Go Dutch!
A Genius!!
Joanna came to Oxford to give a talk and she was so brilliant, interesting, supremely eloquent, razor sharp and wittier and more elegant than ever!
York stone
Here are three photographs from a fabulous quarry I recently visited near Bradford in West Yorkshire. Wonderful, friendly, warm hearted people made...
Layers of time
In an off-the-beaten-track corner of Rome a week ago, I realised that the layers of living, shown here by the excavation, have a quality which is...
A National Treasure!
I was just looking for some really good reclaimed slates and then Mark was on the end of the phone, and the next day I met him! He has been buying...
Too Much! Ouch!
For whatever the reasons, this is just too much! Nature left on its own makes a perfect shaped oak tree that we can wonder at and admire. What...
Colour, colour, colour!
A visit to the old Tate a few days ago, found us standing in front of so many wonderful paintings by Turner. I still haven't recovered and don't...
Light is the magic!
This was the High Street in Oxford this morning, Wednesday. Yesterday was grey and raining, and tomorrow is forecast grey and raining. But today,...
Beauty beyond words!
Such colours, such luxury, such style, such opulence, glamour, joy, and then such scent as well! Beyond dreams, beyond belief, imagination, beyond...
Tulips
With the cold late spring passing, so too have the tulips. I pulled the last tulips up on the 20th May for a clean slate to trial and experiment...
Seasonal Posts
Cloud box hedging
We have a client who seeks a fairly instant cloud box hedge to screen cars. Earlier this week I was delighted to visit a marvellous grower and passionate enthusiast of one of my favourite plants, Buxus. The plant has had bad press over recent years because of box...
Hedges
I am often amazed how productive some journalists are in creating and publishing works. Perhaps I should invest in a dictaphone, useable in a car. Someone please tell me that they exist! So I could merrily convert driving thoughts post-garden visits into content. Old...
Pots of surprise
The first frost always galvanises me to plant spring-flowering bulbs in pots or the ground – their beautiful, organic shapes are nature’s equivalent of slow-motion fireworks. It is a party in the spring to look forward to! This year I’m trialling single, late...
Zero Maintenance Garden
Although we are regularly at our house near Southwold, we don’t have to wield secateurs and spades the moment we arrive. Plastic plants aren’t an option so, over the years, I have been trialling various plants that I love (specifically that remind me of holidays) and...
“Heel mooi!” (How beautiful!)
It’s always a treat when clients tell us how pleased they are with our designs, but perhaps even greater compliments are those we don’t actually hear. As it happens, recommendations provide us will almost all of our work – we are blessed to have such lovely clients! A...