Blue Daisy Blog

Below are some of the horticultural events around the country, it's by far not an exhaustive list and will be updated from time to time so do pop back to check.    

If anything spikes your interest just click on the name of the show and you'll be taken through to their website to find out more information or to book tickets.  Do let us know if you are going to any!

Happy New Year from all at Blue Daisy!

 Traditionally this is the time to make resolutions or simply plan for the year ahead.  So what does the road hold for Blue Daisy in 2012?  Well we're not making resolutions here but we do have a few aims for Blue Daisy!  We have gained a good reputation locally for providing a reliable and knowledgable gardening service and we will continue to exceed our customers expectations whether that is through knowledge, skill or the experience of working with one of our team members.   On the right hand side of our website you can see many testimonals from satisfied customers and we thank those who have been so kind as to supply them too! 

As most of you know Nicki qualified as a garden designer last year which means there is no more college so she has more time to spend in the business "hurrah" she says!!  In terms of garden design we are hoping to get more commissions this year in the Coventry and Warwickshire area for both front and rear gardens.  Some people have never thought of having their front garden designed before but it is becoming more and more popular - after all it is the first thing that any visitor sees so it stands to reason that your front garden should be the very best it can be!  

The clients' current garden had been inherited and they felt it didn't flow well, needed updating and the initial brief for the style of this garden was low maintenance with a contemporary twist, it would be used for impromptu morning coffees, reading the weekend papers, socialising with small gatherings of friends and family or maybe having a barbeque in the summer. Hard landscaping materials the clients preferred were brick, gravel, natural timber, sleepers and slate. A bin storage area and shed at the bottom of the garden along with a small lawn and a Brabantia foldable washing line was a must. The project as always came with some problem areas - the garden sloped down from the house and the level of the garden was higher than a neighbours meaning that the land needed retaining to keep within the garden boundary it currently had a small wall that acted as a retainer but also seemed, wrongly to be a focal point too!

The National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG) has had some amazing news - their invite to HRH Prince Charles to become their Patron has been accepted.

I'm sure this will be a great partnership given his interest in organic gardening, his passion for growing whether it is edible or decorative! It will also help raise the profile of this society, add more credibility to 'Growing your Own' and will reach newer audiences whether it is hands on growers or political decision makers!

As soon as we hear more from the NSALG we will up date you, but for now our warm congratulations are sent to them!

What do you think?

I took part in an online discussion recently about different trends in the garden design world and one that was mentioned was the Grow Your Own (GYO) trend.  Personally, I believe that more and more people are turning to growing something edible in their garden.  Whether it is due to the economic climate, the feeling of nurturing and growing, encouraging the children or simply that it helps to keep the carbon footprint down - people are still doing it.

One or two people in this discussion thought that the bubble had certainly burst and indeed one nursery owner said that their sales of fruit and vegetable plants to garden centres had drastically dropped this year in comparison with last year. I have to admit that I was amazed by that comment whether based on fact or gut instinct; to me it just doesn’t ring true.  Take this year’s Chelsea Flower Show for example; there were lots of gardens either with an edible theme like Bunny Guinness who designed the M&G Investment garden, it was a modern take on the traditional kitchen garden using raised beds which were crammed full of produce.  The B&Q garden being the tallest show garden at Chelsea showed us how we can make small spaces attractive with flowers and still have room for edible crops even on balconies.  Both the Hampton Court Palace Show and Tatton Park have had show gardens with an edible theme too.