Jayne Anthony Garden Design

05/06/2026

Looking forward to opening my garden for the Ampthill Open Gardens event on Sunday afternoon. Just a few last minute jobs to do! The weather forecast is fair so why not come along and discover some new plants or ideas for your own garden space.

24/05/2026

Taking some time to enjoy the views and some of the plants flowering in my own garden at the moment.

04/05/2026

It's worth looking up as well as down! I love the bronze heart-shaped leaves of Cercis canadensis especially when they glow in the spring sunshine.

16/04/2026

A beautiful spring day with loads of colour and interest in the garden.

06/01/2026

Some beautiful things in the garden this week...

22/09/2025

A client from North Bedfordshire kindly sent me some feedback and photos of the garden I designed and planted for her back in 2022. The garden was previously just a small paved terrace and a lawn. The lawn was removed, and a new terrace was constructed with a winding path through planting to a small seating area.
"I am so thrilled you managed to turn such a sad patch of grass into a lovely place for us. I have appreciated the all round interest you created and thrilled by the visitors ! - Bees and to my delight a hummingbird hawk moth !"

14/08/2025

I often get asked how long it will take plants to establish after planting. This depends on many factors such as the size of plant you start with, soil conditions, weather and time of year. I like to use mainly 2 litres pots for perennials and 3 litre pots for shrubs with maybe one or two larger shrubs to add some instant height if the budget permits. The garden shown here with improved clay loam soil was planted on April 1st and this photograph taken in late July.
You can see that the perennials are already giving a really good show. The shrubs will be slightly slower but a 3 litre shrub will generally catch up with a 10 litre shrub in a couple of years, is much less expensive and will not need to be constantly watered as the 3 litre plants are more naturally balanced in root v top growth.

26/05/2025

Have just finished planting this lovely little garden I had designed in the Wixams. The contrasting textures of limestone paving, setts and gravel add interest at ground level and even in a small space like this, a journey can be created around the garden and through the planting for an immersive experience. The planting will soften the boundaries, divide the spaces and provide colour and interest in all seasons. It will also attract wildlife such as birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators to bring the space to life. In fact the bees arrived even before we could get the plants in the ground!

20/05/2025

For the first time, I will be opening my back garden to the public as part of the Ampthill Open Gardens. I re-designed the garden around 8 years ago, filling in an old swimming pool and making more planting beds in the process. It is a working garden, with formal and informal areas, where I trial different plants and plant combinations so there's a good variety of plants to see. I also garden for wildlife in mind, so don't use pesticides or herbicides, use many plants for pollinators and leave some areas wild. There's plenty of seating so you can sit and enjoy the garden for a while. See the poster for where to buy tickets for the event.

All our gardens are now in place for this year's Ampthill Open Gardens on June 1st and all our gardeners are praying for rain ahead of the event!!! 😄

Programmes are now available at Number Fourteen Ampthill for £5 per adult. Get yours now to save money and queuing on the day😊

We have 12 gardens this year, most of which have never been opened before.🌺🥰

22/04/2025

Biennials can be a great addition to add colour and unity to a garden in spring. In my own garden I have Forget-me-nots (blue) and Honesty (lilac) that have self seeded. I allow them to drift through the spaces between other plants just pulling out any that are too close to anything that they might overwhelm. Both are great for providing food for pollinating insects and the Honesty is also a vital food plant for the caterpillar stage of orange-tip butterflies.