Gerbera Designs (Garden Design)

02/09/2026

PLANT OF THE WEEK
Heleniums commonly known as Sneezeweed are our plant of the week. These daisy flowers come in a choice of rich, fiery hues – yellows, deep oranges and reddish-coppers – opening from mid-summer and lasting into early autumn. Heleniums thrive in most soil types, and prefer full sun. It is best to support them by staking around the clump in spring. They generally need staking to keep them upright, but to avoid this you can give them the ‘Chelsea chop’, in May, or cut them back to 30cm (12in) in mid-July. This delays flowering slightly but keeps plants more compact so you can enjoy the flowers on neat, unstaked plants.
Varieties included in photos: 2. El Dorado, 3. Baudirektor Linne, 4. Kamaria, 5. Bressingham Gold, 6. Biedermeier, 7. Indianersommer,

02/09/2026

Congratulations MISS GPH Builders Merchants Ltd!

🏆 We’re finalists!

We’re delighted to share that MISS has been named a finalist with GPH Builders Merchants Ltd in The Trades Awards North Scotland 2026! 🎉

The celebrate the people, projects and organisations making a difference across North Scotland, and we’re incredibly proud to have our work recognised amongst this year’s finalists.

Everything we do at MISS is made possible by the dedication of our team, volunteers, supporters and the wider community who continue to support our work.

We’re looking forward to celebrating alongside all of this year’s finalists at the awards ceremony in Aberdeen this October. 💙

A huge thank you to everyone who plays a part in what we do, and congratulations to all the 2026 finalists! 🏆

01/09/2026

FRONT GARDEN PROJECT REVIEW
Front gardens are spaces that need to work hard for us - both practically and functionally. But that that doesn't mean they can't also have maximum kerb appeal.

This Inverurie front garden was transformed last summer and is looking great. It’s amazing how quickly planting gets going and completely transforms a space. This is a symmetrical design is now a beautiful space with lots of beautiful planting which welcomes home our clients as well as visitors.

Design and planting: Gerbera Designs (Garden Design)
Build: Torbruad landscapes
Granite stone: CMDstone
Plants: Solstice Nurseries
This is one of our entries in the APL awards so wish us luck for judging next week!
Gardens By Professionals

31/08/2026

PUBLIC SPACES
As part of our trip to London at the weekend we took some time to visit some of the projects which has undertaken in the London Bridge area. Their philosophy to ‘Bringing together people and plants’ with their creative new approaches to the urban environment through the design and installation of temporary and permanent parks, gardens & installations. Many of these projects use recycled substrates as a planting medium with drought tolerant planting schemes for biodiversity. Each site has interpretation signs describing what each green space is about and also signalling in bright colours of orange, pink and red to tie the different spaces together. Planting still thriving despite the drought down South. Gave us some inspiration as to what we can do in our local community.
Greenwood Theatre

30/08/2026

PARK VISIT
A visit to London at the weekend to stroll around some of the new green spaces.
The transformation of Finsbury Circus Gardens started as a public competition won by Realm to revitalise the oldest public park in London. Situated within the historic ambience of Finsbury Circus, these gardens are the largest open green space in the Square Mile. This area is a remnant of Moor Fields, originating in the early 1600s, with the existing layout crafted by George Dance the Younger in the early 19th century. Opened in summer 2025 this is now a beautiful green space in the heart of the City.

28/08/2026

GARDEN VISIT
We were lucky enough to visit the Beth Chatto's Plants & Gardens in the afternoon and evening as part of the 2026 symposium. Comprising of different gardens including a water garden, woodland garden, scree garden and the world famous gravel garden, the different environments embrace Beth Chatto's philosophy of 'right plant, right place' where different conditions should be considered when choosing plants.

26/08/2026

PLANT OF THE WEEK
Our plant of the week is the Hydrangea which is at its peak just now. Hydrangea have been flowering earlier this year due to the warm sunny summer and blooms maybe a lot smaller this year as they enjoy a lot of rain (think hydro!). There are different forms including Macrophylla, Serrata, Paniculata and Arborescens. Here's why they are a great addition to your garden:-
- Good for late summer colour
- Long-lasting flowers from mid to late summer that can also be used for drying and flower arranging
Plant in spring or autumn in moist soil that drains well. They prefer light shade, but do tolerate sun if the soil is not too dry. They are well suited for clay soils.
The blue flower colour only develops if planted in acid soil. Prune Hydrangea macrophylla and Hydrangea serrata in mid-spring, others in early spring.
Mulch in spring to improve soil moisture retention.

26/08/2026

Check out our latest column in Scotland Grows Magazine!

25/08/2026

THERAPEUTIC GARDEN UPDATE
Still lots of colour in The Kinship Garden in Inverurie. Thanks to our contact there for sending us these photos. This was designed by us with the local community in mind and is now a space being used by local community groups.
Design funded by
Plants supplied by Solstice Nurseries and Simpsons at Happy Plant
Inverurie Environmental Improvement - IEI Inverurie & District Men's Shed