A rainbow of butterflies
Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly Wow! What a summer it is for butterflies. Last week I was planting a new border for a client; within minutes of planting some purple Verbena bonariensis, two Peacock butterflies had already started probing their flowers for nectar....
York Gate Garden
York Gate Garden the perfect inspiration. York Gate Garden, although very popular, is still under the radar for many. Yet it is one of the great English Gardens and sits tucked away on the northern edge of Leeds! There are many beautiful and impressive aspects to York...
Brutalism
Facebook comment in The Brutalism Appreciation Society “No empathy for its surroundings, an esoteric design, and an uncompromising statement of design pushed beyond normal limits.” As garden designers, we have a wonderful life. We get to work for people who care about...
The 2019 Show Garden Trends
What are the trends in 2019’s garden shows? Yes it’s that time of year again, with a few major shows like Chelsea Flower Show and Gardeners World Flower Show already under our belt and some great ones coming up like Hampton Court Garden Festival and Tatton Park Flower...
Colour Combinations
When I'm out and about my mind is always (well usually!) open to new ideas that help me to be more creative and consequently design better gardens. Today I am writing about colour combinations.The fashion inside the home a few years ago was a palette of neutrals with...
It’s all at Chatsworth!
The glorious Peak district hills of Derbyshire make a fitting setting for a grand house like Chatsworth. And what an amazing location for an RHS Flower Show. On Wednesday I set out to examine the best and the rest on the first day of the 2019 show. Show garden...
What is a garden designer?
A garden designer has been through formal training, has designed many gardens, and gets paid to design gardens. They have a reputation that they need to maintain. These are good things; ensuring you get a well-designed garden is going to be something they care about a...
Spanish inspiration
People sometimes ask us where do you get your ideas from, what inspires you, what makes you a garden designer? The answer is many things, which is part of the delight of being a designer. Our job is to design a fabulous garden for you, but in order to do that our...
La Casa Lagarto, Toque, La Palma
This month’s blog has been written by Kevin Lycett, a friend of ours who is interested in garden design. He has gone out as our roving reporter. We hope you enjoy it and feel inspired. An unexpected gardening success A first time visitor to the Todoque region of La...
Your Insect Paradise Garden
Insect mass extinction We are in the midst of a major alarm at the drop in insects’ numbers, with headlines saying we face the extinction of all insect life within decades. That’s serious stuff, let’s not kid ourselves here no insects = no us. Estimates vary but most...