Emma Atkinson: Landscape Architect & Garden Designer

 5 TOP TIPS TO ATTRACT WILDLIFE TO YOUR HOME: This weeks blog provides a focus on wildlife and how we can attract more wildlife species to our garden. Even the smallest of spaces can offer a variety of different habitats for wildlife.  There are multiple ways we can introduce wildlife to our spaces using low cost, simple solutions.  Below are 5 different things to consider to encourage a diverse range of wildlife species:  1. Get your garden buzzing.. Adding pollinator plants is the solution to attracting bees to your garden. Look out for this sign to make sure your garden is bee friendly. Find out more at :   schoolgardening.rhs.org.uk 2. Create a Hedgehog Highway Hedgehogs travel up to one mile every night through our parks and gardens, but one of the main reasons their populations are declining is because our fences and walls are becoming more and more secure.  Therefore, ensuring a hedgehog can pass through your garden is very important! A 13cm x13cm hole in your fence is all they

5 HOUSE PLANTS FOR IMPROVING AIR QUALITY                House plants are a very simple, but effective way of brightening the home, increasing oxygen levels,  boosting well-being and reducing stress levels.                                                                              1. Aloe Vera This plant is essential to have in any home. Known for it’s healing properties, it will soothe any burns, whilst purifying the air of toxins found in detergents and varnishes. 2. Spider Plants These plants filter airborne toxins from air in your home. This is also a perfect plant for house plant  newbies as they are very resilient!  3. Peace Lily One of the top indoor plants for cleaning air. This plant breaks down toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and benzene. 4. Snake Plant This plant releases oxygen at night helping you to breathe better whilst sleeping, so is a great addition to your bedroom. 5. Boston Fern These plants are known for their air purifying abilities, but in particular for rem

Tiny Tips to Transform Tiny Spaces!  Having a balcony does not mean you are limited when it comes to growing plants or creating a place for biodiversity to thrive. For SO many of us balconies are our only private outdoor space, so it is important we feel confident about how we can transform these spaces into little havens of paradise!  From natural screening, lighting & herbs, here are a few low-cost simple solutions to add to your balcony, to make it your special place to enjoy.  Tips for Tiny Spaces:  Utilise vertical space  Add a few hanging pots, or trellis to your balcony as a way of adding plants without taking up additional floor space. Vertical space is essential to unlocking your garden, whilst also creating privacy. Climbers will thrive if they have something to climb up.  A wild solution to balcony screening    Do you want to add more privacy to your balcony without adding an ugly fence?  Grow climbing plants along your railing or wall in troughs or pots!  Choose floweri

  NOW IS THE TIME TO ENOY YOUR GARDEN!   August Summer is well and truly here and I think our gardens and open spaces are still feeling the affects of the heatwave all around the UK.  Now is the time to get out into your garden, sit on your balcony or go to your local park and enjoy the long evenings, as before we know it the darker nights and cooler days will be here. ​The evenings are a good time,  glass in hand,  to get out and do a spot of dead-heading if you have a garden. Half an hour or so of removing any dead flowers on your roses,  geraniums,  dahlias  and hanging basket flowers will encourage repeat flowering and keep things looking smart. Lavender will also be in need of deadheading now, but don't let those lilac stalks go to waste!  Here are 3 ways you could use lavender in your home to avoid it going to waste:  1. Lavender Tea: Discard the stalks and boil eight parts water to three parts lavender flowers. Once boiled, add the flowers to the boiling water and leave to b

August, it's one of my favourite times of the year, a month where we can enjoy the summer sun and long evenings in the garden, but we also start to see the year's crop ready to harvest.  A highlight for me is always the brambles!  Wild brambles are one of nature's delights, that populate our hedgerows across the UK and there is always joy in picking a few for a crumble or to add to a G&T!  But it is also possible to grow your own, which are formerly known as blackberries, rather than the native bramble.  Growing Blackberries  Brambles that we see across the UK are a largely invasive species that rapidly spread, however cultivated varieties of blackberry are far more civilised and tend to be slower growing, better suited for those who want to grow them, without the fear of them taking over.  Blackberry plants can be bought as bare-root plants in the winter (called stools). It is recommend they are soaked before planting and then buried in soil to the depth they were prev