Blog

31 days to Garden yourself Happy

31 Jan 2023
I am absolutely not one for making New Year’s Resolutions, mainly because I never keep them but this is more a set of guidelines to help keep yourself happy through Gardening. It’s a powerful tool and well-known to have healing powers 1 Spend 10 minutes outside every day - either…

Book review - Urban Flowers

31 Jan 2023
Garden Designer Carolyn Dunster’s book Urban Flowers is set to become the city gardener’s bible. Not too big, not too small, this is a book for every city or small-plot gardener to guide them through everything from soil type to design, plant choices to preserving flowers It’s an easy read;…

Garden Design Trends 2022

04 Jan 2022
As we enter a new year, some of the leading designers from the Society of Garden Designers (SGD) share their predictions for garden design trends in 2022. With the continued drive for sustainability as the overriding theme, these are the plants, materials and design styles we can expect to see…

Fairy Tale of Bristol Book

15 Nov 2021
Fairy Tale of Bristol cover image ©Christine Harris I’ve always believed in Fairies. Growing up on a Cornish farm and becoming a Horticulturist how could I not? I am hypnotised by the magic of Nature in all its forms; throughout the seasons, the years and each passing day. That moment…

❄️ 5 things to do in December 🎄

06 Dec 2019
It may be cold outside but set yourself just 5 little tasks to do in your garden this month and it will help make your Christmas merry and bright ✨ Photo credit : Mark Ashbee Photography * 1 - Plant a tree - save the world * There were lots…

Autumn Tints at Hidcote

05 Oct 2018
Chose the right plants and your garden can be a feast for the eyes in Autumn. Russets, burnished golds, burnt umbers, vermilion reds – a pallet full of glorious colours to keep us warm as the nights grow cold At Hidcote gardens on the edge of the Cotswold’s the garden…

Rudbeckia

25 Sep 2018
As Summer draws to a close and the sun sinks lower into the Autumn sky, there are glorious perennials that soldier on to end the season in a blaze of glory, and one that shines brighter than the rest is the Rudbeckia Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii Born of the North…

Daffodils

03 Apr 2017
Narcissus pseudonarcissus at RHS Garden Rosemoor Every plant has its moment of glory, when it’s the star of the garden. I’m going to be delving deep and finding out everything I can about these gorgeous plants. In March we herald the start of Spring with a burst of sunshine from…

Edible winter pot planting

18 Oct 2016
As another series of BBC Gardeners’ World draws to an exhausted end and the team take a well-earned break I can turn my thoughts back to my own garden. All Spring and Summer I have neglected my little plot whilst busy filming so as the sun came out I headed…

The first cut of Spring

14 Feb 2016
It’s the day I look forward to the most: the first day the sun hits the garden with a degree of warmth and I’m enticed enough to don gloves, find secateurs and a trug, and head out there to make the first cut of Spring The moment is fleeting: the…

Plot with a view - year one on our Bristol allotment

22 Jan 2016
As our first year of allotmenteering reaches its fruition ( pun intended) I look back with many happy memories on what turned out to be the best idea we ever had. When we applied for a plot in the basin of Bristol we were told it would be a potential…

RHS Chelsea Flower Show Press launch

15 Jan 2016
At the last minute I managed to get myself along to the official press launch of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show held this week at the M & G headquarters in London. This time last year hardly a soul knew me, so it was really lovely to be greeted as…

Christmas Gifts for gardeners

23 Nov 2015
Christmas is stealthily approaching and before you know it you’ll be wallowing in wrapping paper, eating turkey sandwiches and watching too much tv. If panic has set in at the mere thought of Christmas and you haven’t a clue what to buy for your loved ones, I’ve compiled a handy…

Affordable garden design in Bristol

19 Nov 2015
Not everyone can afford to employ the skills of a fully accredited, experienced Garden Designer, the likes of which you’d find at Chelsea Flower Show. But a well-designed garden should be accessible to all so I’ve created a service that fills the space in between! With 12 years experience of…

Bring on the girls at Chelsea Flower Show 2016

17 Nov 2015
Bring on the girls at Chelsea Flower Show 2016 ! A whopping 10 female designers will be creating gardens in the three categories, with 5 of them on main avenue alone. That’s a pretty impressive turn out and I’m sure Sue Biggs, Director-General of the RHS, will be over-the-moon; last…

Garden consultancy Bristol

17 Nov 2015
Garden consultation With a lifetime’s experience of creating, working in and enjoying gardens I have a wealth of horticultural knowledge that you can make use of! Whether you have a tiny courtyard, balcony or grand estate I enjoy helping clients make the best of their outside space by offering advice…

Chelsea Flower Show Preview 2016

11 Nov 2015
It may well be a good 6 long months until the glorious Chelsea Flower Show throws open its gates in May 2016 but in the depths of a soggy autumn what better event to look forward to The big guns have been announced with 16 large Show gardens, 6 perfectly…

Christmas gift idea - book a Garden Consultation

09 Nov 2015
Struggling to find a suitable or unusual gift for loved ones this Christmas You can book me for a 2 hour consultation in the Clifton area, or a half day in the Bristol area. A 2 hour consultation will involve a thorough walk round of the garden making notes and…

Is this the end of the Christmas magic?

19 Oct 2015
It comes to every parent: that poignant, traumatic, heart-breaking moment when your first-born asks you to swear on your life that Father Christmas is real. Photograph by Mark Ashbee Photography That moment arrived rather unexpectedly on the second to last day of our summer holiday. Henry, aged 10 and a…

Home & Garden makeover service in Bristol

01 Oct 2015
Enhancing your Bristol property both inside and out Sellers - struggling to sell your property because of its first impressions? Landlords - property left in a mess by last tenants? Agents - buyers put off by the appearance of a property? What is a home and garden makeover? Everyone knows…

Gardens in the press

28 Sep 2015
Nothings beats seeing one of my gardens in the press; makes it all worthwhile to know people love the properties and want to holiday there! Here are a few Treverra on ckrock.com Treverra on Conde Nast website Treverra in House and Garden magazine Penrich on the Perfect Stays website Treverra…

Exterior designer for hire… or Garden Designer… or Home designer…?!

15 Sep 2015
It’s been niggling me for a while now that interior designers seem to have a better street cred (and salary) on the whole than garden designers, so I’m wondering whether to re-title myself as an Exterior Designer? It sounds rather grand but it’s so hard to pin one title to…

Creating a balcony garden

07 Sep 2015
A new client with a beautiful apartment overlooking the Clifton gorge in Bristol has invited me to turn her unused balcony space into a place for eating, relaxing and enjoying the view. I’ve started with some ideas using the wonderful Pinterest website which is invaluable both for collecting images for…

Garden Designer Natalie Ashbee

25 Aug 2015
Ash & Bee Gardens was established in 2003 (formerly trading as Natalie Ashbee Gardens) and grew from the maintenance of small gardens to the landscape and planting design of high-end new properties in Cornwall I relocated to Clifton in Bristol in Spring 2014 with my photographer husband Mark and our…

How does a garden designer in Bristol fill the school holidays?

24 Aug 2015
How does a garden designer in Bristol fill the school holidays… When the school holidays started I must admit dreading the time about to stretch ahead of me. Living in a city, with the prospect of entertaining three young children (twin girls aged 4 and a son aged 10) for…

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