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Ramona landscaper wins awards at Garden Masters show

By Karen Brainard

For the sixth consecutive year, Ramona landscaper Scotty Ensign was invited to participate in the Garden Masters exposition at the San Diego Spring Home and Garden Show and, as in the past, he walked away with awards.

Scotty and Rose Ensign sit in front of their Bella Vista garden that won three awards at the Garden Masters Exposition. Photo/Doug Sooley

“I’ve won a different award every year,” said the owner of Scotty’s Plantscapes.

For his Italian-themed garden at this year’s show, held Feb. 28 to March 2, Scotty won Best Intimate Garden and Best Educational Signage, along with Perfect Nomenclature recognition.

Participation in the Garden Masters is invitation-only.

This year 17 landscapers were in the exposition, featuring full-scale individual-themed gardens. The landscapers have only 3 1/2 days before the show to assemble their gardens.

“It’s a lot of work. You have to be a master at what you do to be able to create a garden that we produce in three days,” said Scotty.

“Scotty was born to do this,” said his wife, Rose, who assists him each year. “I love it. It’s a wonderful thing to dive into because it’s creative.”

The couple’s garden this year was titled “Bella Vista” and included a sunken entertainment area with a home theater.

“Let yourself take in the flavors of Italy and let it inspire your creativity to come out,” the Ensigns wrote about their design. “This year’s display reminds us to take in our surroundings and let it inspire us to feel like we do when we’re travelling on vacation, when we let our hair down, play and express our creative side.”

Incorporated into Bella Vista were a wooden pergola with bougainvillea climbing the posts, a fire ring, a water feature with a disappearing pond, country manor walls and a stone-top tumbled paver patio, a flagstone walkway with Dymondia groundcover in its joints, landscape lighting, and Italian-themed drought-tolerant plants.

The Bella Vista garden developed by Scotty Ensign of Scotty’s Plantscapes includes a sunken entertainment area with a home theater. Photo/Doug Sooley

The show is hosted by the San Diego Horticulture Society so education is a important part of the display, noted Rose. Landscapers must meet certain criteria with signage identifying plants. Besides including the genus and species names of each plant, Rose added information such as care and growing habit.

The extra effort paid off as the Ensigns were recognized for “Perfect Nomenclature.”

Although setting up the garden is a lot of work, Rose noted that they have involved other family members and it becomes a special time for all of them to work side by side for three days.

Scotty seems to thrive on developing innovative gardens.

“Last year I built a gold mine,” he said, explaining his garden focused on the gold rush days and even included a Model T.

Even more unusual was his creation in the 2012 Garden Masters when he took his inspiration from “The Hobbit” by producing the home of Bilbo Baggins.

Among the Ensigns’ contributors this year were Ramona businesses Ransom Brothers Lumber and Rudi Stockalper Company.

Short URL: http://www.ramonasentinel.com/?p=32161

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Ramona landscaper wins awards at Garden Masters show

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By Karen Brainard

Scotty and Rose Ensign sit in front of their Bella Vista garden that won three awards at the Garden Masters Exposition. Photo/Doug Sooley

“I’ve won a different award every year,” said the owner of Scotty’s Plantscapes.

For his Italian-themed garden at this year’s show, held Feb. 28 to March 2, Scotty won Best Intimate Garden and Best Educational Signage, along with Perfect Nomenclature recognition.

Participation in the Garden Masters is invitation-only.

This year 17 landscapers were in the exposition, featuring full-scale individual-themed gardens. The landscapers have only 3 1/2 days before the show to assemble their gardens.

“It’s a lot of work. You have to be a master at what you do to be able to create a garden that we produce in three days,” said Scotty.

“Scotty was born to do this,” said his wife, Rose, who assists him each year. “I love it. It’s a wonderful thing to dive into because it’s creative.”

The couple’s garden this year was titled “Bella Vista” and included a sunken entertainment area with a home theater.

