Let me explain: I have always loved trees for all their rich diversity. The endless variety of shape, colour and texture they contribute to our rural and urban landscapes in equal measures. Their compelling diversity of bark, leaf, blossom and fruit throughout the ever changing seasons and years. Be that the clarity of their winter silhouettes against the low winter sun. The vibrant unfurling of new buds in spring as nature reawakens. Or the billowing fecundity of new leaves forming verdant cushions across the horizon. Never forgetting the rich jewelled pallet of autumn luminosity that lifts the spirits as the days begin to shorten and the temperature dips.  

All this and the phenomenal assortment of wildlife that trees support.

Did you know for example that a native oak tree is used by 2300 species (external link) according to research by Dr Ruth Mitchell, of the James Hutton Institute’s Ecological Sciences group? Or that the existence of trees on this earth exceeds our short life spans a thousand fold. The oldest living tree in Scotland, an ancient churchyard Yew in Perthshire. Is believed to be between 3-9,000 years old. (External link)  

However it’s the leaves of trees once they fall to earth, that are the focus of my enthusiasm here. Released to fall to earth and slowly degrade their way back into the soil that first fuelled their growth. Leaves to me epitomise the circle of life and the infinite energy of nature and why I garden in the first place.

So what is leaf mould?

The clue is in the name. Leaf mould is the result of fungal action on dead leaves. Unlike garden compost which is predominantly the result of decomposition. When leaves break down it is as a consequence of fungal organisms feeding on them, mouldering them down. Sooner or later the result is that we get lovely crumbly leaf mould.

This happen naturally on the woodland floor. However in managed environments such as gardens it is not always appropriate to let leaves remain where they fall and we do need to clear them up.

Nonetheless it is important to remember that in herbaceous beds, woodland gardens and more naturalised situations, decomposing leaves and vegetation shelter and nurture a large variety of wildlife and organisms. So there is a strong argument in favour of leaving them in place through the winter months.

Given that leaf mould is a natural free resource it’s a no brainer to get going and make your own. Or in fact just collect it all together and let nature do all the work for you. Here’s how.

How to make leaf mould?

Collecting leaves

From the lawn:

Rather than allowing leaves to form a mat on your lawn, blocking out light and air it is common practice to rake up leaves in autumn to maintain your lawns health. An increasingly popular alternative to using a leaf rake is to set your lawn mower blades high and use it to collect the leaves. This has the added bonus of shredding the leaves which speeds up the breakdown. Or if you are not going to make leaf mold, then going over the lawn and shredding the leaves two of three times when they are dry enough. This should chop the leaf waste into small enough pieces to help prevent them from making an impermeable mat over the grass and speed up the breakdown. Another popular option is a leaf blower. But I’m not a fan of this noisy machinery or any fuel guzzling machinery for that matter. A large part of the joy I receive from gardening comes from doing things as naturally as possible. With as small an impact on our greater environment as possible. But yes there are definitely times when we need mechanical help. I simply like to keep it as minimal and low impact as I can. Gentle gardening being my mindful meditation I’d rather hear the leaf fall than the ‘leaf blower’.

From hard landscaping:

There areas such as patios, paths and driveways, where not removing leaves can be dangerous and unsightly. Besides being notoriously slippy when wet unless you don’t mind staining on paving it is best to clear up leaves before they begin to decompose and leave their mark permanently.

From the local surrounds:

In these times of council cuts leaves often remain uncollected in windblown piles on pavements and urban greenspaces.  A ready source if you don’t have your own garden leaf supply or just want to supplement it.  Do however bear in mind that if you choose to collect leaves from public pavements, if they pile up beside roads with heavy traffic there will be a residue of pollutants that would best be avoided.

What to do with your collected leaves.

I use a frame of old pallets as containment. It’s cheap, flexible and easy, and the slats let air flow through the leaf stack while keeping it all together. You could use metal mesh or chicken wire. Likewise putting them in black bin liners (biodegradable ones please) will work, ensuring that the leaves are kept moist and airyated by pocking a few air holes through.  You will find that freshly collected leaves initially take up a lot of space when they are crisp and newly fallen. For the most part the volume of leaves will decrease in size significantly over a few weeks once they get wet and begin to compress. In the case of leaves shredded and collected using a lawn mower the space taken up from the start is considerably less.

Fungus like moisture and bit of air. To aid digestion so to speak. The actual break down into something usable takes time. Your leaf mould can happily be forgotten about in some quite place out of the way while the Fungi slowly get down to business. If nature doesn’t provide enough rain then you can occasionally stir things up with a garden fork. then give the pile a bit of a dousing to help things along.

