Latest Posts
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A New (not so) Giant Oatgrass
Blog
One of the real delights of being a specialist nursery is that we can come across some really wonderful new plants for UK gardens. While we do not have a formal breeding programme as such over the twenty one years that I have been at Knoll we have gradually worked on and refined our selection…
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Great Plants for Winter Structure
Flowering Perennials, Ornament Grasses
Now is probably the perfect time to think about plants that provide structure and interest in our gardens during the dark and chilly days of winter. With the cold wintry nights we have actually had some wonderful sunny days over the last few weeks, so there has been plenty of opportunity to walk around the…
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Autumnal Magic
Blog
It is a most beautiful time of year; and in spite of the recent wet and windy weather the garden is looking if anything more wonderful now as the temperatures gradually drop and the plants move day by day into their full autumn garb. Take for example the spindle trees whose incredibly shaped fruits are…
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My favourite month in the Garden
Blog
This just has to be about my favourite time in the garden…..and its not only because so many of the ornamental grasses are looking fabulous around now. Its also that the low warm sunshine of the early autumn bathes everything in a kind of warm glow that I find endlessly uplifting. Everything looks good and…
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Bee Aware !
Events, Garden
I am finding it a little difficult to believe that already a week has passed since our wonderfully successful event dedicated to Bees was held here at Knoll on the 16th August! The event was organised by our associated charity the Knoll Gardens Foundation and was supported by many other organisations and individuals who generously gave of their…
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Creating a Buzz
Flowering Perennials
Walking in the garden early this morning I was amazed by just how many bees there were already busy working away in the garden. As always they were attracted to the single flowers and it didnt seem to matter whether these plants were shrubs, perennials, natives or exotics; if they were flowering and had the…
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Size Matters
Ornament Grasses
Size does matter! At least it does when you have limited space in a garden or planting scheme and you need the right sized plant that wont outgrow its welcome. Take for example Pennisetum Short Stuff (above), a selection of the rather wonderful grass Pennisetum macrourum, and which was released by Knoll Gardens a few years back. Short…
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Shrubs Looking Good in the Garden
Garden
Last nights three quarters of an inch of rain (in about 20 minutes!), has certainly freshened things up and this morning as I walked around the garden I was reminded of just how wonderful some of the woody plants and shrubs can be at this time of year. Take for example our rather fabulous specimen…
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Some Wow Factor Perennials
Flowering Perennials, Ornament Grasses
This is the time of year when so many of the gorgeous flowering perennials really come into their own. When planted in a border together with a framework of grasses their sometimes strong and vivid, or sometimes soft and subtle, flowers are beloved by gardeners and insects alike. Walking in our growing field this morning…
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Planting our New Style Meadow
Flowering Perennials, Garden, Ornament Grasses
Even though we have not had significant rain for a little while and our gardens sandy soil is getting increasingly dry our team, consisting of myself, Luke our gardener, and a group of our Foundation volunteers successfully planted our New Meadow over 2 days on the 10th and 11th of July. Using the term ‘meadow’…
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