The Bella Vista garden developed by Scotty Ensign of Scotty’s Plantscapes includes a sunken entertainment area with a home theater. Photo/Doug Sooley

The extra effort paid off as the Ensigns were recognized for “Perfect Nomenclature.”

Although setting up the garden is a lot of work, Rose noted that they have involved other family members and it becomes a special time for all of them to work side by side for three days.

Scotty seems to thrive on developing innovative gardens.

“Last year I built a gold mine,” he said, explaining his garden focused on the gold rush days and even included a Model T.

Even more unusual was his creation in the 2012 Garden Masters when he took his inspiration from “The Hobbit” by producing the home of Bilbo Baggins.

Among the Ensigns’ contributors this year were Ramona businesses Ransom Brothers Lumber and Rudi Stockalper Company.

Short URL: http://www.ramonasentinel.com/?p=32161

County to Host Workshop on Mastering Organic Gardening and Landscaping

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SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — As warmer weather approaches, many Middlesex County residents are eager to return to gardening. However, many people want their gardens to be free of synthetic pesticides as they grow food or care for landscaping.

If you want your garden and landscape plants to be healthy with little or no pesticides, the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County is offering a garden workshop entitled Mastering Organic Gardening and Landscaping.

This free workshop is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 5 at the EARTH Center located in Davidson’s Mill Pond Park, 42 Riva Ave., South Brunswick.

The workshop will introduce the concept of Integrated Pest Management and examine how simple practices, such as monitoring for pests and providing adequate moisture, will keep your plants healthy. Interpreting soil sample results and light requirements for various species will also be examined.

The recent interest in alternative approaches to gardening comes from the idea of leading a more “green” lifestyle and lessening one’s impact on the environment. This workshop will address concepts and techniques important to the foundation of this style of gardening.

To register, call 732-398-5262 by March 28.

Middlesex County Agricultural Agent Bill Hlubik, a professor at Rutgers University, will be the class instructor and explain the values of these planting practices.

“I encourage residents to attend this informative workshop,” said Freeholder Kenneth Armwood, Chair of the County’s Business Development and Education Committee. “Learning to garden without the use of pesticides will ensure that the County remains a beautiful and healthy place to live.”

“The EARTH Center offers a host of environmental services to the County,” said Freeholder Director Ronald G. Rios. “Here, residents don’t only learn about greener approaches to gardening, but can also purchase soil test kits, pesticide application test manuals, or submit pest and disease samples for evaluation.”

The County’s Extension Office is part of a nationwide network that brings the research of the State land-grant universities to local people. Rutgers Cooperative Extension offices throughout New Jersey are cooperatively funded by the County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Rutgers University-New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The EARTH Center is located in one of Middlesex County’s most beautiful parks, Davidson’s Mill Pond Park. The Center’s 300-plus acres feature ponds, wooded trails and open fields. Educational displays at the park include a demonstration vegetable garden, hard-scaped herb garden, and a water-conserving rain garden. These displays are used to spark conversation about earth-friendly gardening techniques, local agriculture, and topics that are the focus of Rutgers Cooperative Extension’s Agriculture Natural Resource Management Department.

Visitors can also find out more about the Center and its events by calling 732-398- 5262.

How does your garden grow?

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Cloche cold frame

GETTING the garden ship shape ahead of the summer needn’t cause financial strain or back pain.

Aldi is stocking a huge range of gardening tools, equipment and accessories this spring, making beautiful gardens a breeze.

LAWN CARE

If you’ve got lawn trouble then Aldi is coming to the rescue with a whole host of gardening gadgets and accessories to achieve a perfectly manicured lawn. With garden spreaders, lawn repair kits, soil conditioner and lawn feed in store now, watching your garden grow has never been so easy.

Garden Spreader, £14.99

To grow the perfect lawn you need to begin with the perfect foundations. Aldi’s garden spreader, with a 12 litre capacity and 45cm spreading width, distributes seed and feed evenly, not only helping you get a beautiful lawn, but also ensuring the seed goes further.

