Guess what is going on here?
This woodland garden is being improved to house hedgehogs & lots of beneficial insects. Nothing to do with me this time – I’m no expert on bugs I’m afraid but Rob is & his team are creating very stylish & enticing homes for beneficial & sometimes undervalued critters to live in as natural pest control. The wood is already home to some hedgehogs amongst other creatures who enjoy the eco hedges the team have built – see above. All this stylish accommodation has been created from waste on site so it is exceedingly good for the environment too. Stacked wooden pallets provide a structure & these have been filled with an array of interesting items including bricks, granite setts, sticks, canvas, felt & rolls of plastic. Pretty impressive…

My role is to create a natural & organic seeming series of attractive areas throughout the wood. Each connected by sinuous paths leading from one interesting spot to another. Each spot created will enjoy the new view & entice you to another interesting part of the garden. I’ve sketched out organic shapes to meander around the trees & researched both woven & wooden structures to sit on & in to perch a while. Thousands of bulbs have been planted too so this tranquil space will be a real treat when complete. Here’s my proposed layout with a couple of seating ideas.

I usually put together lots of images in a bound book to show clients how their garden will look once built. I fill it with images to reflect my ideas & give a test of what might be to come. Here are a couple of pages copied from my proposal for this project. As you can see, it will be a lovely walk when built with lush planting & lots of places to sit & ponder.

Several ongoing gardens I designed are almost complete now after lots of very hard work. They are all looking just gorgeous! I am very much looking forward to Spring & some decent sunshine so we can get them photographed & uploaded here. Do watch this space! These’s a lake with an island, a pool, lots of fantastic & pretty majestic trees, kitchen gardens, entertaining areas & wild flower meadows.

The Estate garden is going to be featured in House & Garden Magazine – very exciting! Will let you know when it’s due out.

The build of a garden local to me has started this week. My clients have waited an age for it to get started as Tom & his team have been so booked up, but it has been cleared now & will soon be beautiful. Here are a few images – before & my sketches of how it will be. It slopes which is a good challenge & has a pond which we’ll be keeping. My scheme reshapes the levels & makes it far more practical & appealing. Will post pictures when complete – it will be quite a transformation.

I’ve been shopping for topiary recently too. I went to Europlants with Rob. It’s a fantastic place for the trade to go & buy special trees & plants. Lots comes over from Italy so I have to be sure I place things well so the specimens can cope with their new environments. I would not for example place bay trees straight over from Tuscany in one of my exposed Cotswold gardens as the Winters would likely damage them irreparably. We bought some beautiful specimens for a sheltered garden down south though. Here’s a pic of a super Olive tree I was admiring.

Lots more to tell but I need to get on with some work! Bye for now