ….posed for a quick picture – they sure look impressive !

    It's fun here...
    It’s fun here…

    There was even time for a spot of ‘picking’, in my miss spent youth we would go ‘Scrumping’

    These look yummy !
    These look yummy !

    9.30am

    With our interview completed, it was time to rush back to interview our second fascinating person of the day.

    Alan Sargent was over 4000 miles away, and 6 hours ahead of us, in Petworth, West Sussex in England.

    A must for Head Gardeners.
    A must for Head Gardeners.

    Alan has a most varied career in horticulture :-

    He has Built or,

    Designed and Built dozens of Chelsea Flower Show Gardens,

    Design & Constructed Award Winning Landscapes.

    Formed a Trade Association,

    Judged Garden Exhibits,

    Written Books

    Found time to be a Head Gardener at one of England’s finest and busiest Estates – the 12000 acre Goodwood Estate – with its 44 acre gardens, airfield, horse racing,and motor racing circuits.

    Goodwood estate
    Goodwood estate

    the race course…

    The Race Course
    The Race Course

    the motor racing circuit. – or for the Petrol heads as Alan refers to them !

    goodwood 4

    Alan’s skills are legendary, and he has a keen eye for detail – I am a detail freak too, so I love his workmanship !

    One of those more famous English Schools
    One of those more famous English Schools

    His stone work is superb.

    Ann and I were to coin an English expression ‘Plum Tuckered’ – you will need to look up it’s meaning, here’s a clue to replenish the reserves we stopped for breakfast..

    10.30am back home.

    It was time for that quick breakfast, and of course coffee – coffee in America is so good …

    Then we quickly reviewed the recordings, packed up the recording gear. Headed off to the lake some 53 miles away for a well earned break, sailing our little racing cruiser ‘Stiletto’

    Stiletto - Capri 25
    Stiletto – Capri 25

    It’s amazing how relaxing an afternoon sail can be.. this week it was a tad hot at 100f but still fun.

    This Weeks Show

    This weeks show will be about a fantastic store that brings in it’s very own miniature pony each weekend, where it has a small coral in the ‘Fairy Garden’ at the back of the store. – you can buy all many of things for creating a miniature garden !

    We are also talking to Richard Benfield a Garden Tourist Guru, whilst he is on his travels, around the world, we caught up with Richard in Western Australia..  do listen to the show at..  Growing Trends Internet Radio  if you, or you know someone that would be fun to interview drop us a line and we will get back to you.

    In the meantime we have a website telling you more at  www.grotrends.com

    You will be able to hear all about Weston Red Barn Farm, along with Alan’s adventures in the coming weeks.

    If you have someone in mind we could interview drop us a line briefly explaining who & why.

    Ann & Chris.

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  • Edibles,  Gardening,  gardens,  Landscapes & Gardens,  Nature,  Vegetable Growing

    Climate changes

    If this year is anything to go by we are definitely experiencing some changes to our weather patterns. We have more rain than I can remember, I know this because the power has gone out an amazing 13 times in the past 6 weeks ( yeah I hear you say why are the lines not buried, and how can a squirrel knock out power to a whole town, well the same way a dump truck can when it tips it’s load, or too many birds take a break on a power line and it shorts out).

    Back to the weather, instead of 90f plus temps they have been 75f and at night instead of 75f they have been 55f, it’s almost English weather, except over there the temps have been much higher.

    We have also had nearby, a huge increase in Earthquakes ( by this I mean hundreds of small quakes) this year, many place the blame on this, to the new habit of ‘Fracking’ , which I’m sure isn’t helping.

    We’ve a serious issue with lack of bees to pollinate the crops , it’s not just the honey bees the wild bee population is suffering as well, as is the bird population, which probably means  that the insect population is affected as well. In sure mother nature doesn’t like it when us humans mess with what was once a very balanced eco-system.

    Some areas of the country are experiencing record droughts, which if it continues will have a far reaching impact on food production and where folks chose to live.

    So with all this turmoil around us, a couple of friends and I decided it was time to change how we grew herbs & veggies…

    So today we are launching Hort Cuisine something we have been working on for a few years now, it’s a rather fun way to grow at home.

