Portfolio

Little Bentley Hall Garden Show 2019 Show Garden

Cottage Garden Bed

Client Brief: A cottage garden bed in pinks and blues, purples and whites. Climbers for the wall. The plants are all on order. I won't be planting this one, which is strange for me but I'm looking forward to seeing its development.

Freshly planted, spring 2018

Mediterranean Bed

Client Brief: A Mediterranean style bed with one existing tree in a hot sunny location with fertile free draining soil. I've been thinking in blues, whites and yellows for this bed, with a touch of pink here and there. Variation in foliage shapes and colour is important here and structure in the form of flower bearing shrubs.

After planting: spring 2018

Summer 2018

Beth Chatto Gardens - Willow Room Garden

I have been working in partnership with Wendy Smith, The Plantsmith, designing a new garden for the Willow Room at the Beth Chatto Gardens.

Wendy and I are both long term volunteers at the gardens and were invited to take the lead on this new project which will give volunteers the opportunity to be responsible for the maintenance of an area of the gardens and experiment with adding new plants to the 'plant communities' Wendy and I have already specified.

Planting has started, our new lawn has been laid and we are looking forward to seeing the scheme knitting together as time goes by. A really fun, exciting project.

The upturned crates in the photo are standing in as space savers for the beautiful curved benches that will overlook the water and the planting. Cut from the heartwood of an oak from the gardens, to add to that natural woodland feel.

Spring 2019

Cottage style bed with winter interest

The brief: a summer flowering cottage style border in pinks and purples with winter interest. The site: jam packed with lots of lovely plants but lacking coherence. Fantastic soil, enriched by years of homemade composting. I was asked to be firm and remove anything that wasn’t working.

From Design

To execution

Spring 2018

Small bog garden border and wildlife pond Summer 2017

Client brief: a pond, a bog garden, red grasses, red flowers, wildlife. The site: a 50cm width raised bed, quite windy. Outcome: I'm pleased with how the grasses move in the wind and can't wait for the bog plants to get growing. The garden looks effective in the evening with the pre-existing up-lighting, and as the plants grow the foliage will cast really interesting shadows on the wall behind. My client has plans for some art to be mounted on the wall as an additional focal point and in the spring a compact red flowered honeysuckle will be planted to add vertical interest and fragrance.

Autumn planting 2017