Buying mature trees & topiary for clients is a real perk of my job. I get to go to wonderful places & buy fantastic specimen trees – some so enormous we have to plant them with the aid of a crane. Last week I went with Tom to find trees & topiary for my Bath project currently being built by his team.

This is one of my drawings of my design. It is a courtyard garden behind one of the fabulous classical Georgian facades at this elegant townhouse just near the Royal Crescent. My aim is for the garden to be almost as beautiful!

We were looking for a superb multistemmed tree, several yew domes or ‘flat balls’ as one of the nurseries call them. screening to one side, something super for 3 planters & a pair of fabulous espaliers for the back wall. It is a sunny garden.

This is what we found at 3 large nurseries…

Espaliers to choose from for the rear wall

For the specimen tree we selected these two which would fit perfectly – an Amelanchier or a cherry

Here’s Tom taking pics for his records – we’re at Europlants in this first shot & Deepdale in the second. These two options for the screen beside the wall include an evergreen Elaeagnus or a deciduous Liquidambar. They opted for the evergreen which I suspected they would; in a town garden, privacy is key & despite the lovely seasonal changes, leaf sweeping can be a pain!

These topiary pieces are for the domes in the ground & three of the holly pompoms (called Nellie Stevens – great name!) will go in the large planters.

We shopped at #Europlants, #Deepdale & #Majestic

I was on site yesterday with Tom & Mark of TS Landscapes & it was looking great. Our clients & their daughter Heidi love it too! She loves the “grand stairs” 🙂

I’ll post photos soon when it is complete & these lovely specimens are growing comfortably in their new home.

If you like this article have a look at this one I wrote a while back. It’s about tree buying at my favourite nursery ever! it’s called Soiltair in Belgium & is amazing!

All for now