Lawn Repair Kit, £3.99

You don’t need to relay the entire turf to create a flawless garden. Patch up those bare spots with this two-in-one lawn fertiliser and lawn seed kit.

SPRING GARDEN PREP

Prep the garden for the season ahead with pruning shears, cold frames, pressure sprayers, timber picket fences and trio planters – all excellent quality, the great value price will put a spring in your step.

Cold Frame (150 x 180 x 150cm), £24.99

Comprising a coated-green, steel tube frame, heavy-duty cover, four fixing pegs, two roll back opening vents and a protection net beneath for access, this cold frame will protect even the youngest of seedlings and ensure they flourish in a frost free environment.

Five Litre Pressure Sprayer, £8.99

This pressure sprayer has a five-litre capacity, three bar operating pressure and a 1.3 meter flexible operating hose, making it perfect for watering the lawn, cleaning the patio and spraying fertilisers.

Garden Pruning Shears, £2.69

Ideal for cutting roses, shoots and shrubs, these steel shears have a non-stick coating, rust-resistant lower blade and ergonomic handle – perfect for easy-peasy pruning.

Telescopic Tree Pruner, £39.99

With a stainless steel upper blade with non-stick coating for rust resistance and smooth cutting, carbon steel lower blade and saw and handle lengths of 202cm (inner) and 157.5cm (outer), this pruner ensures gardeners can tackle any tree job with ease.

WATERING

Water water everywhere . . . make nourishing your garden a doddle with hosepipes, long sleeve garden gloves and whole host of other great value, excellent quality watering tools and accessories in store at Aldi.

210 Litre Waterbutt Set (97 x 57cm excluding stand), £28.99

Made from recycled materials with a three part stand to allow easy access to the tap and downpipe filler kit, this handy set has everything you need to start storing rainwater to reuse in the garden.

Submersible Pump, £39.99

With stainless steel housing and a rustproof motor shaft, this submersible pump has an adjustable, automatic float switch suitable for dirty water, a nylon cord for lowering the pump and a cable length of 10 meters.

Aldi’s Specialbuys Gardening ranges go in store nationwide on March 20, and once they’re gone, they’re gone!

Gardener: Tips for getting a jump on the gardening season, part 2

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Last week I discussed several simple methods to help extend your gardening season. This week I explore more options for giving you a head start in the garden. These methods work equally well at season’s end with the potential to provide a year-round garden.

Insulation is the key to keeping plants safe when cold temperatures threaten. Whatever you can find to trap and retain heat will go a long way toward defying the killing conditions of frost and cold that would otherwise bring an early demise to tender heat loving-plants. Blankets, plastic, buckets and the like all can serve to add critical protection on such nights. Be sure the covering protects the foliage and that it extends all the way to the ground. This ensures that warmth from the soil is trapped, which will add a few extra degrees under cover.

A cloche is an insulating cover made for such purpose. Perhaps you’ve seen these attractive bell shaped glass covers. Dating back to the early 1600’s cloches were and still are a common and effective method of protecting tender plants and food crops. A cloche substitute that I often use is to place plastic milk jugs with the bottom cut out, over my plants. A bamboo stake or stick helps hold it in place, and the lid from the jug can be removed the next morning to allow excessive heat to escape. Plastic soda bottles work just as well. It’s a simple and inexpensive way to protect tender plants through those nights when frost and freezing temperatures are likely. A milk or soda-drinking family can amass quite a collection of cloche-like covers in no time, plus they stack up well for storage when not in use.

Cold frames are perhaps the best and most popular methods food gardeners use for insulating their plants from temperatures far lower than most plants can handle otherwise. Think of a cold frame as a mini greenhouse. The basic premise is a sturdy, insulating enclosure around the plants and a glass or plastic top or lid that allows sunlight in to heat the space. Because of its excellent heat trapping quality, all cold frames must provide that all-important way for heat to escape during the day. Cold frames can be constructed from wood, cinder blocks, hay bales and more.