    It starts with our Hort Cuisine patented grid system

    Hort Cuisine 4x4

    Here’s an example Hort Cuisine, herb garden

    herb cube

    and here’s the beginnings of a Hort Cuisine ‘Knot Garden’

    left top lavender edge

    here’s the Knot Garden sector planted

    Potager 1

    We are going to make smaller ‘Balcony’ sized versions too

    Potager 1 x 2

    Which should be an ideal size for balconies.

    In the next few days you will see just how easy these kits are to do yourself at home.

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  • Edibles,  Gardening,  gardens,  Landscapes & Gardens,  Nature,  Planting,  Vegetable Growing

    Edible Landscaping

     

    Today there are many more who would like to grow their own Herbs & Vegetables, the desire is not just from homeowners with traditional gardens, but also those living in flats & apartments, using either a balcony or a kitchen window.

    Those without any space are looking at allotments & community gardens when they catch the ‘bug’

    Demand is ‘growing’ all the time, from all over the world.

    Schools are finding that they need to include growing in the curriculum showing children how to grow edibles which leads to more interest in cooking, which then creates a much healthier lifestyle and a huge demand for fresh food.

    So what are the best ways to grow?

    This is an interesting question and I suspect the real answer is – It depends !

    It depends where you are in the world

    It depends on where you want to grow

    It depends what you want to grow

    It depends how much light, heat and water you have available.

    It depends how much time you want to spend growing.

    It also depends on what resources you may have to use.

    Initially it depends how much skill you have, interestingly while you will quickly learn ‘How to’ , mother nature has a habit of throwing you a curve ball now and then, so somethings you expect to do will with will suddenly suffer and others will thrive.

    So let’s take a look at the methods of growing first as we could spend simply ages trying to find the best places and times to grow.

    Small :-

    Can be as small as a pot , grow bag or individually planted between existing plants in a landscape.

    herb pot 2

    Medium :-

    Multi pots, planters, or raised vegetable garden

    herb 1a

    Large:-

    Fenced in Garden, Roof garden, Commercial enterprise.

    wattle edge to garden1

    What would you like to start?

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    Views: 95

  • Gardening,  gardens,  Landscapes & Gardens,  Nature

    Herbs & Edibles in the landscape.

    As youngster I remember going blackberry & wild raspberry picking in the hedgerows in the country lanes near where we lived in England. Then later after I was married we would holiday in the Jura mountains in France each year, where we would hike a few days and find the most amazing tiny wild strawberries  and a blue berry  ( makes the most amazing Tarte au Myrtilles)  with the most intense flavors. All washed down with a delightful Crement du Cerdon slightly sweet sparkling wine.

    Image

    In England we would often pop down to the local ‘Pick your Own’ and gather raspberries, strawberries and sometimes gooseberries when in season.

    Image

    Which was great fun, especially as we could test taste a few along the way….

    Today there is a much bigger demand for growing your own at home, due in part to a return to more natural activities ( getting lost behind a small screen is ok, it’s not very energetic, and it’s probably a strain on the eyes) . A lot of today’s youngsters would like to know how to grow plants. Many younger adults are seeking to help them, whilst us old-en’s have the knowledge.

    Image

    The trick is, as always a balanced approach, until you feel confident enough to really ‘go for it’

    Can you see the edibles in the picture below?

    10428658_646260722111607_3040415214228153175_n

    Of course if you happen to have the odd Châteaux just lying around you could always develop something on a rather more grand scale..

    Image

    Sadly unless you happen to be a Hedge Fund manager, Politician, CEO of a public company or Daddy was very generous this approach is beyond most of us.

    So with this in mind we have started to develop a rather novel approach, tailored to today’s rather busy folks and designed to grow with you as they say. First however, try something quick easy and useful, a Deck or Patio vertical herb garden. – just growing a few herbs is both fun, educational and beneficial.

    Image

    Once you are happy with the herbs, then start being more adventurous, depending on the space available you can start a larger edibles garden.

    The next phase, slightly larger edible area will be our next blog, along with ideas on how to implant within the landscape.

