Monkton Elm News, Events and Tips Blog

  10 Ideas for Designing Smaller Gardens The lovely, warm, summer days are upon us! As I laze about in the heat of my little garden space, I find myself desperate for a cool shady area, somewhere tranquil I can relax in, maybe even invite friends over. But where to start? How do I turn this little patch of ground into something special? Firstly, its important start with a basic garden plan. Unplanned or haphazard gardens can make the space seem smaller! The first rule for any small garden is that even if it's tiny it should have a coherent design. A good idea is to start with a simple geometric layout for your garden beds and paving and seating area. Here are some great suggestions from the team at Monkton Elm: 1. Make use of focal points A good tip is to create a focal point. Using an arbour or pergola in your little garden is a classic landscaping hack, adding height and depth to a small space. You can do the same with vertical or raised beds, small trees, or garden sculpture

Monkton Elm Plant of the Month  Our plant of the month for July, is the Salvia.  With a wide variety to choose from, these spires of flowers can grace any garden! From the larger, more established plants, we have a number of smaller plant pots, with younger plants, making it an excellent value for money purchase! Our newest addition to our range of Salvias is the 'Naomy Tree', a soft pink salvia with larger flowers than most commonly found varieties, the Salvia Naomy is a romantic and subtle bloom that flowers profusely from June to September. Its soft colours and gentle sage scented leaves are ideal for creating a calming colour scheme in the garden to reduce stress.   Plant with soft pastel blues and whites for a gentle and peaceful summer display of colour . Salvias are a great group of plants for attracting pollinators into the garden, bees and butterflies love them! There are many different types of Salvias, some hardy and some not so hardy. Choose from shrub-like