Welcome to The Garden Notebook — a journal of thoughts, tips, and seasonal musings from life among the borders.
Here you’ll find a growing collection of reflections from my own gardening journey — practical advice, stories from the soil, and inspiration drawn from the ever-changing rhythm of the year. Whether you’re battling clay, coaxing colour into shade, or simply enjoying a quiet moment among the plants, I hope these posts offer encouragement and useful ideas to carry back into your own patch of earth.
Settle in, have a read, and feel free to share your own garden stories along the way.
The Quiet Green Guest: Rethinking Moss in the Shade Garden You step into the garden after a rain. The air is cool, still. Leaves drip quietly from the canopy overhead.
The Woodland Enchantress: Growing Anemonopsis in the Shade Garden There are some plants that shout for attention—big leaves, loud colours, standing proud and tall. And then there are those that
Fatsia Japonica: Bold, Evergreen, and Full of Surprises You know those corners of the garden where nothing seems to want to grow? The ones that always feel a bit forgotten—north-facing,
Head Gardener Paul Walton with the newly finished section of stumpery at Biddulph Grange Garden | © National Trust / Claire Humphreys How to Make a Stumpery: A Beginner’s Guide
The Best Fast-Flowering Climbers for Shade: Perennials and Annuals to Try on a Trellis Climbers in the shade sounds like a contradiction. But if you’ve ever stood in a dim
The Gentle Art of Growing Hostas: A Full Guide to Care, Colour, and Keeping Them Happy There’s something almost meditative about tending to hostas. The way their leaves unfurl each
Understanding Shade: Light Levels, Canopy, and the Secret to Happy Plants A Quiet Kind of Light You step into the garden on a summer afternoon. The sun is blazing overhead,
Planting Under Conifers Dry Shade & Fence Screening Ideas: Real-World Solutions Beyond Ivy There’s a certain part of the garden that gets quietly ignored. You know the one I mean.
Arisaemas: Mystery and Theatre in the Shade Garden There’s a certain kind of plant that doesn’t announce itself loudly. It doesn’t blaze with colour or cover itself in blooms. Instead,
Buzz in the Shade: Pollinator-Friendly Plants for Dappled Gardens We often think of pollinator gardens as sun-drenched meadows — buzzing with bees over lavender, coneflowers, and daisies, all basking beneath