This quote I believe is by Alfred Lord Tennyson & the carving was commissioned by my client for his wife – I think it is beautiful. I’m not a poetry fan if I’m honest but I think this is just perfect & such a lovely gesture – so romantic & looks fabulous engraved in this lovely wide oak boardwalk.

This is quite a sizeable scheme – not without issues as there is a considerable change in level from front to back. Although a serious headache I actually love to play with levels as the results can be amazing. They can give a whole new dimension to a garden & provide dramatic images/entrances/views & contrasts.

This scheme is ongoing as it is so large so I thought I might just share a few stage images as they are pretty dramatic They show the thought & hard work that goes into the making of a beautiful new garden.

THE HOLLY COURTYARD This is the Holly Courtyard – my client really loved this holly tree & wanted to keep it. I understood why he liked it but it was a bit of a pain to work with as it was quite close to the new building & the land dropped away considerably just behind it. It was also absolutely massive! I was loathed to keep it but had to find a way to keep everyone happy & make something lovely & practical too. When working with Rob Jones – a great contractor with whom I’ve worked for years; he used this system of perforated concrete rings (those you see when new roads are being built) to plant trees in within land sculpture. I wondered if we could use the same system to retain the land on the boundary which would enable us to extend the level & create a generously sized courtyard …

It absolutely worked! Well done everyone!

This is now a really lovely place to be or simply walk through. I added yew cubes to balance the evergreen nature of the tree & provide year round interest. There are large beds on two sides which are filled with pretty flowers as a contrast

THE DRIVE & MAIN ENTRANCE The entrance is similarly dramatic with a pretty huge difference in level from the top of the front garden to the drive & house itself –

I love to plant in dramatic groups & here it works beautifully as strong bands of green. It really shows off the scale of the entrance & draws you into the garden as you drive through the gates. There are thousands here & you can imagine the poor team physically planting (not me!) as it is pretty steep & pretty slippery in Winter. The Elm trees are a resilliant disease free variety developed by Hilliers whom I love to buy from – definitely the friendliest tree growers you will find. Hats off to the team who have worked their socks off – Tom @ TS Landscapes, Gary @ Globe gardens for planting & my clients for their input too – this has/is a very collaborative process & all the better for it

This is the other side of the bank with more colour added. The steps will be completed once the planting is done so not long now.

These images show parts of phases 1,2 & 3 of many more so I will keep you posted on progress – you’ve only seen a snippet of the boardwalk which is just fantastic but don’t hold your breath! I’m so busy I don’t get a chance to write these very often!

Until next time