I am really enjoying these yellow roses in my own garden this year (unknown variety). Yellow is sometimes an unpopular colour in gardening, perhaps due to some brash yellows found in the plant world, like Lysimachia, and Forsythia, but this yellow is so fresh and clear, against all the green in my garden, it is …
Outdoor pizza oven
Following on from the previous post, here is the gorgeous pizza oven that Cathy Miller designed with her builder. Old stock bricks combined with the fossil stone create such a charming addition to the garden. The integrated bar with stools and the stainless steel barbecue tuck in perfectly to this underused part of the garden. …
Chipstead garden on a steep slope
I re-visited a garden today that was built and planted up last year. It was a joy to see it being looked after so beautifully, Cathy, the owner told me she loves spending time in the garden now that it has been landscaped, and she waters every evening. As the soil is dry and on …
Surrey Garden Design Group
Last week I joined this group, which is open to anyone interested in garden design and professional garden designers alike. It was such a friendly group and everyone that I talked to made me feel very welcome. I really enjoyed their first talk, about Arts and Crafts gardens, and I am looking forward to the …
Contemporary garden in Bookham
This garden was completed earlier this year. The brief was to create a Contemporary style garden with a sawn (smooth) paving slab, with steps, raised beds and a sunken trampoline. The before shot is at the bottom of this post. The steps lead off from wide bi-fold doors to a level lawn. The paving slab …
Chelsea – WOW!
I really enjoyed watching the Chelsea flower Show on tv this year. This is the ‘Help for Heroes’ garden designed by Matt Keightley, which won a Silver Gilt and the ‘Peoples’Choice’ award. Gorgeous planting of white agapanthus, Stipa, foxgloves, bronze fennel, with evergreen Buxus, Euphorbia mellifera and Pittosprum ‘Nana’ for structure. The backdrop of a …
Soft slate/aged lead planters
Last week I popped back to a garden to drop off some plants. We planted it up 2 years ago, working closely with the client, who had given me a very clear brief on what style and colour scheme she liked. We recently added the pots for the Olives and Bays – a ridged design …
Garden in progress
I visited a garden today that I designed last autumn. The landscaping is in progress, and I was really pleased to see how well it is coming on. The pointing of the paving will be done next, then the 2 circular lawns will be laid. At the bottom of the garden will be a Victorian …
Monty Don’s Jewel Garden
I am reading quite a bit of Monty Don’s books recently. He is a very good writer, in fact when he was younger his passion was writing above all else. He is very honest, and it makes for compelling reading. So far in ‘The Jewel Garden’, his diary of the creation of his current private …
Room with a view
What heavenly weather we are having right now. I happened to be passing a garden yesterday that we designed a while ago, and the owners kindly let me take this photo, with the bi- fold doors fully wide open. Many new-build houses now have these very wide doors, and if the garden is not very …