Helen Johnson Garden Design

21/07/2022

So pleased with this planting nearly a year old and despite the heat wave looking great .

14/07/2022

6 months is all it took !
A super border in lime green and purple pink and blue. To ground the house without taking over !

10/07/2022

I am thrilled with my latest meadow .
A mash up of differing techniques, mixing native seed sown grasses wild flowers with planted garden perennials and February to July bulbs all in 4”of sand .
I love it when a plan comes together !

03/07/2022

Please find me on instagram
Over a 1000 post’s of flowers and my gardens 🪲🪲🪲

01/08/2021

so I did one thing for the bees today but 3 times . I made these bee posts for the bees who would use rotting trees sandy banks mason etc to lay eggs into . Leaf cutter bees particularly love these .
They also look great and the start of a meadow at OakanAsh

28/05/2021

What a busy but rewarding week . This garden is the setting for a wedding . The flowers and dogs are all on best behaviour

16/05/2021

This week has been a wet but rewarding one. After a year of team planning the gardens at Railway Retreats are finished. Each carriage has its own colour themed planter .Ben and Sophie and their team of tradesman have recreated the carriages to high modern standards a place to live in or holiday with all the mod cons.
The site was part of the railway yard so no chance of growing anything directly in the ground so the bespoke RR planter was born .
Along with the golden foliage are yellow and orange flowers all summer long . The Tin fence has been aged and the colours work wonderfully with the carriage itself .
Tomorrow we will be going green and pink for the next carriage .

12/04/2021

What an exciting week, started in cliff top Devon with a new meadow sowing and ended in Northiam at Railway Retreats.
Where ever I park my van that’s my home !

07/04/2021

Spring 2019 the lawn went down and in two years the flowers have taken claim to the walls.
A before and after and still to come !

15/03/2021

Great to stumble upon one of my gardens in print ! A contemporary garden I planted over 3 years . The blue folly was built by my partner with cedar roof shingles reclaimed doors and windows and even a wood burning stove.

13/03/2021

I took this garden under my wing June 2019 and there were many problems to surmount. Majority of plants have moved beds and some to the compost heap . Lots of new trees and screening plantings.
Today I got to the end of the original list and the garden is all ready for its second summer .
Plans are afoot for new plantings and features. But for know I am enjoying the big ✔️ ✔️ against the the jobs to do list

23/02/2021

My client loves all things pink so the view from the craft studio this spring is through a haze of fluffy pink catkins.
A patio big enough for her favourite chair and stepping stones back to the house giving a perfect stay at home retreat .

03/12/2020

Thank goodness for garden lights . Planting in the dark is the only way when the drive is blocked by scaffold lorry in the daylight! A small town garden under way in Wells .

26/09/2020

A return to Cotswolds job this month . The stone is a challenging colour to work with . This cream red and lime green is starting to look really good. The colour of the rose buds echo that stone colour. This is rose Chanelle.
The vertical yew at last have rooted down and will grow away to become part of the history of this garden.

11/09/2020

With a view as good as this , the planting needs a lot of wow to compete. Way down below I have been planting a meadow beneath charming dwarf crab apples . As each flower came out of my van the bees and butterflies were all over them . Grateful for the flowers to cover the scar in the valley.
What a friendly bunch of people walk up and down the hill lots of encouragement as the 100’s of plants find their new home

11/08/2020

Naturalistic planting is a mainstream term now and much in favour . It is also low maintenance with all year round interest. These are my plantings from the last 12 months .

01/08/2020

Harmony between the interior design and the outside planting is key especially when you have all this sea and sky as a back drop .

06/06/2020

21/05/2020

Happy Birthday to this mini meadow !
I sowed it last year using Pictorial Meadow seeds. Watered through germination strimmed in January fertilised in March and here we are.
There is a little horticulture know how too.
A low maintenance flower filled garden full of wildlife
Pictorial Meadows Jonathan Wild

12/05/2020

The planting scheme for a Somerset back garden .
A sunny deck and a shaded arbour depending on your preference.
Surrounded by harmonious colours makes your own garden your safe haven .
I hope that when this garden becomes a reality the world is a safer place

27/03/2020

this nursery has a great range of hardy perennials and grasses, many that you wont have seen before. good quality and always well packaged

Mail order and retail nursery growing a wide range of Hardy Geraniums, Ornamental Grasses and new, rare & unusual perennials. South Lopham, Diss, Norfolk.

27/03/2020

Time in the garden but nowhere to get plants from. Many nurseries do mail order. So I thought I would recommend a few I use.
Farmer Gracey do great spring and summer bulbs lovely easy to use web site and great service. Only problem there's too many beautiful flowers to choose from.
The latest email I had is that they are still able to trade.

16/03/2020

An exciting morning putting a gravel path through this meadow . I sowed it last May with great success. And I just noticed in the seed mix is the lovely Valeriana officinalis. The joy of using pictorial meadow seeds are they contain so many gems and great surprises. These will be In flower in just a couple of months . The plant in flower is in another garden last year .

01/03/2020

Exciting times ahead , I am working with BBH Chartered Architects Ltd on a new build project in Strete Devon .
Having already designed and planted 6 gardens of their stunning homes I am excited to be in at the beginning of this project . The official “welcome to the team helen” email will be going on my wall !
A big thanks must go to Duffy Builders of Dartmouth whose recommendation many years ago started this adventure .
Dave Duffy gave so many of us a chance and I hope we will all continue to do him proud .

25/02/2020

Planning a garden that doesn’t actually exists takes a lot of imagination.
I need to screen the garden from the drive and still retain a naturalistic look. The beads worked really well ! The different greens means I can ensure there is balance throughout the planting before I commit it to paper .

15/11/2019

Silver Clouds stunningly displayed on a blue sky day.
A project I enjoyed every minute of and my plants are loving where they live.

09/10/2019

Sundowner anyone ?
What better way to celebrate the end of a glorious day then to watch the setting sun around your own fire pit.
Simple white and black planting to rest your eyes on and thanks to white granite balls enough seating for a party .

09/10/2019

I would describe my planting style as painterly planting.
This garden looks out onto the beautiful cliffs of Little Dartmouth.
So inspiration for the bulb colour scheme was right in front of me.

04/10/2019

We got it all going on !
This kitchen garden is really growing now !
All our trades are needed, carpentry , ground work, diggers. Block wall building concreting and always with an eye on the design.
I did some digging and planting myself 😊
Fan trained apples a range of cloches for successional strawberry growing . A couple of figs
Cordon Bleu standard herbs and brassicas to keep all the wildlife fed !
The new greenhouse is putting the hours spent building mecarno to good use .