By the end of year one you will have an excellent mulching material to use to keep your plants cosy over winter or supress weeds and retain moisture in the growing months.

By year two will have a fine crumbly organic medium that is excellent for making your own composts and bulb fibre by mixing it with loam, grit sand or garden compost depending on the uses you have in mind.

Using leaf mould.

Leaf mold is a fantastic mulch. I have been using it regularly over the past few years on clay soil that was heavily compacted after construction work and it has been very rewarding to see the structure of the soil improve and the planting begin to thrive. Then there is the added bonus (and smug feeling) of a zero carbon footprint, zero cost and full circle process.

I will add a link for recipes to make your own potting and growing mediums shortly.

Happy moulding!!!

The post Making leaf mould. Why I just LOVE it. appeared first on Laing Landscape Design.

Tells a story or prompts a memory

Whilst looking for a new photograph to update my Instagram profile. I came upon this cheerful shot. It was taken by Joey Kelly for the Evening News back in 2013. This image was for an article by journalist Gina Hendry. The resulting article was about my recovery from breast cancer and the support I received from the Edinburgh Maggie’s centre. Which has supported thousands of people affected by cancer, since it first opened in 1996.

At the end of eighteen months of support from the amazing team of specialist and volunteers at the centre. As a result of my garden design background. I was invited to become their therapeutic garden specialist. Subsequently caring for the gardens and working with centre users and volunteers in the gardens. Coupled with my gradual return to work and a life beyond cancer.

The Edinburgh centre has recently had a major redevelopment designed by Richard Murphy Architects who worked with Maggie to design this first centre.

This redevelopment has meant big changes for the landscape around the centre. With building work finished, over the last year Watergems have planted up the new garden. The planting scheme contributed by Emma Keswick, Maggie’s cousin.

In the meantime I have continued to make regular visits to care for the Glasgow Maggie’s centre garden with the help of very loyal volunteers and a monthly team of helpers from Barclays in Glasgow without whom the woodland and gardens would be unmanageable.

The garden at Gartnavel

Lily Jencks, Maggie’s daughter designed the Gartnavel garden and grounds Consequently we work with Lily’s initial concept of a supportive, protected place. In doing so we ensure that the gardens in and around the centre are welcoming, uplifting and joyful. At the same time they offer comfort and inspiration to centre users and the exceptional people that work and volunteer there. Above all else I am delighted by how beautifully the garden has come on in the years since I was first asked to care for it. Particularly how well it does meet its purpose. If not surpass it.

Hence a search for a simple profile image has inspired me to reflect on and share a little of the story behind it.

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/health/how-maggies-helped-karen-laing-through-scare-1-2991007

The post Even in the garden. Every picture…….. appeared first on Laing Landscape Design.

Oh I do love a home grown plum. It’s the succulent taste of sun ripened garden fresh fruit dancing on my tongue that thrills me. Sharp sweet lusciousness. 😀

That’s why it beats anything you will ever get from the supermarket. Seasonal, local and the best for taste every time.

Which is why like any plant that we grow in our garden, look after it well and it will reward you in kind.

Looking after plants and the resultant rewards came into conversation over lunch whilst visiting to my lovely friend Kellie Anderson (https://kelliesfoodtoglow.com/) recently in July. In this case, her rather unruly plum tree became the topic of conversation. This plum tree she explained was “a little overgrown” and therefore could I advise her on how and when to cut it back.

In answer to her question and July being an ideal time to prune your plums, I thought ‘carpe diem’ and out came the secateurs and off we trouped to the garden. The resulting little video shows the fun we had taming the plum tree. I hope you find it helpful and enjoy our afternoons endeavours. Let me know what you think. Oh and enjoy those tasty plums.

Watch my video here:

Here are some pointers to bear in mind when Pruning Plums;

1. As a rule prune plums between June and August. This is because between September and May there is risk of Silver Leaf spores infecting wounds.
2. Also shape the tree so that you can reach the fruit. There’s not much to be gained from having a magnificent crop tantalising you metres out of reach, the wasps burrow into them, then rotting on the ground when they finally drop.
3. Thin the crop in July after its natural drop in June to around one fruit every 5-10 cm. That way you will get nice big juicy plums rather than lots of small less flavourful fruit.
4. Thinning the crop also helps guard against branches breaking from the weight of too much fruit.
5. With a stand-alone tree think about keeping an open system of branches, letting air circulate freely and avoiding branches crossing and damaging each other.
6. With a plum grown against a wall, you should have support in place to help bear the load of all those juicy fruit. Much as it may feel like this is a restricted way of growing your plum tree, warmth, shelter and support allow for heavier cropping on the branches. Pruning therefore focuses on leading branches along supports. This is usually fan shaped or laterally and then pruning back side shoots. It could also be an opportunity to connect with your creative side. For instance shaping the support and branches in a way that makes you smile or reflects your garden’s style.

