My Fabulous Garden

Alfreton Garden Maintenance

Alfreton Gardener — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 16:52:01 +0000

Garden Maintenance Services in Alfreton

These services are available throughout the year…

Lawn Care
- Feed & Nutrition
- Strimming & Mowing
- Scarification
- Weed Control
- Over-seeding
- Moss Removal
Garden Maintenance
Garden Design
Planting Schemes
Property Maintenance
Soft Landscaping
Hedge Cutting
Topiary & Pruning
Pressure Washing

Click on a thumbnail to reveal full sized image..

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Classic Planting List

Alfreton Gardener — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 21:12:00 +0000

Popular & Classic Plants List

What plants should I buy?

Oftentimes, if you are creating a garden from scratch you may not have experience of the range of different plants available to purchase and that creates indecision on what to buy.

Clients will often ask me for recommendations, and by the nature of the task, it has to be something tailored to the local conditions – the soil, the aspect, light etc. etc.

This is a list of popular classic plants that would feature very well in a number of gardens and most are perennial in nature, some are generalistic and some are specific named varities. They offer colour, form and interest from Spring to Autumn. The list is simple and basic, it’s given to help you make a few initial purchasing desicisions and get your garden off to a good start.

How to use this classic plant list….

Each name is in alphabetical sequence for ease of reading – in two columns.

Open up a browser and go to Google Images, and copy each name in turn and paste it into the Google Image search box to show you a range of images. I recommend this method, as you will see a much wider range of images than compared to visiting just one website. You could use AI too and drop the list into AI and ask it to create the images for you.

If you like the look of a specific plant, then bookmark your search / image and go to the RHS website and again, paste the name into their search facility. If the RHS have the plant listed in their database, it will offer you an information page to view which tells you the key pieces of information you need to know on whether this would be suitable for your garden – the hardiness of the plant, soil types, the width, height, rate of growth, how easy it is to care for it, aspect, planting guides and even, in some cases where you can purchase it from.

Having found a plant that looks ideal for your location, next find a supplier who may have it in stock. There are many large firms that stock a wide range of plants online and can supply them or simply take your list along to your local garden centre or email them your list and enquire about stock availability and prices.

Classic Plant List

- Achillea millefolium ‘Lilac Beauty’

- Agapanthus Fireworks

- Agapanthus ‘Navy Blue’ (syn. ‘Midnight Star’)

- Agapanthus ‘Twister’

- Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’

- Anemone blanda

- Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’

- Angelica gigas

- Aquilegia

- Asplenium scolopendrium

- Aster × frikartii ‘Mönch

- Black Eyed Susan

- Californian Poppies

- Canterbury Bells

- Centaurea ‘Jordy’

- Cephalaria gigantea

- Convallaria majalis (Lily of the Valley)

- Coreopsis

- Cosmos

- Digitalis purpurea

- Echinacea purpurea

- Eryngium bourgatii ‘Picos Blue’

- Euphorbia oblongata

- Fuchsia ‘Alice Hoffman’

- Fuchsia Delta’s Sara

- Geranium ‘Nimbus’

- Helenium

- Kniphofia ‘Bees’ Sunset’

- Lavender

- Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Aglaia’

- Lillies

- Lobelia siphilitica

- Oriental Poppy

- Osteospernum ‘Astra Yellow’

- Penstemon ‘Heavenly Blue’

- Penstemon ‘White Bedder’

- Peony

- Perennial Geranium

- Persicaria Bistorta Superba

- Phlox

- Rudbeckia fulgida

- Salvia nemorosa

- Scabiosa columbaria

- Thalictrum delavayi

- Verbascum phoeniceum ‘Violetta’

- Verbena bonariensis

- Wood Anemones

#PlantList #ClassicPlants #Plants #Alfreton #Gardener #Gardening #GardeningAdvice #WhatToBuy #GardenPlants #Perennials #PlantTips #BuyingPlants

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Clay soil is a blessing!

Alfreton Gardener — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 10:49:35 +0000

How to improve clay soil

Clay soil is a blessing! Thats right! A blessing!

Most people wouldn’t agree and that’s because they don’t know what to do to improve clay soil.

You may have struggled digging it over because it’s too heavy, too wet or too dry (hard) and just so full of clay that it’s like cutting through blocks of cheese with your spade.

