"The Beauty of English Gardens"

English gardens are infamous! I was born and brought up in England but never really appreciated the beauty of it's gardens. However, after returning to my home country after 12 years away, I now see the attraction....

Prince Charles certainly has. He took on the house at Highgrove some years back and has now produced a book about the renovations of the beautiful gardens surrounding the manor house. This book is at Amazon where it is sometimes available at a discounted price.

English Gardens - The Garden at Highgrove

Maybe it's the rain, maybe it's geographic location or maybe it's just that us Brits are incredibly creative! :-)

Whatever it is, english gardens really are superb. Okay the odd garden may grow old washing machines and car engines, but on the whole these are rare.

Every garden, worldwide, has it's own personality and character and some even have a theme running through the whole area.

climbing plants to cover ugly fencing or boring brick walls

ground cover plants to contain weeds and bring lots of colour,

wild flower patches to encourage bees, butterflies and pollination.

Libraries are full of garden books and the newsagents shelves are stacked with gardening magazines. Nobody has to be an expert to start their own garden.

The wonderful thing about gardening is that however expert you are, there is always something else, something more to learn.

There's no limit to this extraordinary hobby.

Traditional 'english gardens' have changed over the years.

Back in Victorian times, only a century ago, England's manor houses were fully equipped with orange groves and other exotic greenhouse plants. With an army of gardeners needed to maintain these huge greenhouses, the costs soon became far too high to justify.

Scaled down and in proportion to the average household, a small garden can provide a crop of fruit, some solid veggies, and a wonderful environment for your family.

Even if you don't have a garden or backyard or even a balcony, you can still benefit from fresh herbs and flowers ( using a windowbox or just growing plants that like an indoor environment.)

Whether you want to follow the style of 'english gardens' or create your own dream paradise - the tools, plants and equipment are available to do it - if you're so inclined!

To help keep you motivated and focused on your project, make a rough plan before you start.

Get hold of as many catalogues and garden books you can lay your hands on and absorb ideas, colour schemes and themes, after that you are only limited by your imagination. :-)

***If you're planning to visit some gardens this year go to this page at Let's Go Gardening for a list of gardens to visit in the UK.... Gardens To Visit

Happy Gardening!

More "Garden" Reading

www.flower-and-garden-tips.com/englishgardens.html