Welcome!
This collection of posts reflects my deep appreciation for the natural world, as well as my thinking about garden design and plants. Some were written in the earlier days of Growthfully, when I focused on bringing together garden planning with women’s wellbeing, before I turned my professional attention to therapeutic coaching and women’s circles. They lead into my more recent writings about women’s empowerment. I hope you find them inspiring.
Happy reading!
Sarahx
Today is so called ‘Blue Monday’ (a PR exercise for a travel company it seems, dating back to 2005 but useful all the same) and I’m wondering how you’re feeling.
I’m not feeling too blue actually but I did have a bit of a melt down at the weekend and which me realise that I’d been tolerating too much without expressing it. There’s a lot to tolerate at the moment and the rats in our roof are just one more thing!
Read MoreI often write about the pleasure I get from the pots I display by our front and back doors. They’re a collection of evergreens, small shrubs and seasonal lovelies and I love creating, caring for and admiring them. However this post is about the containers, my collection and where I find them.
Read MoreStoicism is not a virtue - so said a wise woman recently and I felt something inside me chime.
So many of us live, often unconsciously, by an outdated, patriarchal, and plain unhelpful (if not dangerous), edict that there is merit in our keeping quiet, not ‘making a fuss’ and being stoical; that we should be ‘sweetness and light’ and get on with life without creating a disturbance; that women are supposed to be ‘ladylike’ and that it’s unattractive to be angry.
Well stuff that!
Read MoreAs someone with a history of depression, anxiety and panic attacks I’ve found ways in my normal life to manage myself well - to be as good as I can be for my family, and myself of course, and many of these activities involve being out making daily contact with others, getting support, being part of a community.
Read MoreIf radical change is needed in your garden and you want to create a space that is gorgeous; cohesive, functional and easy to maintain there are lots of things to think about before you even pick up a spade.
Read MoreA quick look at some of the things I’ve done that have helped me to have a better winter this year. Usually the dark, and cold, get the better of me and my mood gets quite low. This year I took action in advance, and throughout, the early winter months and so far, so good…
Read MoreThe CAMFED garden at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show reminds me how much my values have changed around creating gardens.
Read MoreGolders Hill Park, in North West London, has been a favourite haunt of mine for many years. My children used to climb over this statue but please don’t tell the park keepers…
Read MoreIntroducing my new greenhouse. I am seriously excited about this next stage in my gardening life. Can’t wait to get in and start growing. Share my journey…
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