"I just want a few suggestions to make a dreary part of the garden look more exciting and colourful."

"Help! I've spent a fortune on plants that die. What can I plant that will survive?"

"The garden looks dead from the end of August until the spring. I want a garden that looks beautiful all year long and I'm too busy to do much to it."

"I've finished doing up our new house, now I want to start on the garden. Where should I begin?"

"I need an experienced eye to see where I need help."

Then you may be interested to know that medal winning nurserywoman, writer and gardener Sally Gregson is available for consultations and design advice. Sally will travel to your home and appraise your needs, be they simple, such as suggesting suitable plants for a givena area, or more complex, such as suggestions for re-designing and restructuring your garden. She will  follow up her visit with  a written resume of the consultation and a list of plant suggestions. A 10% discount will be available on any plants subsequently ordered from the nursery.

For further details please get in touch with Sally via the contact us page

TALKS

In addition to workshops and design advice, Sally also travels to gardening clubs to give talks on a wide ranging of subjects. She is happy to travel any distance both in the UK and elsewhere. If you would like to talk to Sally about an engagement, click here for the contact page.

Titles include:

Cottage Gardens for a New Century.

An examination of how our concept of cottage gardening has changed over the centuries and how it will continue to develop into the 21st century.

Hellebores.

From the ‘Christmas Rose’ to the glorious variety of ‘Lenten Roses’ and the subtleties of the less well-known species, this talk covers the cultivation, care and propagation of Hellebores with slides as well as the plants themselves in season. (1hr flexible)

Hydrangeas.

Once ‘too popular’ in the fifties and now undeservedly ignored by many, the hydrangea comes in very many different species and variety. This talk covers their growing conditions, care and propagation. I aim to show you some of the varieties that are coming in now from Japan that we as a nursery (Mill Cottage Plants) exhibited at the Hampton Court Flower Show, 2005, and hope to bring some for sale to your members. (1hr flexible)

Propagation.

A purely practical explanation and demonstration of how to make more from your garden, including some ‘tricks of the trade’. (1hr, flexible) 

Shady Ladies and Damp Damsels.

Suggestions for planting in those difficult spots from dry shade under trees to heavy damp areas. (Half plants, half slides – 1hr, flexible)

Something Old, Something New.

Gardening styles and plants from the pleasure gardens of the first Elizabethan age to the landscape gardens of the 18th century and into the third millennium with the modern ‘natural planting’ styles of today. Illustrated with slides. (1hr)

The Temple Gardens of Kyoto.

Some of the most beautiful and enigmatic gardens in the world, the ‘stroll gardens’ and the Zen ‘dry rock’ gardens encapsulate a wholly different approach to creating a garden, and provide a tantalising glimpse into Japanese culture. (Illustrated with slides) (1hr)

The Winter Garden.

A reminder and, I hope, an introduction to some of the loveliest winter performers for our gardens. Followed by slides both of winter flowering plants and a few ideas for structure in the garden – the ‘skeleton’ on which to clothe the garden for the rest of the year. (Half plants, half slides) (1hr flexible)

Sally's  fee for 2008 is £70 plus travelling expenses (35p/mile) If it is acceptable to your Club she will bring along a selection of plants for sale at the end of the talk.