Happy Place Planting and Design

07/10/2026

Virginia Creeper a scarlet red star of Autumn ❤️

A vigorous climbing plant that can reach up to 30m with suckers that cling on to brick, wood and stone. It is classed as invasive so can't be planted in the wild, in Summer it's foliage hides green in the background but in Autumn it's divine and comes into its own glorious red show growing over a fence or up a building.

The berries are toxic to humans and dogs and the sap of the plant can irritate skin so wear gloves when pruning. However the small white summer flowers offering nectar to pollinators, birds and small mammals will eat the berriws in Autumn/Winter and due to its dense growing nature it was be a host to nesting birds and to moths looking for somewhere to lay their eggs.

There are many reasons to consider whether to grow this plant and like any plant if in the right place it can be stunning and hide an ugly fence maybe.

What do you think are you a Virginia Creeper fan?

28/09/2026

Revisited a clients garden today and the plants have settled in fantastic which has made my client very happy 🙌

Swipe ➡️ to see one years growth on a plant design I completed last August and installed in September 2025.

The plant spacing in a plant installation essentially allows for plants to grow to their full potential, which is taken into account during the plant planning stage and as you can see have not taken that long to fill out into this large border, though they still have room to continue to grow. The compost and mulch used was supplied by Equigrow which is one of my products of choice for supporting strong plant health.

If you are looking for planting help (consultation, design and installation) for your garden in Worcestershire across to Halesowen in Birmingham please do get in touch with me via DM or email [email protected].

I am taking on plant designs to be completed during Winter with a view to late Winter/Spring 2027 installation 🪴🌸

24/09/2026

There are so many reasons NOT to over tidy our gardens in Autumn, in this case these 4 ladybirds have decided this dead leaf is a snug shelter for them to hibernate in through Winter.

Leaving piles of leaves, spent flower stems and flower seed heads in situ can really help wildlife and mammals to find shelter, birds will feed on the seeds and leaves will decompose creating a beautiful mulch that can be used in your garden, plus standing seed heads look super pretty in frost ❄️

Although I offer a garden maintenance service I am also a big believer in allowing for a Winter habitat for wildlife. In my own garden I tidy back gently in Autumn, but leave the big tidy up for early Spring. If you prefer to have your garden tidy for Winter, could you consider leaving a pile of leaves, flower stems, twigs etc beneath hedging, in an unused corner or at the end of your garden for wildlife to use as much needed safe shelter?

Do you prefer to tidy in Autumn or at the start of Spring? 🦔🐞🕷🪳🐝

21/09/2026

It's HPPD 1st birthday so THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for your support 💚

Happy Place Planting and Design officially turned 1 this month 🥳🎂🎉 and I, Sam aka the would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone that has backed my 2025 career change decision, from HR/recruitment to plantswoman, one of my best decisions based on over a decade' passion for gardening and plants and supported my business in real life & on social media with likes, shares and by passing my details onto someone else.

To every client I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with whether for a consultation, planting plan to a full planting installation, I would not have made this 1st anniversary without your trust and faith in what I do. I hope your garden brings you joy for many years to come.

I wish I had kept count of all the compost and mulch I've moved in this past year and of how many plants I have planted 😂 2 broken spades, a kaput hedge trimmer and many a glove &hand tool 'lost' including my most loved hori hori knife but lets not dwell on that 😂

To the suppliers of Happy Place Planting and Design thank you for your excellent customer service and products which have lead to smooth installations for my clients 🌟

To the talented landscapers I've worked with & followed on from to plant up the gardens, thank you.

To Max, Ros, Helen, Jim & Hughie who have worked with me on occasion thank you for your hard work.

To my partner, family & friends your ongoing support, love and confidence in me & my work means the world 🫶

It's been an epic, busy 1st year working in some fantastic spaces, I cannot wait to work in more gardens in 2027 creating more happy places for lovely clients across Worcestershire and up to Halesowen

Please do get in touch if you are considering making changes to your garden for 2027, Winter is a great time to get the planning/design stage completed. I offer consultation, training, plant design and installation aka softscaping, maintenance and gardening talks.

Thank you year 1 in business, bring on year 2!

11/09/2026

My plant pic for this week is the Leucothoe walteri 'Firestar'

Why?

💚 Evergreen
💚 All season interest (flowers and foliage)
💚 Flowers in Spring
💚 Fiery Autumnal display
💚 Decent sized shrub >1.5m tall and 2.5m wide
💚 Thrives in partial to full shade (win!)
💚 Requires acidic (ericaceous) soil

What's not to love?

09/09/2026

BINDWEED love it or hate it?

Like with most plants it's a case of is it growing in the right place? At the end of a garden or growing over a fence maybe it deserves its keep by covering an unsightly fence and importanly providing nectar for pollinators and home for some moths to lay catepillars. Though (imo) growing in flower beds amongst wanted perennials and shrubs it's not the one.