The post Pruning Plum Trees in Summer appeared first on Laing Landscape Design.

I love the way my flower borders change colour and texture throughout the year. The art therefore to planning successful successional planting scheme is to allow for and embrace the unplanned. From year to year, season to season, plants will preform differently in response to so many different factors; sun, wind, rain, pests, nutrition, temperature and temperament, in fact they’re just like us humans, predictability is far from guaranteed. Use your experience and knowledge to create the structure and rhythm of the tapestry that is your garden but then be responsive to the uniqueness of each season and each year.

#flowerborders#plantinspiration #plantcombinations#fragrantplants #hydrangea#japanese_anemone#verbenabonariensis #physocarpus 
#gardendesign#edinburghgardendesigner#plantingplans #scottishgardens#purpleflowers #summerplants#summercolors #summerfragrance
#fromthegardentothetable #successionalplanting
#colourandtexture

The post From the garden to the Table appeared first on Laing Landscape Design.

I was delighted to be asked by the producer of Beechgrove Garden to design a wheelchair accessible garden for Spinal Injuries Scotland. Designing a new garden is always a joy. This particular garden was full of very particular challenges. Working with members of the SIS organisation, volunteers and service users we created a garden that exceeded its brief in a way that did not shout disability. That I believe is the best thing about it.

My first venture into the garden was very far from wheelchair accessible. I found a neglected overgrown building site dominated by scaffolding and steel containers. However the most significant factor was the slope of the site. To be fully wheelchair accessible there are strict regulations about the angle of paths and the garden itself was not particularly big to fit these in.

It was also very important to me that the garden was not dominated by ramps and paths that defined the garden by disability. Rather my aim was to focus on ability and making the garden feel completely normal and accessible to those using it. Thus prioritising people with limited mobility without that being obvious or clumsy.

Reflecting the oval shape on the new extension being built. I designed a central tear drop shaped lawn contained within a smooth cobble effect path, wide enough for two wheelchairs to pass each other easily.

Special features of the garden

There are several special included in the garden that I would like to point out when I return to this post.

Keep an eye on this post for my next update……

Spinal Injuries Scotland is the national voluntary organisation concerned with new and long-term spinal cord injured people, their relatives and friends, along with those involved in the management, care and rehabilitation of the injury.

“Karen came up with a lovely design, incorporating separate areas for enjoying the garden in different ways – including raised beds for herbs, fruit and vegetables, and an ingeniously designed lawn, built at a level that would enable wheelchair users to transfer on to the grass far more easily than would normally be the case. Karen was enthusiastic and genuinely excited by the prospect of designing a garden with such a specific end user in mind.”

Clare Byrne director of Spinal Injuries Scotland (SIS) - quoted from Beechgrove garden fact sheet

If you need inspiration for your garden design project, call Karen on 07757 235528

The post Wheelchair Accessible Garden Milngavie appeared first on Laing Landscape Design.

Content coming soon – watch this space.

“ Karen is an absolute pleasure to work with. She has an incredible knowledge and wonderful creative insight which she brings together to transform spaces. Her ability to make the most of hidden features and to bring out the best in a space results in the creation of something truly fabulous.”Liza Stephenson, Edinburgh

If you need inspiration for your garden design project, call Karen on 07757 235528

The post North Facing Low Level Garden appeared first on Laing Landscape Design.

As a member of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society (fondly referred to as “The Caley”) I receive its annual magazine the Caledonian Gardener, a wealth of interesting and informative articles about gardens and all things related to horticulture from a Scottish perspective.

It was a pleasure and honour therefore to be asked to contribute to the 2019 edition, and share my thoughts and experience on the positive relationship between gardens and health and wellbeing.

You can read this article by clicking the button below (PDF 1.4MB)

Read the article

The post Article for ‘The Caley’ appeared first on Laing Landscape Design.

New build garden ideas can be quite a challenge for home owners. I was very excited to be asked to be landscape and garden consultant providing landscape designs and garden ideas for this striking contemoprary new build home on the southside  of Edinburgh. Particularly so because the owners made the sensible  desicion to involve me in the landscape design from the begining of the project. The house design by  Zone Architects to to passive house standards comands spectacular views.

Considering the landscape design of a new home from the outset of its architectural design makes for a truly harmonious and integrated design project. By doing this not only will the result be a more efficiently managed project where time and resources are utilised effectively and economically. It will also lead to the new garden and architectural design seamlessly  fitting together.