A sufficiently insulated cold frame can provide an environment warm enough to allow tender plants to thrive all the way until spring, even in the harshest conditions as my friend and colleague Niki Jabbour, author of “The Year Round Vegetable Gardener” (Storey Publishing, $19.95), can attest. She gardens year round from her home in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she harvests more than 30 different crops – even in mid-winter!

Container-grown plants offer the benefit of portability in allowing you to maneuver plants away from “Jack Frost.” Having the ability to move plants to a protected area and back again can buy you several weeks or more of extended growing time. The trick to making this work for large containers or those too heavy or cumbersome to move easily, is to place them on top of rolling platforms. I’ve seen several designs in better garden centers marketed for such purposes or you can search online. You also can easily make them yourself.

Microclimates are another technique commonly used to take advantage of pockets of warmer conditions. Think of microclimates as nothing more than small areas or unique growing environments that tend to stay a bit warmer their surrounding area. Typical reasons these areas exist is because they are often protected from wind, driving rain, frost or snow, or because they benefit from heat radiating off a building or protected area. When planted or placed near a brick or stone wall, heat absorbed and retained during the day is released at night. Plants in close proximity will benefit from this exchange. This mini environment can potentially allow plants to survive outdoors when otherwise they could not.

There is a season for everything, but it doesn’t mean you have to delay or stop gardening just because of cooler temperatures. Extending the season is an exciting and rewarding endeavor made easier by knowing a few easy-to-apply techniques.

Joe Lamp’l is the host and executive producer of Growing a Greener World on national public television, and the founder of The joe gardenerï¿½ Company, devoted to environmentally responsible gardening and sustainable outdoor living.

Pro Tips: Starting your garden this spring

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Laura Bruno is an organic gardener and food security advocate with a passion for edible landscaping, year-round harvest and herbal allies. Bruno helped organize Goshen’s Share the Bounty Week, which focused on making locally-grown food more accessible to people around the area.

If you have questions for Bruno about gardening, leave them in the comments below. She has agreed to answer them between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 18.

1. Survey your growing space

Most fruits and vegetables require at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight per day, and sometimes even more for larger harvests. Your ideal garden space for summer staples like tomatoes and cucumbers would offer a southern exposure with dappled shade from the west for those hot afternoons, but see what you actually have. When looking at what’s sunny in March, consider trees that might fill in with leaves and also remember that shadows will be shorter with a higher summer sun. If you can’t find anywhere with enough sunlight, expand your perspective. Does your front yard offer any growing possibilities? How about containers on a sunny porch, patio or driveway? Could trellises, towers, raised beds or hanging containers bring more plants into the light?

2. Don’t give up if you don’t have enough light

You can’t grow tomatoes, peppers and beans if you have just four hours of direct light, but many edibles do grow well in shade. I’ve had great luck with parsley, Chinese greens (bok choi and tat soi), celery and even broccoli. I’ve also grown nettles in an isolated shady plot, which kept them from taking over everything. They’re an invasive weed, but they make fabulous soups, smoothies and provide tonics for just about anything that ails you. (Don’t eat them after they flower. Actually cut them down when they begin to flower, or you’ll have way more nettles than you want next year.) If you haven’t sprayed your yard with anything toxic, then you can also eat those pesky dandelions! The leaves, roots and flowers are all edible and were originally brought to America by European gardeners. Other herbs like potted mint, lemon balm and anise hyssop also grow well in shade.

3. Grow up

If you don’t have much sun or space, then you’ll want to maximize the growing areas you do have. Vertical gardening letss you make better use of space, and it offers a chance for plants to climb out of the shady ground towards more available light. Metal, nylon or wooden trellises allow more airflow, protecting your plants from certain diseases, along with rabbits. Raised beds, especially tiered beds can also help with critter or space issues. A round design will let you grow more plants closer together by creating micro-climates and extra ways to reach for light. People make raised beds and towers from untreated wood, old tires, different size pots, burlap bags or from many commercial products created to look nice and safely house your soil. When recycling old materials, please make sure they’re non-toxic if you plan to grow food in them.

