How do gardens like Sissinghurst or Hidcote Manor look good all year round?  What’s their secret?  If you look carefully, they have three things in common:

The first is accessories.  Gardens are like a little black dress; they need a cute bag and a great pair of heels to bring them to life.  Benches, pots and statues draw the eye and can lift a garden to the next level.

Second is intrigue.  Create a reason to explore, it helps to engage you.  Visual sleight of hand is therefore crucial. 

Shape, form and colour is the third.  Take a black and white photo of Sissinghurst and it’ll still look good which proves colourful plants are not enough by themselves to sustain interest.  Gardens need all three to add extra depth.  

All these things are possible even in small gardens.  If you would like to find out how to do it in your garden come and join Nick for a series of entertaining talks in villages around Northamptonshire.  The first begins on Friday 27th September at 7.30pm in Braybrooke Village Hall.  The ticket price is £5 which includes a complimentary glass of wine.  You’ll learn the tricks of the trade of garden design.  If you’re organisation is interested in getting Nick to hold a talk in your village, please contact him on the email address below.

Nick is an award-winning gardening journalist.  His writing appears in The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The RHS magazine and Daily Telegraph.  He designs gardens all over the country and has presented gardening programmes on TV with Jane Asher on BBC 1 and with Steve Wright in the Afternoon on BBC Radio 2.  He is a regular garden expert on BBC Radio Leicester.  Nick writes a gardening blog www.nickturrell.wordpress.com.

For further details, email nick on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

 Garden Design by Nick Turrell