Skip to content
Contact

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. …

Continue reading

I visited a recently completed & quite wonderful architectural garden I designed in Old Amersham

I took Bruno my beautiful Briard to see a recently completed architectural garden I designed yesterday in Old Amersham. It is a courtyard style garden on 3 levels to suit the modern architecture of the new passive house. It is a structured scheme of contemporary ‘garden rooms’ & sight-lines – with plenty of interest & areas to sit & admire & enjoy. This photo below shows the bespoke seating area beside the modern conservatory. There are both steps & a slope for easy access to all levels however able you are… I had arranged to meet James – a professional …

Continue reading

Latest work & Cotswold life in March

Hello, this is just a quick round up of various projects & things I’ve been up to here in Hardwick in March. It was our wedding anniversary on the 5th so we went to The Wild Rabbit at Kingham for dinner. It’s my favourite restaurant where the food & style are both excellent. Highly recommended it’s one of the Bamford/ Daylesford group & all their places are fantastic. I’m a huge fan. Work-wise I’ve quite a range of work on my books at the moment. This one pictured above is my latest garden design & it’s quite complicated. The plot …

Continue reading

I won again! Best of Houzz 2025

Hello & apologies for not writing for such a long time – oops!! Time flies as they say 🙂 So on Monday I checked my emails & Houzz had sent me an email telling me I had won the best design award – Best of Houzz 2025. What a lovely start to the week & I’d done nothing to make it happen; the lovely users of the Houzz website had done it so thank you all @ Houzz!! I believe it is about how many saves a garden gets & this one is a Cotswold garden I designed 20 years …

Continue reading

A week of site visits

It’s definitely Winter here at Manor Farm Barn this week as we’ve had the first flurry of snow. It looked so pretty but didn’t last long sadly. The Winter sun has taken over showing the Hakonechloa off in it’s Autumn colour against the Cotswold stone… Busy busy with work as always – I have several projects being built at the moment so am spending my time travelling about visiting 3 separate sites & my clients both new & existing. On top of that I’m madly trying to get some drawing done. All good – it’s great to be busy – …

Continue reading

Buying mature trees & topiary @ fabulous trade nurseries

Buying mature trees & topiary for clients is a real perk of my job. I get to go to wonderful places & buy fantastic specimen trees – some so enormous we have to plant them with the aid of a crane. Last week I went with Tom to find trees & topiary for my Bath project currently being built by his team. This is one of my drawings of my design. It is a courtyard garden behind one of the fabulous classical Georgian facades at this elegant townhouse just near the Royal Crescent. My aim is for the garden to …

Continue reading

What do you think?

I don’t really advertise to be honest as I get so much work via word of mouth, my instagram page & here on my website. I’m lucky in that way – thankfully! When I first started out I put ads in various magazines to garner work but all I got were calls from people trying to sell me stuff! I have therefore avoided advertising ever since. Anyway, the Cotswold planning department got in touch recently & asked me if I would add my details to their new online portal. It seemed like a good idea so I said yes. It …

Continue reading

Homes & Gardens Magazine article November issue 2024

Great news! I am really proud to say Homes & Gardens magazine dedicate a whole page of their November issue to a lovely shot of one of my gardens – see Pip’s Place in my portfolio. It’s a lovely article about Autumn & Winter gardens with other top designers work so I’m in excellent company. I’m always talking about how important structure as Winter here in England is a long time, is so this is really relevant!….have a look Thanks to Homes & Gardens magazine, Jacky Hobbs for getting in touch & writing the article, Garden Design Co ltd who …

Continue reading

CAD or hand drawn? Which do you prefer?

I hold my hand up & state I only ever design & draw using pens & pencils on my AO drawing boards. I stand for hours & become totally absorbed in the process – which I love. It comes naturally & is just how I’m made. I never use Autocad. When I was studying garden design we were given a computer & a book on autocad & left to get on with it. I hated it as the book was written by engineers & I’m not one of those – I am basically arty through & through & my brain …

Continue reading

Category Archives

Garden designer in Oxfordshire