4. Explore community gardens and yard swaps/rentals

Goshen offers lots of community and neighborhood gardens. You can find a list here. The Elkhart Local Food Alliance (ELFA) is a great place to start if you’d like to find a community garden in Elkhart. You can find more information about ELFA and Elkhart opportunities here. In addition to community gardens, ELFA offers workshops on topics like seed starting and building cold frames for extending seasons. Look around your neighborhood, too. Many people with sunny yards don’t have time or the physical ability to garden, but they would gladly share their space in exchange for part of your harvest. Lots of people grow fabulous gardens in a yard besides their own. You won’t know if you don’t ask.

5. Start with good quality soil

Plants are only as healthy as the soil they grow in, so you’ll want to prioritize a good potting mix for containers and a rich, well-draining, composted soil for raised beds or in-ground growing. Garden centers can help you decide what kind of blend would work well for your situation. If you have access to composted organic matter (compost), fish emulsion, rotted manure or worm castings (compost made by earthworms), your garden will reward you with stronger, healthier plants. If planting in the ground, I’d advise a soil test at least to determine acidity or alkalinity of your soil. A more specific soil test will tell you if you need any common amendments like lime, sulfur, magnesium or boron. Organic mulch from leaves, compost and/or untreated wood chips will feed your soil and help it to hold in valuable nutrients and moisture, which means richer soil and less watering for you.

6. Take advantage of free books, classes and gardening gatherings

Public libraries offer lots of books on gardening. Books by experts can save you years of disappointing experiments and mistakes. In Purdue Extension Elkhart County workshops, Master Gardeners offer their knowledge and skills to the community. Beginners and longtime gardeners alike benefit from sharing experiences. On March 22, 2014, Transition Goshen will host an Open Space event for anyone interested in gardening. The meeting will help identify specific opportunities to work together and grow community as well as food. Saturday, March 22, 1-4 p.m. at Goshen City Church of the Brethren, 203 North 5th Street.

7. Know your planting zone

Elkhart County is in growing zone 5b, which is ever so slightly warmer than zone 5. Lower numbered zones mean colder, and higher numbers indicate warmer climates. Plants and seeds usually list a range of zones. Make sure whatever you want to plant grows in zone 5.

8. Once you’ve found a space, choose your seeds or plants

Grow what you like to eat! If you decide to start plants from seeds, heirloom varieties can offer the best varieties for our specific region, as well as unusual characteristics like special flavors or colors. Maple City Market and John Sherck at the Goshen Farmers Market carry organic heirloom seeds known to grow especially well in the area, but you can also find seeds at big name stores or online. You’ll need to follow directions for seed type. A dusting of cinnamon or spritz of chamomile tea helps protect young sprouts and seedlings from developing fungal issues, also called “damping off.” If you’d rather purchase and transplant seedlings (young plants instead of seeds), the Farmers Market lets you purchase from local farmers so that you can directly ask them for growing tips on these particular plants. Many stores also offer seedlings closer to our last frost (usually May 10-15), but you will often need to do your own research about those plants.

9. Grow flowers!

Not only will flowers beautify your garden – they’ll also make your own work easier. Pretty plants like borage, calendula, yarrow, nasturtiums and marigolds deter pests and invite in “beneficials” like bees, butterflies and bugs that eat the bugs that eat your plants. When your garden looks nice, you’ll also derive more pleasure from the sights, smells and tastes of nature.

10. Involve friends and family, especially picky eaters

No store-bought produce tastes as fresh and delicious as fruits and vegetables pulled straight from the garden. Many children who “don’t like vegetables” simply don’t like eating something that traveled 2,000 miles before hitting their plates. Crisp, fresh produce nurtured from seed or seedling brings magic to children, teens and adults. There’s nothing quite like a sun-ripened tomato or a just snapped pea. When people witness how food grows, they begin to connect with their food in new and exciting ways. When people garden together, they begin to connect with each other in deeper and more meaningful ways.

