Tec Mow

06/05/2021

Have you ever wanted to create a wildflower meadow?

I've made a few YouTube videos about how I've been doing it in my garden.

With insect populations declining at an alarming rate, now is a great time to allow your lawn to grow long for no mow May.

Have you ever felt self conscious about sharing an honest update? The dry weather over April has meant that the seeds I've sown haven't germinated. I haven...

28/02/2021

In case anybody worried that the reel yesterday was a cry for help then here are some pictures of me having a right old good time on my own in the garden today. Just pulling out a few weeds and turning the compost and it was BLISS!

The log I’m sat on and pictured has also had handles carved into it so it’s like the logs they use on except a fair bit lighter!

It’s from a leylandii I cut down around this time last year in the garden.

Did you manage to tip up some vitamin D today?

22/02/2021

I’ve seen a lot of posts and stories recently related to how much garden landscaping costs.

It’s been talked about because of a Twitter storm after showed a £66k transformation.

Freelancers and business owners in general, routinely complain that their customers don’t understand their costs. I used to be firmly in this camp. I’ve occasional been spoken to as though I’m some sort of errand boy or told I’m too expensive.

We get emotionally involved and compare ourselves to other trades. “If I were to fit kitchens or bathrooms I could charge double”.

Although it’s absolutely true that no such thing would have been said if somebody spent £66k on a kitchen in a Grand Designs project, it’s not productive to think like that.

If you want to spoil your emotional state then start comparing yourself to situations not available to you. It’s remarkably effective.

Don’t blame people for not being experts in your field. By the nature of being an expert, there are very few people in the population who can appreciate your craft. Keep trying to find those few. It’s a life’s work for any freelancer. It’s a lot harder if you spend energy getting dragged into situations where you’re not valued.

When was the last time you felt undervalued?

P.s. Here’s some tulips to lift your mood!

13/02/2021

Low maintenance, two words I don’t mind in isolation but detest when they’re put together. This insidious phrase is responsible for the demise of the style in many British gardens.

As an experienced landscaper I know that I can sell projects on the back of such an effective marketing term. It appeals to a ubiquitous part of the human psyche: laziness. I’m surprised I’ve not seen “[insert nearby locality] Mum has a beautiful garden she hasn’t touched for years using this weird trick” after scrolling through an online gutter press article.

It’s not only dishonest, it robs somebody of their opportunity to enjoy their outside space. If any level of maintenance is undesirable, it causes people to go to great lengths to attempt to cut it out entirely. Thick plastic membranes, poisoning the ground with salt or diesel, paving huge areas and even plastic grass. It’s become so appealing and profitable that many spend more on a project to prevent maintenance than the cost of professional maintenance would be over its entire service life. Taken together with the fact that even a concrete slab will have weeds growing in it if left for a year.

In these cases people trade an opportunity for a low impact and attractive space for a useless one that still requires maintenance. It’s a fools bargain. Nothing is maintenance free. Now we’re over that, you may as well find a way to enjoy it.

08/02/2021

I’ve heard it so many times. “We’re not gardeners” people tell me, many times selling themselves short.

Do you have to self identify as a gardener? I wonder whether us enthusiasts create barriers sometimes by making this such a binary, “opt in” style contract. I’ve heard people say that they’re not a gardener but they enjoy their outside space. They maintain it. They share food in it. They work in it. Yet they don’t feel they know enough to be considered a “gardener”.

It’s no wonder that once you’ve caught the bug of gardening you want to be in a club. But the trouble with clubs is that they can quickly become exclusive. Outsiders looking in can feel they need some prerequisite knowledge to join. It’s generally unfounded but it happens.

The problem, in my mind, is that rather than enjoying the process for what it is many are aiming for an outcome. While it’s nice to dream, gardening is all about being on terra firma. Those who truly succeed are those who enjoy the feeling of soil through their fingers, smell the scents and observe the wildlife we share our spaces with. You don’t have to be a gardener for that.

Do you agree?







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07/02/2021

Does anybody else become palpably more relaxed looking at a garden gate? Just me, I expect!