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  • Gardening,  gardens,  Landscapes & Gardens,  Nature

    Landscape gardens for a purpose

    Today I thought we might make a start on Landscape gardens with a purpose. There are any number of reasons for starting to develop a landscape, or for that matter to continue with one that has been developing over the years. Sometimes we want to create spaces for particular needs and wishes, these can range from play areas, to formal areas to potagers and topiary etc.,

    We can also create gardens for those among us who have, for what ever reason lost or been born without all our senses or are disabled in some other way.

    Lets start with one of the  senses…sight.

    We designed and built our first Garden for the blind some 22 years ago at the Chelsea Flower Show in London, the idea was to use the other senses of touch and smell to create an interesting area for someone who could not ‘see’ the flowers or structures, but was able to take in the various scents and feel the different textures.

    So in addition to be able to hear water, touch stone, brick, wood and plant leaves, you could also smell flower scents, touch and smell aromatic herbs etc.,

    It was also possible by using different textures of paving for someone to ‘feel’ their way around the garden and know (with practice) where they were.

    Image

    Some years later quite by chance I had the opportunity of taking a partially sighted student on our sailing boat.

    It took this  fellow about five minutes to understand where the wind was coming from, and his sense of touch was so good he

    was able to adjust the sail trim & thus the boats heeling just from feeling the mainsheet with one hand. His other hand was holding the tiller and the pressure from the rudder told him how easily and thus quickly we were sailing..

    Image

    Moving to wheelchairs.

    Creating a garden for wheelchair access requires a few sensible initial planning steps. The first is, it is really quite a good idea to have a hard surface on which the wheel chair can travel ( or should I say perambulate, mmm  much more descriptive) around the landscape.

    So concrete, asphalt, hard paving in the form of brick or block or slabs all work well. Grass, bark, gravel etc are not very suitable as they tend to make it much harder to move the wheelchair, they also tend to make it dirty.

    The next considerations are the width of the path – I’ve always believed paths should be wide enough for two people to walk side by side, it’s much more friendly and inviting to take an afternoon ‘Constitutional’ walk around your garden landscape – it reminds me of the age old tradition of the mayors of towns and village ‘beating the bounds’ once a year. With two people walking side by side a path width is best at around 5ft ( 1.4m) , this works well for a wheel chair too as most need about 32inches clearance when considering the users hands.

    The final and perhaps most important design consideration apart from the initial access and egress is the ground contouring, often gardens have changes in levels, these can be quite severe at times and often involve steps ( wheel chairs are not good with steps), they are also an incredible amount of work on steep slopes. So a wise soul has come up with a standard that suggest fairly sensibly that a slope of no more than 1 in 12 is used ( that means 1ft change in level for every 12 ft travelled) , well it could also mean 1m change in level for every 12 m travelled, but I figured that was obvious. To this I might suggest that a 1in12 slope hundreds of yards long isn’t such a great idea with out some resting landings as it is still a lot of work involved. So there is an additional requirement for a landing every 30 ft in length.

    Finally, if an event is planned it isn’t that hard to create a temporary access ramp that can be removed when its over.

    In the picture below we created a disabled ramp, that double as a pretend boat launching ramp.

    Image

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  • Gardening,  gardens,  Landscapes & Gardens,  Nature

    Are we moving back to a more traditional garden landscape?

    Image

    Anyone know what this wild flower is?

    We’ve conducted five interviews this month, with many more in the pipeline. What’s been really interesting to see is that many homeowners genuinely want to grow many more of their own vegetables and herbs.

    Given the effects of climate change on major food production areas like California this is probably a very opportune time to be doing this, although it is a good idea to plan and prepare correctly, otherwise results may turn out unpredictable.

    The biggest surprise is that many already have quite large vegetable growing areas, some are actual kitchen gardens, others  are interspersed within the existing garden landscape ( for those of you in the USA us Brits refer to a ‘yard’ as the rear garden landscape, and for the Brits reading this a ‘yard’ was an old imperial measurement that went out of fashion in the 1970’s).

    So it seems many are experimenting with growing vegetables, herbs and fruits.

    Across Europe there have since the time of the Great War been public areas that are often known as ‘Allotments’ – an allotment was a small area of public land that is usually enclosed, and managed by the local town, it has parcels of land often in strips that are rented to local residents specifically to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers. Today a more modern name might be ‘Community Gardens’ – although often community gardens involve a collective approach rather than the individual growing plot.

