Gardening with Candy Venning

By Candy Venning Suggestions from a Landscape designer and avid gardener on what to buy for the ‘planty’ people in your life! A Family Membership or donation to the Royal Botanical Gardens – Always my first choice. You’ll have access to...

Submitted by Candy Venning November… aka; ‘here we go into the darkness’, but does it really have to be that way? Knowing that everything needs a rest, maybe even ourselves, from the glorious growth of our forests and gardens and that birds are on their migratory...

by Candy Venning BULBS: A quick primer, if you’ve had your tulips stolen or nipped (literally, in the bud) by squirrels then switch to daffodils (there are loads of varieties) and plant deeply, tamp any loose soil down, helping to hide the irresistible scent of fresh...

Candy Venning 1) Remove Anything going to seed or at least their seedheads - that you don't want more of - this includes intentional plants like Cosmos & Borage or accidentally-forgot-to-remove-invasive-weeds like Dandelions or Burdock. Seeds can remain dormant...

Submitted by Candy Venning How it looks; you standing in your garden or a park staring at the sky. How it feels: a small bird you’ve wanted to see for ages, just swooped past. Mid-sentence you track the flight and are swept up in their journey along the treetops....

by Candy Venning Stark, highly controlled gardens, as ideals of perfect dominance over nature, leave me cold. Show me a wild and woolly, happy place, a lush backyard oasis with caterpillars and butterflies, singing birds and buzzin bumblebees to elicit gushy praise....

by Candy Venning 1) Invasive plant species – Although vigorous online debates rage in garden groups with people who truly love their Burning Bush, Barberry or Lily of the valley, these plants escape our gardens and grow across woodlands, ravines, places that are not...

by Candy Venning Last month I shared a list of favourite shade plants and now it’s sunny gardens’ turn. Though many of these plants are large or a bit wild and woolly, adding a low stone wall, a background hedge, structures like obelisks or arbours all create a more...

by Candy Venning I recently gave a ‘Shade Garden’ talk via Zoom to a garden club. As a part of the talk I agreed to provide a list of some of my favourite plants – primarily native. I thought it might be helpful if you’re working on establishing a woodland garden. The...