Twitter: thecityplanter
  • RT @Botanygeek: HEADS UP: I am hijacking @The_RHS twitter account all day Thursday, answering your questions on growing for flavour. http:/… ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • Kew on a Plate – Raymond Blanc talks about his new book and BBC series http://t.co/zMYRhp8870 ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • RT @The_RHS: Join us at #RHSLondon tomorrow for an exclusive secret pre-launch of @Botanygeek's new book ‘RHS Grow for Flavour’! http://t.c… ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • Don't miss a chance to see a top sown, grown, woven and sewn in London at #RHSLondon secret sunday tmrw http://t.co/WDofErt1Ju + dyeing fun! ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • Shrubs are a must in a small garden: expert Robert Vernon of Bluebell Nursery shares his faves http://t.co/DvxOGu98GO http://t.co/ev3sCznuKx ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • RT @SLeguil: Galanthus 'Cowhouse Green' received for free in @Plantheritage Plant Exchange. Take part here http://t.co/dtF4gtSbJ4 http://t.… ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • RT @gardenorganicuk: The closing date for @HeritageSeedsUK orders is Fri 27 Feb.You can join & get your 6 free packs #heritage seeds here h… ReplyRetweetFavorite
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  • RT @digthecitymcr: Calling budding urban gardeners! Design a Show Garden with us. http://t.co/mNY2FcBt2Z @TheCityPlanter http://t.co/ic1J… ReplyRetweetFavorite

Latest features

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Shrubs for small gardens

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After a love affair with perennials spanning two decades, there are signs that designers are flirting with shrubs again. In small gardens, of course, where great form and multiple seasons of interest are a must, they’ve always been a fixture, but it’s nice to know they’re now voguish as well as valuable. Bluebell Arboretum and […]

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Horticultural therapy; healing the scars of war

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Gardening Leave helps the estimated 20 per cent of veterans who carry a mental wound - damage which needs healing as urgently as any physical injury. They help veterans of all ages, but usually between 37 and 42, who have returned from conflicts in places such as Northern Ireland, the Falklands, Bosnia and Iraq.

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Edibles to sow in the urban winter garden

by Tom Moggach

After a mild Christmas and the warmest year on record, it’s no wonder we’re all confused. Will spring come early? Should we still brace ourselves for a cold snap? When should seeds be sown to get a flying start? These are all questions this article will strive to answer, plus you’ll find a handy planting plan for the months ahead.

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Slow fashion: a top sown and sewn in London

by Rhiannon James

More than 300 people, including schoolchildren, community groups, gardeners and craftspeople have been working together for nearly a year to create a garment sown, grown, dyed and spun entirely in London

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Urban gulls get hooked on carbs

by Rhiannon James

Gulls are learning to fill up on carbs and other human foods as a result of living in cities, a new study has found.

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RHS to send rocket to space

by Rhiannon James

School children are to get the chance to grow space food thanks to a Royal Horticultural Society project to send rocket seeds to the International Space Station.

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Garden Organic outsources growing

by Rhiannon James

Garden Organic, the organic growing charity, has outsourced the maintenance of its flagship garden and transferred its research arm to a university.

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Food security theme for show garden

by Rhiannon James

A garden promoting the conservation of the wild relatives of major food crops to ensure future food security is in need of sponsorship.

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Thomas Heatherwick to create garden pier

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Just as plans for London’s Garden Bridge move closer to realisation, Thomas Heatherwick has turned his attention to another floating park – this time on Manhattan’s lower west side.

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Largest roof garden for London announced

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Lookouts, a sunbathing lawn and a forest form part of the plans for the largest roof garden in London, unveiled for the latest phase of the Battersea Power Station Development.

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First public natural swimming pool to open at King’s Cross

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Work has begun on the UK’s first ever public natural swimming pond, as part of an art project within the King’s Cross Development. The outdoor, chemical-free pool will be completed by the end of the year, when it will be given time to develop naturally, before its scheduled opening in spring 2015.

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Community growers get Big Lottery award

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A project led by the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens has won £800,000 of Big Lottery funding to help community growers become successful and proactive money-raisers to compensate for falling grants and declining local authority financial support.

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Gardening events this week

by Drucilla James

Time to encourage junior gardeners during this half-term week as well as experience the heady delights of orchids by night or plan for spring with seed swaps and seasonal plant-buying sprees.

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Patio pavers: Bradstone Mode porcelain collection

by Rhiannon James

Achieving a seamless flow between inside and out has always been a bit tricky when it comes to flooring. Most coverings age differently outdoors so even using the same material doesn’t guarantee a perfect match. With its new tougher-than-it-sounds porcelain collection however, Bradstone may have a solution. Available in two different thicknesses for inside and […]

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SowHow Seeds

by Rhiannon James

If you usually find the instructions on seed packets a little terse then help is at hand. SowHow’s organic seeds come with carefully-designed growing guides which include illustrated harvesting, eating and storing instructions, all in lovely packaging inspired by modernist poster art and book covers.

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Rethinking the urban landscape exhibition

by Rhiannon James

Landscape and particularly green space, is vital to making cities healthier, cleaner, more sustainable, more sociable and pleasanter places to live. Rethinking the Urban Landscape exhibition presents 43 projects, selected by The Building Centre in conjunction with the Landscape Institute, which show the potential for public green space to change lives. There are the iconic projects such as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park but also smaller initiatives -Derbyshire Street Pocket Park for example - which are predominantly community-led.

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Square metre gardening

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Short on growing space? London-based gardener and freelance journalist Lucy Purdy explores the art of growing food on a single square metre with author and vegetable gardening enthusiast ,Lolo Houbein.

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Gardening gifts

by Drucilla James

Present inspiration, from quirky stocking-fillers to life’s little luxuries, for the gardeners in your life.