by GillianPolley | Jun 12, 2015 | 2015, August, back gardens, bees, bees and insects, Chelsea Flower Show, Colour, colour in the garden, Design, early summer, Edinburgh, evergreen plants, front garden, Geum 'Cosmopolitan', Geum 'Lemon Drops', Geum 'Prinses Juliana', Geum 'Totally Tangerine', Geums, Geums - stalwarts of the flower border, herbaceous perennials, long flowering period, low maintenance plants, Plants, Polley Garden Design, stalwart garden plants, summer, summer flowering plants
Geums have been one of the talked about plants at Chelsea in the last few years – the orange coloured ‘Prinses Juliana’ (height 60cm, spread 50cm), flowers May – July, and ‘Totally Tangerine’ (height 75cm, spread 50cm) flowers April...
by GillianPolley | May 18, 2015 | 2015, Design, designing your own garden, dogs, Edinburgh, garden transformation, Gardener's One Line A Day Diary, London, May, Polley Garden Design, setts
As I write this paving, setts and sand are being craned over our front hedge, (much to the excitement of our dog) ready for construction. The designs have been done, specifications written and costs agreed. The die is cast. My thoughts...
by GillianPolley | Feb 28, 2015 | 'Home Ground: Sanctuary in the City", 2015, Acer, Dan Pearson, Design, designing your own garden, driveway, Edinburgh, February, front garden, garden transformation, March, Polley Garden Design
After spending 12 years designing client’s gardens, I am finally designing my own front garden and driveway and I get to please myself. Now this is a great feeling, but it is also slightly scary. Garden designers find it notoriously difficult to design their...
by GillianPolley | Jan 2, 2015 | 2015, annual plants, apples, back gardens, Bailey, bare root fruit trees, bats, bees, bees and insects, Birds, Colour, colour in the garden, community gardens, conifers, containers, Design, dogs, Edinburgh, evergreen plants, front garden, fruit trees, garden inspiration, Garden trends 2015, habitat for wildlife, herbaceous perennials, insect habitat, insect hotels, insects, January, outdoor pools and spas, pears, Plants, plums, Polley Garden Design, Raised wooden beds, rural country gardens, shapes, shrubs, Spring, Stepover fruit trees, Top garden trends for 2015, trained fruit trees on walls, trees, Tweed Valley Fruit Trees, urban green spaces, Vegetable growing, wildlife habitats
In the world of fashion for Spring 2015, navy is the ‘new black’, the pattern is gingham and the style of jacket is ‘kimono cool’. A couple of months ago I brought a kimono style jacket for a change and I am delighted to be ‘kimono...
by GillianPolley | Oct 31, 2014 | back gardens, bare root fruit trees, Design, Edinburgh, fences, front garden, fruit trees, Plants, plums, Polley Garden Design, spring blossom, Stepover fruit trees, Tweed Valley Fruit Trees
It has been a bumper year for fruit in our gardens and I often include fruit trees in my garden designs. A great way of making the most of sunny walls and fences in a garden is to wire them up and add some trained fruit trees. Or you can put in wooden posts...
by GillianPolley | Oct 2, 2014 | arts and crafts, arts and crafts garden design, arts and crafts house terrace, Arts and Crafts style house, Deja Vu moment, Edinburgh, focal points in the garden, garden views, Lutyens seat, Lutyens wooden bench, Plants, Polley Garden Design, rear garden patio, rear garden terrace, seats in the garden
I am sure we have all had one or two deja vu moments in our lives, but I was not expecting a design one. I had been asked to redesign the rear garden terrace of an Arts and Crafts House with a wide set of steps up to the terrace from the lawn. I felt very strongly...
