A Touch of Frost

Just as we prepare for winter, changing our habits and clothing, plants are quietly going through changes too. The most striking of these is leaves turning to lovely autumnal colours. This occurs as the chlorophyll degrades in the leaf, so we can see the other pigments that are there all year too, but masked by the green chlorophyll. These include orange carotenoids, purple-red anthocyanin, and yellow xanthophylls. Hormones then cause the leaves then abcise, (from the Latin ‘to cut off’), thereby protecting them from winter frost damage.

Evergreen plants protect their leaves from freezing by using their own ‘antifreeze’. This is just a high percentage of dissolved sugar and amino acids in the cells, which lowers the freezing point of water.
This is the reason why late spring frosts can be so devastating to fresh blossom and new leaves, as these changes have not occurred. Once the fluid contained within the cell has frozen, it expands and breaks the cell wall beyond repair.

The shortening days also induces dormancy in many plants, an example being the transformation of buds to withstand the cold days ahead with thick protective scales (as can clearly be seen on Horse Chestnuts).

The Garden Network gets a new owner

After just over a year, it's time to hand The Garden Network to someone new, as I'm expecting another child, so will soon be looking after '2 under 20 months' very soon! So with my hands full running Toddington Manor's gardens, our courses and tours, plus Applegate Gardens and Garden Design Pro - something has to give! As of the 27th of March, Tim Matcham of Tim Matcham Garden Design, Wiltshire will be running the TGN website.

TGN has been great fun to get off the ground, the first and easily largest of its kind - unique in the professional way its members have participated and contributed, including the established trade associations. I was happy to hand the site over to Tim, because he intends to continue in its original guise of a FREE website, helping small businesses and homeowners to meet, network and improve gardens.

TGN has grown very quickly in the last 12 months with a peak of over 100 new members signing up in just one day from approx 1,000 unique visitors, and nearly 8,000 members in total. It really shows whats possible by organic growth on the internet, without advertising, any PR, 'dirty-tricks' campaigns or traditional press coverage - just an original concept, professionally managed and exposed to a large online audience. Long may it continue!

I've met some interesting members in the last year, doing some great work - which has been very enjoyable, we are lucky to have some great people in this industry. There are however, still some quite outdated opinions around and we did get some hostility from some of the associations initially (understandably I guess), but once the site proved itself to be professional, it was good to see evryone participate. We have certainly influenced the future shape of this industry online, which is set to change dramatically over the coming 12 months...

Good luck to Tim and all the best with TGN, hopefully everyone will make you feel welcome!

Free e-book for software members

All our Garden Design Pro software members can now download the FREE e-book by leading garden designer, author and TV presenter David Stevens.

This 25-page 'e-book' is packed full of real-world advice on creating a wonderful new outdoor room for yourself. This detailed tutorial covers use of space, dealing with plot shapes, planting design, construction techniques, materials and more - to take a look CLICK HERE...

Gardening forum The Garden Network TGN is a huge success since its launch in March 2008

Just a quick post to tell you all where I've been for the last few months! Along with all the fun and games my 11 month old boy brings - my new gardening forum has been keeping me busy, alongside garden design work and Toddington Manor- its all go!

I've been running my own bespoke garden design and landscaping business (in addition to Toddington Manor) for the last 10 years or so, and since teaming up with Homebase to provide their homebase garden design service in 2006, it became apparent to me the sheer demand for inspiration from homeowners.

I was inundated with requests for design and landscaping from across the UK, with homeowners saying they 'did not trust business websites' and 'can I recommend anyone locally?' - so I set about creating a 'level playing field' for the industry and a focal-point for consumers to decide who's best for them, by making direct comparisons on gardening businesses.

Seeing the explosion of Social Networks and listening to homeowners, it seemed obvious to use this technology to help them find local businesses and make informed decisions on who to employ. Since its March 2008 launch - designers are meeting local landscapers, homeowners are commissioning projects, students are meeting the industry, amateurs are helping beginners and businesses are forming valuable new connections, it's very refreshing to see!

8 months after starting 'The Garden Network' which very soon has become know as TGN to its members) Im still surprised at the up take - over 3,200 members have joined so far!

A clever search database structure, means you can find and talk to any type of member to further your business or your own garden and was described as "...a networking website that looks set to become the 'Facebook' of the Horticulture world." by Horticulture Week. It's not restricted to the trade, as members showcasing their work has proved a big draw to homeowners looking for reputable companies, with many winning several commissions in the first few weeks of the site going live.

I didn't want to create another faceless 'Quote Database', as industry professionals know how big a part trust, communication and examples of previous work play in securing commissions. Our poll to Homeowners on TGN (on what they rated as the most important factor when choosing contractors) confirmed this - 53% (overwhelming majority) said 'examples of previous work' was their 1st priority. It's just too big a decision for Homeowners to make by 'filing out a form' - hence the 1000's of portfolios, blogs, comments and messages on TGN.

It's still very new, and we have lots of fresh features, areas, software, downloads and other initiatives under development in time for 2009 which we know our amateur gardeners, homeowners and the trade will reccommend it. Unlike many forum and networking sites out there, it's not meant to be a soapbox for one individual or company, but a tool for the whole industry and interested public to use - you can really lose yourself in there for hours!

If you want to see it, start your own Gardening Blog, meet like-minded gardeners, amateurs, designers, students or professionals - click here to visit the TGN Gardening Forum.