Quite a week last week!

19th March 2015

I have been working at least 6 days a week lately to try & keep up with an amazing workload – I’m not complaining – truly! Just apologising for not writing a blog for yonks & explaining what a nightmare it is when I lose a day to ‘unforeseen circumstances’… In case you hadn’t guessed, my car died in London in the middle lane of the A40 just by Madame Tussauds on my way to see a client. I had a full day planned with several meetings but alarmingly spent a great deal of it directing traffic away from my …

A parterre in the making here at home

18th August 2014

We garden here on a budget as we’ve quite a large garden at just under an acre & only so much spare dosh if I’m honest! We’re doing it ourselves, are still creating it & although gardens are always a work in progress, we’re still building the bones of ours. When we bought the place it was such a mess that needed dismantling & sorting out – here’s proof! Agreed? I wanted to create a new terrace within the garden itself as the one we inherited was in completely the wrong position. It was at the bottom of the garden …

Recycling at home

13th August 2014

Recycling at home We inherited several sheds when we moved here four years ago together with sand pits, play equipment & other stuff we didn’t need so we had a big clear out to create the garden I wanted. Friends were delighted to receive various sheds, trellis & a greenhouse (providing they helped to dismantle & collect – we weren’t that generous!) but we did keep one large & very practical shed. Here it is in its original position looking very sad & very brown – yuk! sorry folks but I really can’t stand brown wood stain. I’ve been desperate …

A sad tale

30th May 2014

A sad tale We have been creating our garden here in Berkshire ourselves over the last four years with a little help for heavy duty stuff from a great local bloke called Oneil. All has been going well albeit slowly but unfortunately just recently we’ve had a few setbacks. Here is a pic of it taken last summer – As you can partially see, we have a wide avenue of cherry trees (Prunus Pandoras) flanking beds containing Miscanthus ‘Morning light’, Verbena bonariensis & Ligustrum jonandrum half standards. All very pretty! We’ve just planted a parterre too & are planning further …

Living with a garden designer

29th December 2013

No, I’m not going to talk about my husband or let him tell you abut how difficult living with me might be! This is a quick one today to introduce you to my other companions – Lottie, Dillon & Charlie – For me living without pets just isn’t on. I was brought up with a menagerie & I just couldn’t imagine life without a dog at the very least. This is Charlie. Sadly she didn’t stay this cute – she is 4 now but my companion when I’m drawing, thinking, walking & sometimes visiting clients. She is a Briard & …

Extending into the garden

19th December 2013

We bought the place three years ago with lapsed planning permission for a conservatory leading from the kitchen. We loved the architectural detail of the house – all it’s panelling & large rooms etc. but the chance to make our mark too was perfect! I do love a project!! This is how it was – what a mess! The only access to the garden was via this dreadfully ugly (& unsafe) deck built by a previous DIY enthusiast. It was not what we wanted at all & really let the house down. The plan was to extend the kitchen out …

Our Garden

13th December 2013

The main garden is approximately an acre & was pretty grotty when we bought the place. Our main outlook is from the kitchen & the outlook is really important to me – year round, so it needed to be sorted. The previous owner had a good idea of making it formal but the scale was all wrong as was the planting they used and the garden was filled with so much rubbish. What a mess! We set about removing old sheds, a greenhouse under a tree, masses of weeds, sandpit, a pond/swamp & lots of dead plants! The terrace at …

Creating our Knot garden

12th December 2013

The story of our Knot garden starts in June 2010. We had a really grotty small courtyard beside the house full of ground elder. I’ve done loads of knot gardens for my clients but have never had one myself… Here was my chance! I absolutely love knot gardens & the possibilities are endless. They suit all styles too – contemporary & classical. Knot gardens were first created in Medieval times & they were known as Embroidery for the earth – how fab is that? My initial sketch – it’s very simple as the area is small & I didn’t want …

Bringing the garden in for Christmas

11th December 2013

I love to decorate the place at Christmas although I’m not massively traditional & tend to go more minimal than maximum! We dragged in an old branch to form a quirky christmas ‘tree’ in the hall which I’ve decorated with little birds made of tweed & linen. Little pears add the colour – lime green – my favourite which I’ve echoed elsewhere in the house too. As it’s quite a tall hall I’ve used quite a big branch to reach the ceiling. My husband thinks I’m mad but seems to think that’s what living with a designer is all about! …

My love for drawing

10th December 2013

As I was trained at Art College initially, drawing is my passion & I find it so much more satisfying to sketch out all my ideas on my board than on a CAD system (I do have that too however). I create doodles & work on an A2 sketch pad & tracing paper over the top of a printed site survey to get a proper sense of space, scale & what’s actually possible. Proper proportion is essential in every scheme – be it tiny or several acres & that’s what really counts. If it works on paper it will look …

Chelsea Award Winning Garden Design