You need three ingredients to improve clay soil – time, effort and natural wood fiber – and then nature will do the rest.

Improving clay soil is simple

Add fiber into it. Thats it!

Specifically natural wood fiber – that’s the best – natural wood breaks down and creates mycelium and thats key to the transport of nutrients and the basis of healthy soil and happy plants.

Wood Sawdust breaks down the fastest (local sawmill or lumber yard)
Wood Chips – second fastest (local tree surgeon)
Wood Bark – the slowest (local garden centre)

You should also dig in any of the following too…

Shredded cardboard or paper
Kitchen Scraps (egg shells, coffee grounds and vegetable peelings)
Tree litter (twigs and bark)
Leaf Mulch
Fiberous Compost (multi-purpose is ideal)
Clean Cat Litter (dried wood pellets)
Aged Cow or Horse Manure (2 yrs plus)
Small amount of chicken manure or pellets

They will help maintain the balance of the soil.

The timescale to transform (condition) the soil will depend on a number of variants. Allow two years to get really good results.

Usually from six months onwards, you will see a vast improvement in the condition of the soil. It will have lots of worms, be easier to dig and the soil will be in smaller chunks and as they decrease in size you will get a tilth (fine, workable soil) that is healthy, nutrient rich and free draining).

Word of warning...

Throughout the whole process, do not use any weedkillers on the soil.

Weedkillers have negative long term effects and will kill the micro-organisms, microbes and beneficial insects that do all the hard work of conditioning your clay soil.

Let nature do the work

My advice is to plan well ahead – prepare a new border by digging into it any of the above listed items in quantity and leave it. Winter is a great time to start the process as nothing is actively growing and the soil will be wet and more workable than when it’s bone dry.

If you leave the border bare, dig it over every now and then – that will help speed up the process. Nature does all the hard work – air, frost, rain, sunshine – the elements, insects and microbes slowly change the soil composition. Only plant up trees or large shrubs into it until it’s conditioned to the point you can work it with a hand trowel and then you can add in your bulbs, perennials, seed and bedding plants.

Improve Clay Soil Annually

Annually, in the autumn, add more fibre into it – wood chippings, with wood bark on top is ideal. 4 to 6 inches deep will keep out the light too and drastically reduce your weeding.

The best way to improve clay soil is to change it’s composition from having little wood fibre to lots!

Happy Gardening!

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How to scarify your lawn

Alfreton Gardener — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 10:48:25 +0000

MFG Step by Step Guide on "How to scarify your lawn"

Achieving a dream lawn is much easier than you think. Scarifying is one lawn treatment that’s great for old lawns that need rejuvenating or for lawns that are prone to heavy build up of moss.

Scarification helps to create the right environment for grass to grow healthily. Lawns under two years old should not need scarifying.

I’ve set out this guide with easy to navigate headline titles so you can find the content that’s most useful to you.

Why scarify your lawn?

Over time, material builds up in a lawn that slows down the healthy growth of grass. That material is termed as “Thatch”. Thatch is a mixture of lichen, moss, weeds, debris (like tree litter, leaves) and old, decaying grass.

Thatch needs to be removed to create space and reduce competition, so grass can grow into the lush green lawn that you desire.

What is scarification?

Scarification is a process which removes thatch from the root of the grass in order to give it some breathing / growing space. In a lot of cases it is (or should be) only part of a wider set of garden lawn treatments.

Scarification can be done by hand with a garden rake or by machine. Mechanical Scarification is quick – but it is a robust treatment and does not discriminate! So treat it with reverance.

A hand lawn rake can achieve a much lighter scarification and can be targeted and measured too – but it is slow to do and very labour intensive.

Scarifying is a destructive process and will thin out your lawn, so be prepared to budget for over-seeding your lawn too if that happens to you.

Scarification Aims

The main aim of scarifying is to get the lawn into a healthy condition – where the soil is healthy, there’s no thatch build up, it has good nutrients, it drains adequately and provides the right growing conditions for grass to thrive in.

When to Scarify?

The best time to scarify is early spring and late autumn when the grass is actively growing. This is important, so that the grass has a chance to recover afterwards.

