Karen Gimson : 365 Days of Colour

Gardening designer and journalist Karen Gimson had travelled just six miles from her home in Rempstone to speak to us about ‘365 days of colour’ on May 29.  

Karen looks after a one-acre garden, including a copse of 260 trees and runs a blog on her website at bramblegarden.com

Her garden design work has taken her to large estates such as Easton Hall Gardens. A group from the RGA enjoyed a pre-Covid visit. 

Karen took us from January to December, starting with snowdrops and bluebells through to some delightful spring and summer plants.

She has her favourites like Daphne ‘Eternal Fragrance’, a dwarf variety, and Sarcococca, which has sweetly scented winter flowers.

She was able to keep us informed about the latest varieties such as the Snow Baby narcissus (feed with Tomorite as soon as the leaves appear) and offered some great tips, such as the Camelia Alba grows well on a north facing wall.

She suggested cutting down violas after they have flowered, put compost over them, feeding with potash and they’ll flower again. One of her favourite roses is Gentle Hermoine, a delicate pink/peach variety with pollen showing for the bees.

Other great advice was to grow sunflowers in between sweetcorn to help support the blooms and to encourage climbers to grow through lilac trees. 

Photo: Karen Gimson