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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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Designing my own gardens

I do love a project! We have moved house several times over the years where we have gutted & redesigned the house & the garden too. It’s fun to design it all but I also really like to put my stamp on a place. Everyone has their own distinctive taste & style & I’m no exception. I thought I’d show you a few of my own gardens I’ve designed & built over the years… Henley on Thames We bought a townhouse right in the centre of Henley as we wanted to be able to walk everywhere & enjoy all that …

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April news

It’s been a busy month as usual but I thought you might be interested to read what I’ve been up to so here’s my April news. I designed several schemes from my French studio throughout February & March & this month I have been presenting them. Wednesday’s presentation was for Jane, a client I have worked with for many years & this is the fifth garden I have designed for her & her husband. It’s so incredibly flattering to be asked to do this – I am very aware of my good fortune. I recommended Tom Gresford who is a …

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Progress on our own garden build

This is a quick progress blog on our burgeoning new garden. I am so pleased with it & truly delighted it is still happening through this wretched coronavirus pandemic. It’s been a brilliant distraction & something that truly brings me joy! David of DS Landscapes is coming on his own & ploughing on with it – all safe & at a distance from us who are mostly working indoors. What a difference now the trees have come into leaf & the planters are planted up too… Look at the size of this heap of compost! This is after most of …

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Our own garden is being built at last!

After two years of being here, we have completed the work on the house & finally work has started on the garden. As you can see above, the magnificent Acer globosums arrived on the lorry last week. We were very excited & half the village came out to see what was going on! This is my husband posing for a photo. Here they are awaiting their new home. Aren’t they magnificent? I have loved this variety of tree for many years after seeing them in France in village squares providing shade. I took this photo below in 2014 in Provence …

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Progress on the home front!

Moving on from my last home blog I am delighted to report I finally have a lovely studio to work in. So much space too! Phew! It’s been a long haul & quite a drag but it’s all worth it now – hooray! Here are some photo’s of its journey… We moved into our Cotswold stone barn just over a year ago & we’ve had the builders with us pretty much ever since. They have finally left now & we’ve been able to enjoy living here. The layout wasn’t ideal so I redesigned it the way I wanted it to …

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New studio on the way!

If ever you wonder what it’s like working from home – read this! Usually I love it but doing it whilst you’ve got the builders in is just no fun! This is an update on a previous post about our building work… We bought our Cotswold barn last December & we’ve had the builders here pretty much ever since – it’s October 20th as I type! It’s been quite trying to say the least but it looks like we are getting there at last. The whole house has been refurbished & renovated & now the link extension to my office …

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A garden designers own project – from the beginning

I spend my life designing gardens for my clients but always design my own too. It’s something I love to do & learn from as an added bonus. I’ve had quite a selection over the years; a shoebox with my first little house, a large & casual Cotswold garden, a contemporary courtyard in Henley on Thames, a large & very formal garden to suit my fairly large Victorian house in Berkshire that we sold recently & now this. See blog posts regarding both of these last two gardens. Now I have redesigned what was a pretty confused garden that is …

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Me & my garden