Garden Seed Tips: Organizing Seeds, Understanding Seed Catalogs and More …

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Seeds! A word pretty much every gardener loves to hear. Happily browsing your garden seed catalogs and hauling out your existing vegetable seed stash signals that spring is near — or already here. It’s a time of planning, dreaming, mapping and imagining the homegrown harvests to come.

Watch this video to get some basic tips about garden seeds, such as organizing seeds by month so you can easily find what you need to sow as the growing season progresses. You’ll also get tips on understanding some of the terms you’ll come across in your garden seed catalogs. Knowing the common designations for seeds can help you tailor your seed order to best fit your needs and goals for the year.

The video also provides a handy chart on how long seeds of various crops generally stay viable. Germination rates will decrease over time, and some seeds will last longer than others and still achieve good germination, while with other crops — such as lettuce — you will likely have better luck replacing older seed with fresh seed.

Get More Tips With These Great Gardening Resources

The tool mentioned in the video — our popular Vegetable Garden Planner — can help you map out your garden design, space crops, know when to plant which crops in your exact location, and much more.

Try our gardening apps, including our When to Plant App, Garden Insects Guide and Food Gardening Guide, for lots of essential garden know-how.

Need crop-specific growing information? Browse our Crops at a Glance Guide for advice on planting and caring for dozens of garden crops.

Happy gardening!

Shelley Stonebrook is MOTHER EARTH NEWS magazine’s main gardening editor. She’s passionate about growing healthy, sustainable food and taking care of our environment. Follow her on Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.

North America’s best public gardens: You decide!

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Nominees have been announced for the 10Best Readers’ Choice award for “Best Public Garden” and they include some of the most stunning green spaces across North America. Readers have until March 31 at noon to vote on their favorite garden; votes are allowed once per day, per category. Vote here, or visit 10best.com/awards/travel.

The 20 gardens vying for the 10Best Readers’ Choice award are:

Bloedel Reserve – Bainbridge Island, Wash.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden – Brooklyn, N.Y.
Butchart Gardens – Victoria, B.C.
Callaway Gardens – Pine Mountain, Ga.
Cheekwood Botanical Garden – Nashville
Chicago Botanic Garden – Chicago
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens – Boothbay, Maine
Denver Botanic Gardens – Denver
Desert Botanical Garden – Phoenix
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden – Miami
Franklin Park Conservatory – Columbus, Ohio
Huntington Botanical Gardens – Los Angeles
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden – Richmond, Va.
Longwood Gardens – Kennett Square, Pa.
Missouri Botanical Garden – St. Louis
National Tropical Botanical Garden – Hawaii
Portland Japanese Garden – Portland, Ore.
Ruth Bancroft Garden – Walnut Creek, Calif.
United States Botanic Garden – Washington, D.C.
Wave Hill – Bronx, N.Y.

The garden expert who selected the nominees for this category is author and acclaimed landscape designer Cindy Brockway, program director for cultural resources at The Trustees of Reservations (The Trustees), the nation’s oldest land trust, and one of the largest conservation organizations in Massachusetts. Brockway — a graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a BS in Plant Science — trained at Longwood Gardens and the Chicago Botanical Gardens before her 25-year award-winning career as a landscape designer.

“This award category — Best North American public garden — is a big category,” says Brockway, “with lots of potential candidates.” She explains that her selection process centered on gardens which included two elements: a great plant collection and the aesthetics of beautiful design. “Public gardens offer a chance for fun respite and learning” in a beautiful, diverse setting, Brockway says, and her nominee list is a mix of gardens and botanical gardens (which include a scientific element, with plants which are catalogued, researched, tested and reported upon to the larger industry), responsible for some of America’s favorite backyard plants.

