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…

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 a…

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 …

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 …

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 t…

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…

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 he…

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 ti…

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 elimin…

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…

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, bu…

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…

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 bo…

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; t…

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? O…

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.  Al…

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 w…

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 s…

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 mak…

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…