I wait for a dry spell of two days and mow on the first day and then scarify on the afternoon of the second day – the lawn will be firm underfoot and the grass dry too. This means i get to inspect the grass while it is long, after mowing and prior to scarifying and I have a good mental note of what needs to be done.

A hot, dry day, with no wind is preferable. The grass has dried out enough that it won’t stick, the thatch will dry in the sun as you are working along and when you come to rake it, it will be light to rake into mounds and won’t blow away in the wind.

How often to Scarify?

Once or twice a year is usually sufficient for most lawns. If you are having to scarify more often to keep your lawn under control, it’s likely that you have not considered other complementary lawn treatments.

If you over-scarify your lawn it can end up looking scalped and if that’s the case, rake the soil patches by hand, water the lawn throughly the day before and then over-seed it and leave for 4 to 6 weeks to recover and the new grass to establish.

My advice would be to set the scarifier to it’s highest setting until such times that you gain more confidence in the process.

Which Scarifier to use?

If you want to keep your lawn in good condition a mechanical scarifier is a worthwhile investment. They range in price from £50 upwards.

You can buy a petrol scarifier, a cordless / battery operated one or an electric one depending on your budget and preference.

You could also borrow one or hire one if your budget is limited.

I have used Einhell petrol and electric versions and they do a good job. I prefer a petrol one as it’s easier to use than trying to manage a cable.

When buying one – check that it has a tine attachment (so it can function like a mechanical lawn rake) but also, (more importantly) a blade roller (this is what you use when scarifying).

Before you scarify

Before you scarify, inspect your lawn. Pinch a clump out here and there and look at it up close. Analyse it! What percentage is moss or weed, how green is it?, is it old or new grass? are there insects in it? Has it lots of brown or white roots?

It’s a good idea to take some close up photo’s or videos of it, so you can compare before and after and be sure to include some reference items in each shot – so you know the location when you come back to look at your footage.

Have a walk around and look at the lawn and consider..

The current health of the lawn
Any moss or weed issues
Any thatch
Drainage (where it drains to)
Elevation (how it slopes)
Soil condition (are there patches? is it compacted?)
Exposure to elements – sun, shade, wind etc.
Age of the lawn
Condition
Colour (screw your eyes up when scanning it)
Length

Taking these aspects into account, you can determine where the bad patches are. Work out where you will start and finish. Time wise, allow three times the time it takes you to usually mow your lawn.

If you have deep rooted weeds like Dandelions – remove them with a hand trowel before hand.

Be Safe

Clear the area first of any debris, items or obstacles.

Inform people what you are going to do beforehand and keep children and pets away from the area. Follow your manufacturers operating instructions.

Safety boots, gloves and eye protection are advised.

Scarifying Technique

Mow the lawn a few days beforehand to reduce the amount of waste material and keep the grass dry when scarifying
Decide where you will start and where to finish
Take the basket off – it’s a complete waste of time to fit a basket to a scarifier!
Scarify the edges of the lawn first
Work side on to any paths or obstables that you may hit with the blades
Set the height of the blade to highest from the ground and do light passes
Work in straight lines, horizontally to the direction in which you usually mow
Rake the thatch into mounds after it dries – then collect them up for disposal before you do a second pass
Do a second pass, (if required) in the direction you usually mow
After all the thatch is collected up – put your mower on a high setting and mow the lawn as normal.

Post Scarification

Scarify, and then post scarify, water the lawn by drenching it. If you have a lawn feed, use that too after the water has soaked in for several hours.

A scarified lawn needs time to recover, so water and nutrients at this time will help it tremendously.

If you still have a lot of moss, then wait a few weeks after feeding it and use a granulated or liquid moss / weed / feed treatment. This done in the Spring will get rid of the worst of the moss before summer.

After the moss killer has done it’s job (usually a few weeks wait), do a good hand rake or light passover with a mechanical lawn rake again and give it a mow to tidy it up again and remove any leftover moss.

Let the growing season take over the responsibility. Mow and water on a regular basis.

Over-seeding

If you have thinned out your lawn too much you may wish to over-seed it.

Only ever use one brand of seed or you will end up with a patchwork quilt. Its best to buy in bulk and store it.

Water the lawn thoroughly, let it drain for a day, then use a high quality lawn seed and re-seed the lawn especially where the scarifying has been most effective :-).