Judging by the relative dearth in recent years they’re falling out of favour, I think. Despite their metaphorical gateway to serenity they are, in my opinion, under utilised.

Just like on a first encounter, it’s not a cultural norm to be entirely displayed. They give an opportunity for a focal point that leads somewhere. I’m not leading up the garden path either, that’s the honest truth!

In my usual magpie way, I discovered this one a few years back being thrown away during a garden clearance. It was way too good to even consider selling! It’s genuine wrought iron and weighs a ton! When I saw it I knew I had to keep it. I didn’t even own a house to put it in.

I’m in two minds whether to wire brush it and repaint it. I actually quite like the pitting and rust with flaky paint!

Would you design your garden around a piece of bric-à-brac like this?

31/01/2021

Blurred in the background is the least favourite part of my garden. An annoying blemish that’s really hard to get rid of. In this pot lies the trick, I hope.

It’s an illegal extension (built long before I was here) and it’s hideous! The only way I’d be impressed with the brick laying is if I saw a video of them doing it from several metres away, throwing them, hoping for it to splat onto the mortar. So many of these extensions went up around here that it would have been overwhelming for the council to follow up with all of the contraventions. Sadly around these parts gardens are often simply viewed as building land and a place to dry laundry.

Behind plastic explosive, this Boston Ivy is the next best thing as it’s a big old North facing wall. It should self cling and cover the monstrosity (while it’s in leaf anyway) and it tolerates a fair bit of shade. It currently only looks like a little twig in the pot but it’s growth rate is impressive! It’s name is also impressive if you can get your tongue around it: Parthenocissus tricuspidata!

I preach a little too often about accepting one’s flaws so I thought I should work with what I’ve got! Once the trees start to grow they’ll also help provide some visual defence!

Do you have any major “warts” in your garden you’ve covered up?

I’ve also made a video where it’s this shot but the pot comes in to cover the lens. I’ll uncover it Amazon and edit them together once it’s grown a bit later in the year 😁

28/01/2021

to the start of June when the sunflowers were bolting into the sky!

Anybody else going to grow them again this year? I’ll be keeping a seed tray available in the greenhouse or a window sill to get them started. I think we could all do with sunflowers in our lives this year!

Just to be clear, given that they took several weeks to get to that size I actually posed for the photo. My surprise was rather muted compared to the overacting you’re witnessing.

What do you reckon ?

26/01/2021

Ark at Tony Astor looking handsome under a bit of snow!

This ones Cotoneaster franchetii. I’ve enjoyed the number of times when people have said, “Oi, what’s this plant” and they’ve thought I’ve said, “Tony Astor”. He could be an old time East End gangster for all I know. Either that or he was an American business magnate who went down with the Titanic.

Unlike the ill fated homophone of his surname, he didn’t sink into the winter abyss. Quite the contrary he’s even providing winter sustenance for the birds after a long summer flowering dishing out food for insects. He’s a generous bloke!

If that weren’t enough he also donates some of his leaves in the autumn to give a colourful display! Some people are just annoyingly productive. Have a rest Tony!

17/01/2021

The closest thing to a trip out these days is a trip to the to get a donut from pictures is the blueberry cheesecake and Millionaires shortbread

I decided to spend a while trying to style these when I got home because for some reason my self restraint was pretty strong! Sadly the resolution of Instagram posts has overly cropped these and I hadn’t for it when shooting!

In other news, how many Christmas trees do you think I’ve managed to get on the back of my truck? I was out collecting today for Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice. It’s a great way to get rid of your Xmas tree and support a cause. A direct hit on the guesser wins a donut!

11/01/2021

I absolutely love the colour and texture this Pittosporum tenuifolium “Kohuhu” gives. I tend to try and use as much foliage colour as possible for the fact that it lasts longer. Then it’s easy to add in specks of flower colour and not be too upset when they inevitably go over.

Are you a foliage, flower or form kind of person? If we can be broadly categorised in such a crude way 😁

08/01/2021

Ophiopogon nigrescens looking great in the frost.

My Dad used to tell me it has the closest foliage to a true black in the plant world. I’ve never fact checked that but it’s unlikely to get me into serious trouble. What does Google say?