Brockway’s work has been featured in Old House Journal, Victoria Magazine, Colonial Homes, Nineteenth Century and Accent, as well as numerous trade publications. He garden designs have been recognized by the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Garden Club of America, the State of New Jersey, Preservation League of New York State, the Massachusetts Historic Commission and other prestigious organizations. In her current role at The Trustees, she is responsible for eleven public gardens from the Berkshire Hills to Martha’s Vineyard, including Ashintully in Tyringham; Castle Hill on the Crane Estate in Ipswich; Naumkeag in Stockbridge; Long Hill in Beverly; the Bradley Estate in Canton; Stevens Coolidge Place in Andover; and MyToi on Martha’s Vineyard.

Brockway has authored two books: A Favorite Place of Resort for Strangers (Fort Ticonderoga, 2001), and Gardens of the New Republic (May 2004). She teaches short courses in landscape preservation at the National Preservation Institute, and is a popular lecturer.

HelloInterview: Meet Philip Nixon – Garden Designer in England and Pinterest …

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Philip Nixon is a professional garden designer from rural England, just outside of London. He was born and raised in Ireland. Philip works from home but has a “great team of people in [his] office in London.” Some of his most recent garden design work has been as far as New York and Moscow.

“I feel really lucky to be running my own business and doing something that I love.”

When he’s not designing beautiful gardens or on Pinterest, Philip can be found lecturing and teaching, and spending time with his loved ones. Philip’s passion for gardening has earned him over 722K Pinterest followers.

When did you start using Pinterest and what inspired you to make an account?

I stumbled on Pinterest in the very early days when it was really new. I must have been one of the very first users.

Philip and his daughter youngest daughter Emilie

Why do you like Pinterest?

I use images a lot in my design work and Pinterest just seemed like a great way to build up and keep an image library of what was happening in the design world. Then it became addictive so I started using to it look at all sorts of things that interested me or inspired me. I am not a good self-editor so I have too many boards and too many ideas to keep up with myself.

Philip’s garden at home

You have gained over 722K followers! That’s very cool! What makes your Pinterest unique?

I honestly have no idea. I just pin what interests me and it seems to interest other people too. Maybe that’s the key. My Pinterest is honest and made up as it goes along… it has a life of its own.

Are you from London originally? What do you like about it there?

I grew up in Dublin, Ireland and moved to London in my late teens. London is a great city. I have travelled a lot over the years but London is still my favourite city. The people are great. Culturally it is so diverse and everybody gets on with each other.

What are your favorite places you’ve traveled to? When did you go?

I have been to New York so many times I have lost count and after London, it’s my favourite city. I love city life and London and New York are quite similar. London and New York City have a similar vibe to them.

Philip’s Pinterest has a variety of boards with 139

What are your favorite Pinterest boards to pin onto and why?

It changes all of the time. There are some boards I used to pin to all the time and now I don’t at all since I’ve moved on. My current slightly bizarre fascination is with the colour blue! I have no idea why. I now have a board devoted to all things blue.

Your Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air board is really beautiful! We also adore your Garden board. Tell us more about these boards and why you made them.

The “Live in the sunshine…” board is because I do live for sunshine and I grew up by the sea so it’s very important to me. I don’t cope well with rainy days so that board just reminds me that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that summer is coming. The garden board is there because that’s what I do and it’s what I am. I am a gardener! I love gardens and the act of planting and caring for plants. I could not be without it.

A garden Philip designed for a client in London.

What is your Pinterest style?

I am fascinated by how things are designed and made whether that be a garden or a camera, a boat or a skateboard, a painting or a motorbike. If I like the way something looks, if it inspires me and makes me feel good, then that ends up being what drives the style of the boards.

Tell us more about your passion for the beach and any hobbies you’re passionate about.

I love being outside and being by the sea is what I like best. I love to cycle and I love to travel, ideally avoiding planes and all that goes with it. So my dream has always been to get in a car and drive, get on a bike and ride, or get on a boat and sail away. I seem to have a fascination with things that facilitate travel: cars, bikes, boats, and so on.

What are your plans and hopes for the future?

I hope to travel more, cycle more, walk more, buy a sailing boat, draw, write, and create and keep on doing it.

Connect with Philip!

Pinterest – Philip Nixon Design