Efficient landscape planning

Replacing a cold 1930’s bungalow, positioning this striking echo home in its ¼ acre plot required a considered approach to groundworks and soil management for financial and environmental economy. Including the garden as part of the overall plan from the start has many practical and logistical advantages.  Earth movement, utility placement, conserving good soil conditions and optimising seasonal planting opportunities.

The clients wish to firmly ground their home in to the hillside it knits on to meant resolving challenging gradients through sculptural terraces, giving the garden a strong and individual character.

Uniting the geometry of the house and landscape has blended the contemporary and the natural unselfconsciously.

Poured concrete walls mark the pavement boundary following the slope of the hill, while staggered granite paving form offset paths that cut through freshly sewn wildflower/meadow grass mix.

Simpathetic Planting  

Wild flower meadow style planting on the south facing front garden links the garden to open grassland of the hill on which it sits. Even after only two years since sewing the wild flower seeds it has beeen fascinating to watch the change as plants naturalise and make thier own balance. It is a endless draw for wildlife and passerby admiring the evolving symphony of colour and texture.

Find out more about planting services that I can offer to you. 

Before

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After

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Beginning to sculpt the rear garden

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Pegging turf over the newly formed contours

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Preparations for the sunken trampoline on the north side of the property.

The trampoline is now  well and truelly installed and successfully bounced on 🙂

Check for updates coming soon.............

The post New Build Garden appeared first on Laing Landscape Design.

Size approx. 1120 m2 (1/4 acre)

For some the thought of upheaval for a full garden rebuild is totally off-putting, and a gentler design approach where the garden is upgraded progressively is the preferable choice.

The owner of this charming established garden on the outskirts of Edinburgh invited Karen to cast her design eye over the existing layout and planting to help it fully live up to its potential. A keen and knowledgeable gardener, the owner like many others found it difficult to know how to re-imagine such an established garden in need of improvement.

There were many beautiful specimen plants within the garden, but also many that were no longer contributing or had outgrown their place. In terms of hard landscaping, the basic layout was to the owners liking but some areas just didn’t work and the whole layout required a cohesive overview to get the best from this garden.

As such, this is an ongoing progressive project working with the client’s gardener Mark and landscaper Luke Boam and team from http://www.thepromisedlandscapes.co.uk/ to sympathetically make changes with minimal upheaval for the client and her continual enjoyment of her garden.

 

The first phase was to redesign and renovate some of the old herringbone brick path and redefining the old rose bed. The priority being to blend in the old with the new, which Luke achieved skilfully. At the same time the rose bed was reshaped to better harmonise with the geometry of the house and garden improving the pathways and strengthening the impact of the garden entry.

In the second phase we transformed a sunny area close to the house that had been used for drying laundry into a sheltered evening sun terrace with views through the rich planting to the woodland beyond.

As mentioned some of the established plantings had outgrown their positions and Karen took the opportunity to transform some of these mature conifers beginning reshaping them with cloud pruning in the Japanese style. Creating a Bonsai style mini forest from a shapeless Picia  abies “Nidiformis”.

Several other mature plants have been rediscovered in this way or repositioned composing more interesting harmonious interactions balancing the planting.

Our next step in this garden’s development will be a small pond to sit below the miniature Oriental landscape that has taken shape below the pruned Picea.

This is a very rewarding garden transformation to share with the client gardener and landscaping team and we continue to enjoy it’s unfolding.

The post Established garden, Edinburgh outskirts appeared first on Laing Landscape Design.

Size: 9m x 6m (54sqm)
Brief: To bring life to a tired city garden on a small incline. Creating a bright and airy low maintenance tranquil place to enjoy the evening sun.

The client’s existing garden was traditional but difficult to maintain and prone to waterlogging, reducing its usefulness.

The requirement was for an angled patio area with space for planters and raised beds along the south-facing wall, along with an elevated area for seating.

The old slotted fencing was to be replaced with a new timber screen providing more privacy and shelter from the wind.

Detailed plans were drawn up and shared with the client, and together we refined various key details in order to get everything just right. 3D visualisations were prepared, so that the client had a much better feel for how everything would look from a more human perspective, and how all of the elements would fit together.

Once the design process was complete, work proceeded quickly, removing overgrown and tired planting and protecting existing plants that were to be kept whilst the ground was cleared and levelled. The landscaper then built the raised beds and seating area, and erected the timber screen.

“The garden is fantastic! So easy for me to keep, and a joy to sit in.”Joan McKay, Edinburgh

If you need inspiration for your garden design project, call Karen on 07757 235528

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