I am a gardener and garden designer living in Ticehurst and working with my wonderful friend ‘Wee Hen’ who is a walking, talking, living RHS manual.  Norma is my dog and I have a van, called Myfanwy.  Hello and welcome to my slightly chaotic world.

As I regularly discover on Instagram, everyone seems to have a ‘happy place’.  What could be more delightful than ambling around an English country garden on a glorious summer day sipping Rosé (lady petrol) and chatting gardening or, frankly, even non-gardening, nonsense with your best buddy? A very happy place indeed.  Sadly, it is cold and wet and I am standing up to my neck in perfectly rotted horse manure in the drizzle wearing a head torch in a field in Upper Dicker and pretty much as far from happy as one can get.

However, to brighten my day, I have started to think about what I planted for my summer delectation.  I am also practising nightly for the forthcoming Pinot Blush rush and am raring to go when the sun does finally warm our backs and Wee Hen can tan that little bit of revealed flesh just above the trouser line and below the t shirt line that insists on peeking out when she kneels to weed.

Burnt upper buttocks aside, an English garden on a beautiful summers day is certainly a very happy place to be.  Here is my list of some essentials for a blooming good summer garden:

Roses – you just gotta have ‘em.  I am a Rose buff and just love them.  Shrub, hybrid T’s, Floribunda, climbing roses - take your pick, but I can’t cope with Ramblers as they only flower once and are an absolute sod to prune.  But that’s just me.  I love the look of the well-pruned climber which is, for me, an art-form in itself.  Classic, timeless and beautiful: The Audrey Hepburns of the garden.

Hollyhock – self-seeding and a host of colours.  Mine come up in the cracks of my front path and self-seed every year.  My particular favourite is very pale pink and I am often asked by passers-by in the village if they can nab some seeds.  It’s very flattering considering a distinct lack of any major nurturing on my part.

Honeysuckle – it smells delicious, particularly around Wimbledon fortnight.  Grow it over a seating area or trellis by the back door and enjoy whilst demolishing a large bowl of strawberries and cream.

Lavender – pink, white, purple – well, lavender in fact.  Any colour will do.  Just not French.  Not that I have anything against the French, many of my best friends are French, but it does have a more pungent pong (just saying) and it is a bit too punchy for me. English lavender has a lighter and sweeter aroma. The French lavender is easy to spot as it has the little ‘lapin’ ears on the top.

Foxgloves –  These are blousy and beautiful - more Bet Lynch than Audrey Hepburn.  Usually bi-annuals but if you allow them to self-seed you will have a host of them.  My major tip of the day, it goes without saying, is just don’t eat them.

The time seems to be up for box hedging I’m afraid.  Box Blight is everywhere, and, if it survives this by some miracle, the Box moth is hovering waiting its turn.  This, sadly, is putting paid to the staple of the more formal look to an English garden. I would not choose to plant it now but other options are available eg Lornicera or Ilex Cranata (very small leafed holly).

Salvia:  There are literally hundreds if not thousands of Salvia from which to choose but I love either Salvia ‘Nachtvlinder’ (purple) or Pink Blush (no, not the Rosé talking).

Verbena bonariensis and verbena ‘Bampton’.  Verbena was very trendy a few years ago and its popularity has not decreased.  This is mainly because they just seed everywhere and keep coming -  which is great.  Bampton is shorter, more bushy and structural and the Bonariensis is the tall, wafty one which pops up everywhere.  They are the Laurel and Hardy of the verbena family.

There are, of course, an infinite number of options and I am sure many of you will be screaming that I have left out an absolute no-brainer.  I know. 

Happy Gardening