Leave the grass to grow and establish before mowing again – the longer you wait the better. It takes 13 days to germinate at 9 degrees (soil temperature) and four weeks to establish good roots.

After it’s first mowing, lightly feed the lawn, and watch out for any new moss returning. If you have persistent areas – just give a hand rake.

You can repeat this process, depending on the growing conditions throughout the year. Less is more in this case.

Other lawn care options

Additionally, you can consider other things like mechanical aeration, hand aeration, improving drainage with sand and when you have moss under control, give it an occasional mulch cut to add core nutrients back into the root system.

The key thing with scarifying is that is only one part of the overall process of lawn care – not an emergency first aid response when things have got out of hand.

Have fun!

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Design for Winter first!

Alfreton Gardener — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 10:47:23 +0000

Design for Winter first

In the depths of Winter, when it’s dark, grey, cold, gloomy, and wet, you’ll want to look out upon your garden and enjoy the fact that it still has lots of structure, focal points, form, colour, shape and shrubs of different sizes, habits and interest.

Starting to design a planting scheme begins with envisaging how it’s going to look in that “bleak mid-winter”. If you get that right, what to do with the remaining seasons is child’s play.

Winter planting takes precedence over all other planting considerations.

Winter Shrubs Collection

My Winter Shrubs Collection will help lift your garden and make it feel alive again, even after other summer and autumn favourites start to fade away – these plants will help fight off those winter blues!

This collection features “substantial” (medium to large) Evergreen, winter flowering or semi-evergreen shrubs ideal for ensuring your garden has structure, shape, colour and interest during the Winter months and carry that through to early Spring.

Additionally, I’ve added some deciduous shrubs, that have exceptional qualities for winter form and display, early spring flowering and special interest too.

Winter Planting

When planting a garden from scratch, these winter gems would be the first items to be planned in terms of their position, focal points and then marked out and timetabled appropriately for planting.

Once planted, you will have a good idea, how full your garden will look during the winter months when everything else has died back. If you already have lots of planting in place, wait until November and look to identify gaps that you could fill using any of the shrubs listed below.

Please re-visit this list as I will be adding to it as I discover new shrubs that deserve to be featured in this wintertime collection.

For more detailed information, simply copy the full name of a shrub you like and use the RHS website’s search facility.

Wintertime Shrubs Collection

{Images shown are copyright of their respective owners and are used for illustration purposes only.}

Pieris ~ ‘Forest Flame’

Plant in a prominent position, partial or full sun.

Semi-Evergreen – good colour and upright structure, spring flowering, bright coloured foliage through the year, clusters of small white, drooping flowerheads. Can grow to 2 to 3m high.

Choisya ternata ~ Sundance

Adds volume of bright lime green and yellow foilage – works well alongside burgundy foilage.

Semi-Evergreen – excellent colour foliage (lime green, yellow through to dark green – dependant on age of leaf) – Spring flowering – white stars. Usually 1.5 to 2m high – wide spreading.

Ceanothus ~ ‘Skylark’

Wonderful grown as either a bush or trained as a tree. Makes an eye catching focal point in May when it flowers.

Semi-Evergreen – Spring flowering – stunning, metalic blue flowers.

Mahonia × media ~ ‘Winter Sun’

Plant in a sheltered position away from wind

Semi-Evergreen – Early Spring flowering – typically vivid yellow – upright habit will grow to 2m – Plant 2 or 3 together. Upto 2m high.

Viburnum tinus ~ ‘French White’

The dark green foliage is a great backdrop the clustering flowerheads.

Evergreen, bushy to 3m – radiant clusters of tiny white flowers.

Skimmia japonica ~ ‘Rubella’

Relatively slow growing – give lots of space

Semi-Evergreen

Spring flowering, interesting shaped flowerhead that changes colour as it ages.

Leycesteria formosa ~ ‘Purple Rain’

Find a sheltered spot that is accessible to birds.

Highly recommended!

Deciduous – but keeps it’s tall, elegant structure. Stunning cascades of flowerheads followed by berries in summer / autumn – great for attracting birds – 2m high.

Hebe ~ ‘High Voltage’

Prune lightly – mainly deadhead old blossoms

Semi-Evergreen – stunning summer / autumn flower heads.

