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| East life<br />
daunting for most people, but anyone with private<br />
outdoor space in London is truly blessed and should<br />
absolutely make the most of it.<br />
With proper planning your garden should be a<br />
vibrant, healthy, colourful addition to your home<br />
where you can relax, heal and connect with nature,<br />
so it’s really important to get it right. Seeking<br />
professional advice is always a great idea but that’s<br />
not to say you can’t have a go yourself - and I have<br />
actually written a step-by-step guide to help you<br />
plan and design your own garden. It’s fun and<br />
informative and you can find it on our website.<br />
There’s also lots of before and after pictures of<br />
various projects we’ve done, so take a look through<br />
the site and grab some inspiration! NOW is the<br />
perfect time to start planning ahead for the warmer<br />
days of 2020 because, I don’t know about you, but I<br />
don’t want to miss a single second of being outside<br />
when the sun finally does come out.<br />
Aside from clearing weeds, what's your 'go-to'<br />
quick fix to spruce up a garden?<br />
Always have a couple (or several) really pretty pots<br />
strategically placed around the garden. What you<br />
are looking to achieve is instant colour and impact<br />
all year round, so buy whatever plants are currently<br />
in bloom and pop them in, but here is the trick,<br />
don’t take them out of the pots they came in!<br />
Take daffodils and tulips, for example. They are<br />
stunning when they are in bloom but, in reality, they<br />
don’t last long at all so keep them in another basic<br />
pot that fits and hides inside the pretty pot. When<br />
the daffodils start to die, lift out the pot and swap<br />
them with the tulips, which will now be starting to<br />
bloom. When the tulips die back, swap them out<br />
for something like freesias or irises. I think you get<br />
the idea. Basically, there is a flower in bloom every<br />
month of the year, so you just keep swapping out.<br />
And, part two of the trick…don’t throw the fading<br />
plants away. If you choose perennial plants (ones<br />
that spring back to life every year) then what you<br />
should end up with is a collection of plants that you<br />
can hide around the corner but bring back to front<br />
and centre stage when at their peak, every single<br />
year. Its quick, it’s easy and it will save money in the<br />
long run.<br />
What inexpensive, low maintenance plants would<br />
you recommend to a rookie?<br />
That’s easy. Herbs.<br />
Not only are they inexpensive but many of them are<br />
evergreen, need very little to no maintenance and<br />
will happily grow in poor soil conditions. They also<br />
bloom, smell fabulous, can be used fresh in cooking<br />
or dried for teas and pot pourri or, if you are feeling<br />
really adventurous, then made into balms, creams<br />
and salves. They have powerful healing, anti-ageing<br />
properties too. The list of benefits goes on and on.<br />
I’m a big fan of herbs. Can you tell?<br />
Project Green Thumb<br />
East London Gardening Services<br />
W: projectgreenthumb.co.uk<br />
FB: projectgreenthumb/<br />
I: @projectgreenthumbuk<br />
P: projectgreenthumbuk<br />
Images: Project Green Thumb<br />
LOVEEAST Jan/Feb 2020 13
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