A natural evolution

Katie's Green Gardens evolved from Katie's Green Gardening; a successful garden maintenance service using an exclusively environmentally conscious approach. When I was pregnant with my son several years ago, my garden became overgrown and out of control. When I found a gardener to help me, they did a great job of tidying it up but I found they'd removed a lot of the beautiful wildflowers and self-seeded beauties that I loved, because they considered them to be weeds. I also found they advised against my preferred methods of gardening, telling me they wouldn't be effective and recommending more traditional methods, particularly the use of weedkiller, instead. After that I didn't feel like I could look to a gardener for help. It was this experience, as well as my love of gardening and many years of experience, that encouraged me to set up as a "green gardener" and I was delighted to discover so many customers eager to find a gardener with this approach. 

Moving to garden redesign and installations occurred naturally as more and more customers approached me, often confessing little plant knowledge but a desire for a garden that encourages and supports wildlife. Our customers have been delighted with our work and we found the installations extremely rewarding. Many customers we spoke to had received quotes for garden design and installation work priced in the thousands, with the largest being £175,000! Our simplified approach of getting to understand our customers' likes and dislikes, regardless of their level of plant knowledge, allowed us to deliver a garden that brought them joy without using the more costly processes involved in full scale garden design.

Permaculture

I fell in love with permaculture about 8 years ago, proudly purchasing a Siberian Pea Tree to provide foraging food for my hens and a permanent nitrogen source in my soil. The idea that plants can work together to support each other, way beyond companion planting, just blew my mind. My hens have still never touched the perennial sorrel I planted for them and they largely ignore the pea tree! But it was the start of my journey delving into more and more research about soil ecosystems and working with nature rather than against it. 

My allotment neighbours have always been interested to come and see "what I'm up to", chuckling about my methods. For example, as with most of this area the soil on my plot was very heavy blue clay. I piled on about ten tonnes of manure, compost and woodchip. Frequently I was asked when, and later, if I was ever going to dig the plot over; I never did. However I did want to get into the compacted lower levels of the soil without digging it and destroying the valuable fungal networks within it. I took inspiration from farmers, particularly in the US, trialling the use of Mooli, a Japanese radish which is long like a carrot but capable of pushing through heavy soil in a way that carrots can't. Farmers plants this radish as a green manure and then harvest it once mature, leaving drill holes where the radish grew, thus helping to break up soil compaction. I took this one step further by sowing the radish all over my plot, allowing it to grow and mature, then taking off the top green growth, laying it on the soil surface, leaving the radish itself in the ground and then heavily mulching with compost over the top. My theory was that rather than removing the radish and leaving drill holes behind, I would let the radish gradually rot in place, so that my entire plot could enjoy decomposed organic matter deep down into the compacted layers. I likened it to syringing the whole plot with deep drills of organic matter. What entertained everyone was just how determined radish turned out to be! For a long time people would point to plants asking, "what's that?", and the answer was nearly always radish! But over time the process has worked well and the soil on my plot is a deep rich beef-gravy brown, where many plots using traditional methods are still grey and dry looking. In 2021, several of my plot neighbours were having to water their soil just to be able to get a fork into it because it had been dried out so severely by the hot sun, whereas my soil was friable and healthy.

I might not rush back to the radish solution, tending more towards the use of phacelia these days instead (a stunning purple flower that attracts bees like nothing else and has a long tap root to drive through deep soil levels), but I maintain a keen interest in experimenting with cutting edge soil science. Most recently Johnson-Su Compost Bioreactors and Korean Natural Farming are at the forefront of my interest and experimentation; supporting and cultivating diverse microorganisms to 'run' the soil network in the most effective possible way.

Soil science,  permaculture and regenerative farming methods absolutely fascinate me and I use the learning from such methods when I'm working in gardens. Magically, these methods are usually less labour intensive and less costly than traditional methods of gardening, which is always a pleasant surprise for everyone, particularly when they are also able to see their garden thrive. 

Wildlife watching

Alongside soil science and gardening is my fascination with wildlife. I am an enormous fan of Dave Gorman (amongst others) and strongly recommend his books to anyone interested in delving into the incredible world of insect life. Through this interest I have developed a good understanding of the planting systems that best support a thriving wildlife habitat in domestic gardens, even when space is limited. 

I am always learning, always experimenting and always fascinated and this enthusiasm for nature comes with me when I start each day in a new garden. I aim not just to create beautiful spaces, but also to share my learning with customers who are interested in learning more and often find customers approaching me with questions for other projects they're undertaking themselves. Talking with my customers about new discoveries and techniques is something that I really enjoy and I'm always happy to provide advice and suggestions for any project, while I'm busy on the task at hand.