Field and Hedge bindweed are classed as UK native wild flowers and habr grown here for literally 1000's of years. Most of us will either have it in some quantity in our gardens or certainly have seen it growing wildly. The plants can grow up to 3m tall climbing and smothering wanted plants as it grows. If left to its own devices it curls up the stems of plants taking control and eventually strangling the plant 😭 (sad times)

There are two ways to tackle it in the main they are either the DIG or SMOTHER methods.

I prefer the dig which is what I have done today in a clients garden. Using a fork or my hori hori knife to get beneath as much of the white root as possible and gently teasing it out. This will not eradicate it as the root system is vast and goes deep underground, but over time (years) with a consistent approach of removing on sight the plant as it pops it's head above the soil, will weaken it. You can lay cardboard then add compost or mulch but bindweed WILL grow back through. If you have a bare soil space with it growing in you can smother it by laying a tarp for a long period of time which will starve it of light and water. Again it will not eradicate it but when you pull the tarp back you will easily see the clusters of then white bindweed to be able to dig it out. If it is growing through a flower bed it will no doubt be growing through the roots of your wanted planted so you could at this time of year lift them and remove any visible root before replanting.

What to do with the roots? Don't add them to compost piles but store for a year in a black bag or leave in sunlight to brown.

Just keep tackling it, don't give up or lose faith our wanted plants need us to give them a hand.

How do you tackle bindweed?

08/09/2026

Autumn is such a great time to plan for and plant/replant a garden, even into the Winter months so long as the ground isn't frozen.

Have you thought about wanting to make improvements to your garden for 2027? Are you moving home? Did your garden suffer in the Summer drought? If you are based in the Worcestershire up to Halesowen, Birmingham area, please do get in touch as I would love to and can help you with your garden goals.

If now isn't the right time to plant for you but you would like for planting to take place in Spring 2027 then let's chat too. I offer a free 30 minute consultation and can walk you through the plant planning/design process specifically for your garden.

Because the right plants planted in the right place will make a garden that extra bit special ✨️

Email me at: [email protected] or drop me a DM

Let's make your 2027 garden spectacular! 💚

09/08/2026

Here is an update to the kitchen and estate garden taken on Friday.

This is an ongoing project to redesign planting areas and to reinvigorate the whole kitchen garden. I've worked onsite since mid-May for a day or 2 a week with another gardener who is focused more on grounds maintenance. 12wks down the line it felt a good point to step back and take in what had been changed for the better.

My clients are waiting on a garden design to improve on the hardscaping so further changes will happen and the kitchen garden will be planted with seeds I have sown and grown on for 2027. The planting in the main central border is more Summer focused versus the planting across the front of the house being more Spring focused with Summer flowering plants coming through. 4 trees were added this week 🌳 and we are creating a wildlife area in the grounds with the wood we are moving from across the garden.

Its a great project and one that will see us work on the compost bays, meadow, back half of the long border and the walled garden borders through the Autumn/Winter months along with looking to add a more automated watering system for 2027.

Section by section improvements are being made, starting with improving the overall soil health to support moisture retention and healthy plant growth for the future with a focus on increasing the number of drought tolerant plants in the garden.

Whether you've a large garden or a more modest space, if you are looking to improve or add to your current planting scheme, soil health or enhance the enjoyment you get from your garden for next year please get in touch with me. Autumn/Winter plant designs can be brought to life well in time for 2027 ✨️🌻

01/08/2026

I loved working within this Worcestershire garden last week. For wonderful clients Karen & Bill who enjoy gardening but knew they wanted to completely transform the space they had inherited when they moved into their home in late 2025. Transforming it from overgrown and tired to colourful, interesting and polinator friendly 🐝 🦋

It all started back in May with a hope for change, that I got down on paper by way of a plant plan and mood board so that my clients could see and get a feel for my vision from our initial consultation, then the installation was booked in. I started out by clearing the space and trimming back several bushes and trees, sadly we had to remove 2 small shrubs that had seen better days before getting to work on installing the new planting scheme into a fresh layer of high quality compost, topped with mulch to retain moisture, creating this warm and inviting space.

It was immediate from the plants arriving to when the bees and butterflies found them, its really quite remarkable how this happens 🐝🦋

Please get in contact with me and book your free 30 minute consultation. If you are looking to achieve more enjoyment from your garden for Autumn and into 2027. I am taking bookings for plant plan/designs from September onwards and can book installations for planting anytime from Autumn into Winter and Spring 2027.

also offer support on plant aftercare and can offer an ongoing maintenance service on plant installations.

*plant plan costing dependent on the size of the space to be designed

Planting for real people with real gardens, let's create your happy place 💚

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23/07/2026