The Plotting Shed

Brilliantly simple design tips for gardens that are on a slope

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 tip

Front Gardens - are not a small version of the back garden

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

How to design Odd Shaped Gardens

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

How to design a rectangular or square shaped garden

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

How does a garden become family-friendly?

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

Garden Styling - How to Choose the Right One

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,

How do you choose the design layout for a garden?

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

Why does everyone think having a beautiful garden means more work?

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, a

If you're going to design your garden - Don't do this!

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 si

You don't need to become a gardener to have an amazing garden

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!

What's wrong with Orange!

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? Br

Gardening's going 'Up the Wall'

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

Are your garden boundaries barriers?

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

Trend-setting ideas for 2023

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 everyo

Transform your idea of a garden layout - go reverse!

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 an

Become a garden referee - you'll be happier if you do!

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

It's time to think about lawns!

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 r

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023

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

What's best - a landscape gardener or garden designer?

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

Help - I just don't know where to start!

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 ca