Toby Buckland
Published: 2011
Total Pages: 226
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Every flower gardener aspires to lush, bloom-filled beds of healthy, colourful flowers, but it's often difficult to achieve the dream. Every week we see how the professionals do it in the Gardeners' World garden, and now Toby Buckland reveals his secrets in this stunning guide to the flower gardens at Greenacre. Now in its second year as the GW garden, Greenacre started out as a playing field in a leafy suburb of Birmingham. Over the seasons the gardens were laid out, planted, fed and watered, establishing themselves as viewers looked on. Split into achievable front and back garden plots, each with its own unique character, planting scheme and flowers, Greenacre accommodates every design, aspect and plant-type you could want. There's a bee border to attract beneficial wildlife; a twilight garden for evening scent; a family shrub area that won't be damaged by stray footballs; coastal and bog gardens to show what you can do with wet and dry soils; prairie; cut flower; woodland; exotic and cottage gardens. Toby talks us through the growing year of each garden. Aided by illustrated colour plans, he explains the thoughts behind each design and discusses the characteristics, timing and needs of each flower in full. He guides us through the seasonal processes and maintenance tasks of the individual gardens and expertly demonstrates how to make bespoke feature projects such as cobble paths and bee boxes, breaking down the information into easy-to-follow steps. Full of beautiful flower photography and expert guidance, The Flower Gardens at Greenacre is an essential guide to gardening with flowers.