I like the winter. At the time of this writing, during this happy time of Advent in the run up to Christmas, I am conscious of a growing curiously in nature that is teased out by the barer branches and…

Our perceptions form the basis of our views on nature and our place in the world. When we are young, we are almost all interested in animals. But very few children are so drawn to plants. This is not surprising,…

As a gardener, I appreciate the continuity of landscapes. I feel the bond that links our ancestors to a place and I see the reasons for what they did and marvel at how they did it with means far fewer…

With December not far away now, we at Instant Scenery are getting ourselves ready for what has become a traditional job in the darkest of months. We are getting ready to . . . prune! More specifically, we are getting…

Birthdays and anniversaries are times of celebration and reflection. We look back at where we have come from, what we have achieved, how we might have done things better or differently, and marvel at how the ebb and flow of…

With record-breaking numbers of Berwick Swans arriving in Slimbridge, an El Nino year, and ‘freak ocean cooling over the North Atlantic,’ (courtesy of the Daily Star – who then proceeded to say we could be in for a food and…

IMG_6191 I’ve decided that colours in nature are far more passive than that found on man-made packaging. They are more in tune with our senses, having evolved side-by-side, age-by-age, with our own perception rather than the sudden arrival of a…

Help to save Link Nurseries! I recently wrote a blog entry about the gardening charity Thrive, and how it helps people dealing with physical and mental health problems and of how it has helped hundreds of people throughout its history.…

I have written before of my belief that I, a landscape gardener in the heart of Worcestershire, have the very best job in the world. I am outside for most of the year, and most of that over the summer,…

As I write, in early October, the weather is noticeably cooler. There is ice in the evening wind. Great Thule from the north is stirring. The last of the swallows have fled south. The Robins now sing in the hedgerows,…