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 is about 10 acres in Oxfordshire to be developed as you can see as a range of walled courtyards. Between the listed buildings there will be a swimming pool, water feature, parterre, knot garden, pool & lake. It’s been quite a head scratch to design as all the shapes created by the Georgian buildings are most odd! My job is to create calm & beautiful spaces – highlighting the wonderful buildings but downgrading the odd shapes.
So I’ve introduced a series of lovely curves to unite spaces which is working really well. Part of the scheme will be a housing development too so I need to screen & ensure my clients maintain privacy. I’ve done this in several ways but by limiting the style & palette of materials the large plot will have a sense of harmony & unity. As the main house is historic, I wanted new elements to reflect that, sit comfortably & not look flash. Everything that exists has been hand crafted & my clients are using expert artisans to continue this work. My portion will be no exception. Dividing areas in a really great way will be crinkle-crankle walls using reclaimed bricks. I have also proposed some fastigiate trees in the curves too. These are Elm trees which are disease free only from James Hillier @ Hilliers in Hampshire…
I’ve repeated the wavy lines elsewhere too such as a new hedge separating the kitchen garden from the tennis court.
Exciting news – Magazines out this month – with me inside…
COTSWOLD LIFE & THE ENGLISH HOME MAGAZINE ARTICLES
These 3 photos of my gardens will be in Cotswold Life magazine at the end of this month. It’s out on March 28th 2025. Do look out for it! It’s part of an article about how to find a garden designer. I’m actually in 2 magazines this month. The other is THE ENGLISH HOME & I think it’s out now (I haven’t been sent a copy yet). Let me know what you think!
These drawings above form part of a design for a garden near Amersham where we want to create a smart look with evergreen planting & some character by using old apple trees. I buy them from specialist nurseries who buy them from cider growers. Once the trees reach a certain age the growers plant new ones & get rid of the old ones. Designers like me love the character of them so buy them for our clients. They still provide plenty of fruit – just not enough for a commercial situation. These ones are Malus Delbard Esteval – also from Jim Hillier (no it’s not an advert for them!!). The topiary is yew & is coming over from Holland where most of it is grown. We chose the domes as they were a fraction of the price of the cubes & still look fantastic…I’ll post photos once it’s all done. Tom & team are busy there right now so it won’t be long…. watch this space!
I’ve also got a small garden in Henley to design yet & a huge one near Stratford too so I’m never bored!
Here at home we’re awaiting Spring. As you can see from this shot of Bruno our Briard last week, our courtyard garden beyond is yet to come into leaf. The grasses however including these Hakonechloa in our corten planters look amazing in the sunshine. Their golden leaves sway in the breeze & look fantastic so I’m not too upset. What has upset me however is the heron has been back raiding fish from our pool. I had no idea they would come at night but as you can see from this shot on our security camera – it’s having a swim & a feast at 1am…
All for now
