Mark McNee

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  • Le Château de Losse

    Le Château de Losse

    The château and garden are situated on a rock outcrop which forms the west bank of the river Vézère and the château and stables are protected on the remaining three sides by a deep dry moat as fits its original purpose as a fortress. The hall of the château dates from 1576 and has remained…

  • Kew Gardens

    Kew Gardens

    Formally called the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew the gardens are said to have begun in 1759 when Princess Augusta started constructing a 9 acre garden around Kew Palace, though there may well have been some garden around the palace before this. It has now grown to over 300 acres in one of the world’s biggest…

  • Prunus laurocerasus

    Prunus laurocerasus

    The cherry laurel is one of the most widely planted screening plants in gardens having reached western Europe by the end of the 16th century and is recorded in cultivation in Britain in the 17th century. It has been cultivated that extensively its geographical origins seem to be a little hazy but would appear to…

  • Brodsworth Hall

    Brodsworth Hall

    Situated just 6 miles North West of Doncaster this is a garden you will find or hear little about which is a great shame as it is an excellent example of a garden of a wealthy English gentlemen in the mid-19th century. Funded as a result of a most peculiar will, the house and grounds…

  • Chateau Cheverny

    Chateau Cheverny

    Cheverny is a 17th century chateau approximately 16 km south east of Blois in the Loire Valley but any sign of the geometric gardens of that period have sadly gone. The chateau itself is approached across a large expanse of plain gravel which contrasts well with the ornate building. Behind is a small garden with…

  • Aesculus hippocastanum

    Aesculus hippocastanum

    The Horse Chestnut tree immediately brings to mind the quintessential English village green with its broad spreading canopy, masses of white summer flowers and autumn games of conkers. In reality this is a plant which contradicts itself at every turn. Originally coming from the Balkans Peninsula (the bit that hangs down to the right of…

  • How to build a sleeper retaining wall

    Retaining walls are never cheap or easy but building one from timber railway sleepers is probably as cheap and easy as you are likely to find. As the sleepers are simply screwed together their construction is well within the abilities of most people without any specialist building experience. Equipment: Spade Sledge hammer Tape measure Pick…

  • Dioecious

    A plant with the male and female flowers on separate plants. For example, Holly.

  • Actinidia kolomikta

    Actinidia kolomikta

    This beautiful wall shrub deserves to be far more widely grown yet currently only about 53 suppliers are listed in the RHS plant finder. This is surprising as few other wall grown plants provide such an attractive display for so long. The foliage opens green but quickly develops a white and pink variegation as if…

  • How to cut back over grown shrubs

    Before reaching for the pruning tools you need a clear idea of what you are hoping to achieve and in the context of this post it is a healthy plant which fits, both physically and aesthetically into its location in the garden. When you have finished you want something which does not overwhelm the area…