Landscape and horticulture expert

Creating 'desire lines' in your garden business model

Landscapers, gardeners and garden designers will be more than familiar with desire lines and the impact they have on planning a garden or managing an existing scheme that may suffer with the adverse effects of a desire line.

I want to take this theory forward a little and apply the same thinking to how we conduct our own business and how, with a little thought, we can create desire lines that allow you to sell your products and services without using a metaphorical battering ram to channel a potential customer into a direction that they do not want to go.

The Landscaper Magazine is planning exciting changes to it's website.

I was delighted today that David Curtis of the Landscaper Magazine left a comment regarding my recent post titled "The Landscaper Magazine switches to 'online'"

It demonstrated to me that they cared about their product and also cared about the market place in which they were pitching their wares.

I have made some fairly big claims with my post "Is the Horticulture printed publication industry in deep trouble?", which means that editors are normally reluctant to enter into dialogue.

Arena Flowers - an arrangement that came up smelling of Roses.

Whilst many horticultural business's have struggled to find a way to fit the web into their business models, one company, purely web based, has taken off in a big way.

Arena Flowers, which is based in London's Park Royal, started trading in 2006. The company turned over £2 million and broke even in the first twelve months. Turnover is set to double to £4 million in year two.

The Garden History Society

I am fascinated by garden history and I like nothing more than to wander round a garden and wonder at why a an old door in had been bricked up or an path abruptly stops for no reason.

Grow Veg online - vegetable plot planning software

Vegetable gardeners are patiently (or impatiently for some) waiting for the weather to improve, so that they can get onto the soil and begin some of this seasons preparation.

The seed catalogues have been consulted and orders put in, in order to provide the seasons fresh produce.

The Wildlife Trust plays the Doomsday card

Is the world in a natural cycle or are we experiencing a genuine and prolonged increase in world temperatures?

The Wildlife Trust is obviously concerned and is urging gardeners and wildlife conscious people to to consider the prospect of plant, insect and animal species moving north to remain within their comfort zone.

Garden and Vegetable seed catalogues for Spring 2008

I know it is hard to even think about getting out into the garden when the ground is frozen. It is almost impossible to move properly when you have to wear several layers of warm clothing just to stay warm and out of the wind.

Geoff Hamilton's Barnsdale garden

Did you know, Barnsdale, for so long the centre pin of BBC Gardeners World, and helped make Geoff Hamilton TV's best loved gardener, is still open to the public?

The gardens and garden centre that sits alongside is still family run of which you can book tickets directly from their website.

The RHS campaign for schools gardening website

Start them young, that's what I reckon. Well, the Royal Horticultural Society is aiming to do just that with their newly launched Campaign for Schools gardening website.

The new site is split into two parts - one for the teachers and the other for the students (although the students section has yet to be commissioned).

GardenLend - free garden maintenance

Anthony Wilson will be wishing he had known about GardenLend before the council finally evicted him for refusing to tidy up his rubbish strewn and overgrown garden.

Repeated requests by The Gateshead Housing Company fell on deaf ears and eventually, Bill Fullen, the company’s chief executive. patience finally snapped and court action was executed to rid the neighbourhood of the lazy gardener.

The British Christmas Tree Growers Association

Who has put up the Christmas tree already?

As a child, if I could get my own way I would have liked ours to have been in place by bonfire night so that I had something to fill the void of expectation between Guy Fawkes and Santa.

I have to say I was a little devil and suffered so badly with excitement and you know, and this might not surprise some of you, I really believed in Father Christmas right up until the age of [leave blank for fear of embarrassment].

Do you remember the summer when the sunflowers shone?

I am not sure that I suffer with SAD. I actually love the winter for many reasons if only just to look forward to the spring again.

I was going to re-post something I did on sunflowers back in the summer but I did not want to unnecessarily want to depress anyone so I settled for the next best thing.

I popped into my friend, Jan Harbon's website to see what she had been up to with her horticulture paintings to see this wonderful work of sunflowers.

Jan has just taken an "interesting departure" from her renowned, if not famous, flower and animal water colours and created a portrait of her son Tom's girlfriend.

It goes to show that we cal all change tack if we want to as Jan has proved.