Oh lucky you, unmitigated pleasure awaits you on these dark, short winter days. Come with us now…
As the cold hand of winter begins to tighten its grip and, beyond the glow of Christmas, we see the dark triad of January February and March lurk with Grok like menace our thoughts turn to a garden makeover. Next summer it will finally be the crowning glory to your home you always dreamt it would be. But where to start? It’s a bit overwhelming. So here’s our Christmas gift to you. Some seriously exciting starting points into thinking about your new garden.
One of the delights of our modern age is the sheer accessibility of ideas, images and knowledge that the internet has brought, it has created a fluid atmosphere for design. The old disciplines and boundaries have softened and modern writers and designers move easily from architecture to art to gardens without a flicker of doubt. So whist some of the blogs listed here might at first glance seem to have little to do with garden design stick with it. You’ll discover the joy of suddenly seeing a garden layout in a stained glass window, or the dancing purity of a border of Eau de Nil poppy heads against a butter coloured wall, which may spark a madrigal by Gombert in your mind.
Happily we at North Leeds Garden Design are quite partial to this approach. For us design is a wonderful continuum, and we can draw as much inspiration from the filigree shadow of a Spanish wrought iron balcony, as from the box borders in a knot garden.
This list is small but perfectly formed. Fire up your tablet or laptop and, with a hot drink or a glass of something special, enjoy.
Lena Young
https://www.facebook.com/lena.young.549
Fashion, calligraphy, weaving, interior design, art. Whatever she features you will be delighted. Sheer joy.
Stephen Ellcock
https://www.facebook.com/stephen.ellcock
Stephen draws his net a bit tighter than Lisa Young. He is insatiably hungry for images. But what images. He has tamed the overwhelming torrent of the internet into a supremely well curated stream of delight. Always surprising, always a deep pleasure. With superb judgement he presents images (some will be old friends some startlingly new) that never fail to lift the heart.
Dezeen
Peter Pichler designs Tree House hotel rooms for forest in the Italian Dolomites
Dezeen is regularly cited among the best of Architecture websites. Intelligent and supremely well informed, it has a raft of superb contributors. It ranges with sure footed assurance across architecture, design and interiors.
Sight Unseen
Sight Unsee co-founders Monica Khemsurov and Jill Singer
Sight Unseen is an online magazine that uncovers what’s new and next in design and the visual arts, with a focus on independent makers working outside traditional disciplinary boundaries. The whole feel is younger than other sites, and that’s a good thing. There’s a freshness and energy here that is invigorating.
The Dahlia Papers by Non Morris
Non Morris’s blog was the very embodiment of the new eclectic. Sadly she hasn’t added to it since Dec 2017 but it is still worth spending an afternoon in the company of her fine and engaging mind. Her mind darts hither and thither, drawing together insights and ideas that generate new ones at the speed of thought. Her final blog was inspired by visiting an exhibition at the National gallery and is a masterclass in how to think eclectically. Perception, art history, colour theory, and much more swirl around her central obsession with gardens and garden design. These days you can catch her writings in Country Life, House and Garden, Gardens Illustrated, The English Garden and The Spectator.
Calm down now
And while we’re at it the old war horses are still there, and still doing sterling work;
RHS
Straight down the line gardening articles. But oh so good. For those who like their gardening straight up no mixer. You’ll need to register to see all the blogs.
Gardeners World
OK this can be a bit marmite. I know people who leave the room when Gardener’s World comes on. But I like it. A lot. They always stay abreast of the times, but never in a silly way. They cover a huge range of subjects, yet they don’t skimp on the basics either.
Online you get two bites of the cherry, there’s the magazine website, https://www.gardenersworld.com, but the BBC also keep few of the most recent TV programmes that you can browse either on the website; https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mw1h or on iPlayer.
James Alexander Sinclair
https://www.jamesalexandersinclair.com/blog/
James can chunter on a bit, but he’s got such a lively mind and is always up to something interesting.
2020 – the year of your new garden?!
So there you have it. A wide range of resources to enjoy on a long winters evening. There’s plenty of time yet to let your creative juices flow. If you want a sounding board and are feeling pretty serious about taking the leap this year into creating a wonderful new garden why not get in touch with us? Take a look at our contact page which tells you how we can help, or complete a copy of our garden questionnaire which may help you focus your thoughts a bit more.