Ali Ryder Garden Designs

Ali Ryder Garden Designs I am a garden designer and gardener working in East Cornwall, Plymouth and surrounding areas. She speculatively took an online course and loved it.

Get in touch if you'd like gardening help, would like a complete redesign or anything in between. Having read Engineering at Clare College, Cambridge and worked as a Geotechnical Engineer designing building and bridge foundation for 8 years, a growing family caused Ali to reflect on her work and realise the enjoyment and satisfaction of designing her own garden. Friends and family started asking f

or help and what was initially just for fun became more serious and has grown into its own business. She has completed her Royal Horticultural Society Level 2 Certificate in Garden Design, Establishment and Maintenance, achieving a commendation in two of the four modules.

Pots and maintenance.I have quite a few clients who love their pots but also want a low maintenance garden. I try and ex...
12/03/2026

Pots and maintenance.

I have quite a few clients who love their pots but also want a low maintenance garden. I try and explain to them how to plant in a pot is like a baby - you have to give it everything that it needs: all the water, the nutrients, the light levels, keep the pests away and of course repotting when needed - it’s never low maintenance! Whereas a plant in the ground can grow up to be mature and look after itself.

This camellia is a prime example. Gifted to me by a friend who didn’t know what to do with it, I planted it out in Nov 2024 into our acidic soil. I cut into the heavily pot-bound root ball, pruned it and let it be. Now 16 months later, almost all the leaves are green, it’s flowing beautifully and is a much happier plant!

Don’t confine your plants to pots, let them grow up!

(Photos of yellow-leaved camellia from Nov 2024, green-leaved camellia from March 2026)

As a gardener and garden designer I often pass some slightly odd looking gardens and wonder about the decision making pr...
23/02/2026

As a gardener and garden designer I often pass some slightly odd looking gardens and wonder about the decision making process. Friday was no exception and I had to pull over whilst driving and get out to take a closer look. I think the logic is that they will ultimately get rid of the conifer hedge but they want privacy while they wait for the cherry laurel to grow larger. They’ve done this really neatly and maybe it’ll work - I’ll be interested to see as time goes on! (A LinkedIn connection tells me that they’ve used this technique successfully in the past.)

What’s the weirdest garden decision that you’ve seen that had you puzzling?

Posting on FB seems to have dropped of the 'to do' list for the second half of last year! Here's a January post which m...
21/01/2026

Posting on FB seems to have dropped of the 'to do' list for the second half of last year! Here's a January post which might make some of you say 'ick' but might interest others! (your opinion requested at the end!)

The Australian Flatworm. Not my favorite of beasties in the garden due to its consumption of the important earthworm but sadly widespread in the Southwest UK.

Wildlife dilemma: On digging out the last of the previous batch of wood chip and bagging it up ready for use (and for the bay to be reused) you find over 30 of these wee beasties. You pick them out and deposit them in a mug of salty water. Do you now:
A. Use the wood chip as usual, you’ve reduced the population. You might have missed a few but that’s okay.
B. Throw all the wood chip away (take it to the council green waste tip where it will be composted at high temperatures). It’s not worth risking more flatworms in the garden.
C. Slowly work your way though 6 full bags of mulch - cooking it at 90 degrees C to kill any remaining flat worms and eggs and then use on the garden.
D. Any other suggestion!

I’d love to know your thoughts!

(This is sounding quite like one of those ‘pick your own adventure’ stories I used to love as a child!)

If you’d like more flatworm info: https://lnkd.in/eiV3-HG3

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