    What’s also starting to emerge are ‘School Gardens’ this is particularly good to see as young children are now learning some of the secrets to growing and harvesting vegetables and fruits, as well as then learning how to preserve and cook them.

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    We will be interviewing a number of these ‘School Garden’ groups in the coming weeks, some have been around for many years, they have mastered the curriculum so that this wonderful resource becomes a true education learning cycle.

    The term Organic growing often turns up in these areas. The science of GMO seed’s and increased pesticide use has many skeptical about long term health effects, and new studies and books are beginning to emerge with additional information about the effects on allergy sufferers, asthma , etc.

    We are horticulturists not scientists so our observation will be focused on the growing aspects, although we do see that the Bee population has been decimated in recent years – without bees over 80% of our food production could be seriously impacted, what is causing this malaise is only just beginning to become apparent, although it appears that increased pesticides is not helping.

    Our first interviews with vegetable growers will be with traditional ‘Organic Farmers’ so we can see how they grow and produce a crop, if there is enough interest we can explore the world of the more mechanical intensive growers, just let us know what you would like us to add to our shows .

    Growing Trends can be heard daily at 1pm & 7pm Central Time at www.cravingtalkradio.com

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    Views: 117

  • Gardening,  gardens,  Landscapes & Gardens,  Nature

    Interview spots

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    We thought one of our interviews should be on board a sailing boat, after all it’s about as tranquil and peaceful as

    a lovely garden – unless like yesterday it was blowing at about 40 mph ( then it requires a little more skill and a lot less sails)

    First however our next interviews are going to be fun.

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    The first is in an absolutely amazing sculpture garden, that has 13 Henry Moore sculptures among a host of others that are equally interesting. Sculptures are fantastic for creating a interesting focal point in a garden, leading the eye from one part to another as you travel through the garden and it’s story unfolds. Sadly sculptures like these superb Henry Moore’s are beyond most folks budgets, although a number of firms make very acceptable stone sculptures, urns and statues.

    The next is with a truly traditional  organic vegetable grower, this is a growing trend as we discover more and more information about some of the effects of GMO seeds and the long term effects of today’s insecticides & pesticides.

    The opportunity to design, develop and use the garden landscape is now more important than ever, with the erratic climate swings we’ve been experiencing, growing your own vegetables is both economical, generally healthier in many ways, and fun.

    Schools are beginning to realise that not only is it a learning resource but also a huge cost saving when it comes to providing nutritional foods for the kids to eat – the kids learn where their food comes from, how to grow it, and then how to prepare and eat it – a truly win, win , win situation.

    With the advent of vertical gardens, and mixed planting in pots, it’s possible to grow herbs and vegetables even on the smallest of spaces, all you need is light, protection from extreme heat and cold and of course water.

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    This herb pot is quick & easy to create and will last most of the summer.

     

     

     

     

    Views: 68

  • Gardening,  gardens,  Landscapes & Gardens,  Nature

    Growing Trends is now on air

    Hawaii joined 2

     

    So folks now you can get to hear our dulcet tones along with our pretty pictures and design ideas.

    Our very own internet radio show is available to all , you can find us at www.cravingtalkradio.com the show is called Growing Trends, and broadcasts at 1pm and 7pm central time. Ann Miller & Chris Coope are the Co Hosts.

    Do take a moment to listen, and by all means send us a note at info@grotrends.com  – a nice note please ! or even a question, you never know we may be able to answer it for you.

    On the other hand if you have an interesting landscape we could interview you..

     

     

    Views: 45

  • Gardening,  gardens,  Landscapes & Gardens,  Nature

    Some great landscape detail.

    Let’s start with the unusual, well perhaps not unusual more not where you would expect it.

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    A car park in Portland, Oregon.

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    Miniature gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show

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    A Joker water fall with brick edge

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    A very large tree being moved.

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    A moon gate

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    Hawaii – a different way for a tree to remain standing !

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    A clever way to screen pedestrians from too much sun..

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    Providing shade at the upper level

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    Immaculate aftercare

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    Is it Art ?

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    an interesting restoration or is it pub conversion?

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    “Knapped flint’ walls are just amazing..

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    a lovely old stone wall…

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    Building stepped walls is not easy, this one has been

    very well thought out.

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    Views: 45