dom.cliff

It’s that time of year when we really love being outside but sometimes we have to be indoors. What to do? One answer is to bring the outdoors in and create your own green oasis. We’ll give you some pointers. ‘Borrow’ the view from outdoors This is an old garden design trick and it works […]

Bold use of colour can play a big part in making your garden look great. Repeating the same colour across your garden gives it a rhythm and helps it hang together. The colour can embrace the buildings too. It’s a trick that many of us have learnt. Let’s talk about especially bold colours, like we […]

Good news! It’s not difficult to clean woven rattan furniture. Keeping your lovely rattan garden furniture and your beautiful rattan conservatory furniture spick and span is an easy job. Both natural and synthetic rattan are durable materials that don’t need much cleaning and care to keep them in good condition. What do you need to […]

Reclaimed furniture is very shabby chic and part of the current fashion trend. You’re giving rein to your creative side, paying attention to the environment and creating a softer, gentler, less gritty world at home. And you’re not spending loads of money! In a two-part blog, we look at how to use the shabby chic […]

Space – I love it. In part, that’s because I live in a small space – both house and garden. But I also love it because of the air and light it lets in and because it helps me think straight. That’s not to say that my living is minimalist – it isn’t. Some of […]

Today is the longest day of the year. With sunrise in southern England just before 5am and sunset after 9.30 pm there must be time to enjoy your garden! The longest day is the summer solstice, called the longest day because it has the greatest number of hours of daylight of any day in the […]

Seeing the sun really does lift the spirits. A sunroom is a warm, comfortable place to enjoy the sunshine, all year round. It’s a more solid structure than a conservatory. Light and warmth come into the room through the windows and glazed doors but the roof is tiled or slated, occasionally with rooflights or skylights. […]

World Environment Day is on 5th June and it’s all about connecting people to nature. Get outdoors and into nature, appreciate its beauty, and think about how we’re part of nature and how intimately we depend on it. Do you have a garden or any outdoor space at all? Here are four ways of connecting […]

We all know that location is so important. You’re thinking of buying some rattan garden furniture? That’s great! It will make such a difference to your garden and you’re bound to spend much more time outside. But where are you going to put it? To ensure you put your rattan garden furniture in the best […]

Here are five fantastic ideas for a present which might suit your father on Father’s Day. It’s on 18th June 2017 so you’ve got a couple of weeks to sort it out. A spade is a spade on Father’s Day A good spade makes all the difference in the garden, whether you’re just starting out […]

Home-grown tomatoes taste so much better than ones bought in the shops and they’re fun to grow. You have to keep an eye on them and look after them – children are good at that! Now’s the time to choose and plant your tomato plants so plan a little trip to your local garden centre […]

For garden inspiration, a major resource is the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show. It is wonderful. And rather daunting to ordinary gardeners like me. But press and TV coverage offers great ideas and lasting images of wonderful plants and garden designs that, with a little effort, could create ‘the look’ and a corner of Chelsea in your (and […]