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In this hot weather check your irrigation!

We’re recently back from France where the weather was stupidly hot @ 45 degrees – here’s a photo I took of our Alexa in our French kitchen in case no-one believed me! Since our return things have escalated with dreadful wildfires rampaging through southern France & Spain. Our British climate is such a relief to us in comparison. That said I’ve noticed our hydrangeas around the drive are really struggling. I’d assumed that the irrigation simply wasn’t up to the heat we’ve had here – although so much cooler than France, it has been intense & on top of that …

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Caution – gardening can be dangerous!

A cautionary tale … Leading into our courtyard garden from the parking area I have always had a small collection of large terracotta pots where I ring the changes with the planting through the seasons. See above… I recently decided I wanted a flowering tree planted through the gravel there instead & spotted this beauty whilst tree shopping for clients @ Deepdale. I thought this flowering cherry will look fantastic at home in the Spring. It is a Kanzan if you were wondering… Last Saturday whilst having breakfast in the garden we decided we would move the planters to their …

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The design & making of a new garden fit for a wedding

I got a call last July from a lady called Cath in Oxfordshire who wanted her Thameside garden made over in order to look great for her daughter’s wedding in August this year. After checking with my team @ TS Landscapes, Tom said it was tight but doable… This is about the design & making of a new garden… Cath & her husband Ian were seeing other designers too as is often the way. I completely understand but it is nonetheless quite unnerving even after a career of over thirty years. When I went to see them after I had …

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A very exciting & pretty huge new landscape design project

Sorry I have been AWOL for so long but I’ve been working on a very exciting & pretty huge landscape design project that is taking up all my time. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to tell anyone either whilst contracts were being written so I’ve kept it under my hat…. The main photo is of our paddock here in France where I’ve been working for the past week. It has been glorious over here so I’ve managed to mow the pathways back in. The multi-stemmed Acacia trees are all self seeded. I kept them as they look so …

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Latest garden design drawings 2026

Happy New Year all! first day back in my studio today so I’m having a bit of a catch up. It’s a beautiful sunny day today so I took these pics (which aren’t great!) but it does look very harmonious with the hakonechloa grasses, Cotswold stone walls & the leather inside my studio… Just before the Christmas break I was working on the garden design of a Manor house – I currently have two Manor houses in my queue! This is the first one in Northamptonshire & here are a few of my garden design drawings. The drawing below is …

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Woven willow – learning a new skill & Christmas at Chatsworth House

I love woven willow & specify it when I can for my clients. It’s a great natural screen, utilises amazing craftspeople’s skills & looks terrific in the right space. I’ve written about it before way back in 2014.. As I said in that blog I have several large woven sculptures here in our house & as it’s a barn conversion a few cow heads look in-keeping with the look I’ve put together…This is Toro (he’s Spanish!) who guards my studio & this below is Bob … we don’t normally name inanimate creatures in our house but this one was made …

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Farewell Diane Keaton

I’ve admired Diane Keaton since forever! I watch her films all the time & never seem to tire of them. The First Wives Club with Bette Midler & Goldie Hawn is a great film. Watch it – it’s fun & the 3 of them singing “You don’t own me” at the end is fabulous. Something’s Gotta Give is a particular favourite that also stars Jack Nicholson & Frances McDormand (who is brilliant in it!). It’s a great story & the setting is gorgeous – a most wonderful beachfront house in The Hamptons which I’ve always envied. Acting aside, she was …

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I do love a posh garden centre!

I’m really lucky in that I get to see the most amazing trade nurseries when buying & selecting trees in particular for my clients. My absolute favourite is Solitair in Belgium… here are a few photos I took when visiting with Tom, my contractor. As you can see we can buy incredible Alice in Wonderland style topiary. I do however also love a posh garden centre that’s open to all. I fortuitously live very near 3 really splendid ones where I go for inspiration sometimes but never leave empty handed. My favourite is Daylesford which started as a farm shop. …

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Time to go home…

We’ve spent much of the Summer here in our French house & it’s been fabulous. Such hot weather (bit too hot tbh), visits to the local markets, dog walks, family visits & oh I got a lot of work done too! Bruno loves it as we’re always around & he gets fantastic walks over the fields that surround us – that is when the cows aren’t there! We visited Chateau de Rivau whilst family were visiting – it’s a really lovely place with super gardens & a great restaurant set within their parterre. Look at this super planting scheme & …

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