Cornus sanguinea ~ ‘Anny’s Winter Orange’ or Cornus sanguinea ~ ‘Winter Beauty’

Place in front of a wall or fence for great effect.

Deciduous – but keeps it’s structure – bright coloured bark. Any Dogwood is a good choice – when they drop their leaves the stems are a beam of colour in the winter.

Lonicera x purpusii ‘Winter Beauty’ Honeysuckle

Deciduous with Winter and Spring flowering, 2.5m high and can be climbing.

Sambucus nigra f. porphyrophylla

Place next to something lime green and you’ll create a focal point using 2 plants – the combination is stunning.

Deciduous – but keeps it’s structure. Lacey pinkish white umbrells and an elegant fine fingered burgundy leaf – can grow 3m plus.

Camellia ~ ‘Sparkling Burgundy’

Evergreen, winter flowering – Blousy pink flowers, shelter and shade – H4.

Clematis anshunensis

Evergreen winter flowering climber – superb white clusters of flower heads.

Corylus avellana ~ ‘Contorta’

Great as a focal point

Deciduous – but keeps it’s structure – wonderful corkscrew stems and branches and catkins too!

Prunus × subhirtella ~ ‘Autumnalis’

Needs somewhere warm in the garden, shielded from the cold

Winter flowering Cherry – H3 – sheltered – stunning blossom.

Camellia × vernalis ~ ‘Yuletide’

Needs shelter & shade

Evergreen, winter flowering – bright lipstick red clusters.

Sarcococca confusa

Evergreen – elegant winter flowers.

Camellia sasanqua ~ ‘Winter’s Snowman’

Evergreen, winter flowering – stunning white blooms, can be full sun – H4.

Jasminum nudiflorum – Winter Jasmine

Ideal for clambering and climbing vertical structures

Deciduous with bright green stems, winter to Spring flowering – yellow stars.

Drimys winteri – Winter’s bark

Cery slow to mature – will take 20 to 50yrs!

Evergreen, Summer flowering – grows to 12m high and 8m wide – H4.

Photinia × fraseri ‘Red Robin’

Relatively fast growing in the right conditions

Evergreen – flowers in spring, bushy habit, good growth, can be trained to size.

Euonymus fortunei ~ ‘Emerald ‘n’ Gold‘

Prune regular to keep it bushy

Semi-Evergreen, variegated yellow and green foliage.

Hydrangea anomala subsp. anomala ‘Winter Glow’

Aerial roots – ideal for fences or walls.

Semi-Evergreen / Evergreen, Spring flowering, woody, vigorous climbing hydrangea.

Salvia rosmarinus – Rosemary

Semi-Evergreen, can be trained to different shapes and features lilac flowers in Spring.

Hamamelis mollis

Great as a focal point in winter

Chinese witch hazel features bright yellow flowers in early winter, following on from a changing dynamic display of coloured foliage in autumn.

Ilex aquifolium ~ ‘Handsworth New Silver’

Ideal bottom of garden specimen

Evergreen Holly featuring purple stems, white flowers in winter and on female plants – bright red berries. 4m to 8m high.

Hedera colchica ~ ‘Sulphur Heart’

Aerial roots – ideal for fences or walls.

Evergreen, controllable climbing Ivy with large variegated leaves. Yellow green flowers followed by black berries.

Pinus mugo ‘Winter Gold’

Dwarf mountain pine – Evergreen dwarf to 1.5m high – golden foliage in winter, can be 2m wide and shrubby.

Heather Winter Flowering Collection (Erica)

Best block planted using several colours to create a stunning focal point.

Hardy ground cover Evergreen – a classic for a winter display of varied coloured small flowers.

Springtime additions

Cotinus coggygria ~ ‘Golden Spirit’

A good focal point to brighten up an area from spring to Autumn.

Deciduous – fascinating array of colours through the year, 5m tall, bright lime / yellow leaves –

Malus ~ ‘Winter Gold’

Deciduous – very attractive white flowers in Spring – autumn gold apples.

Forsythia

Deciduous – but keeps it’s structure – vivid yellow blossom in early / mid spring.

Ribes sanguineum

A must have shrub in red and white

Deciduous – but keeps it’s structure – red or white blossom in early / mid spring.

Corylopsis sinensis

Deciduous – but keeps it’s structure – yellow blossom in early spring, 4m high, bushy.

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