All posts tagged garden design

Northern design Awards Finalist

Posted: October 12, 2015 · Comments: 0

Monday 12th October, 2015

Much excitement in the office today as I have been shortlisted as a finalist for the Northern Design Awards for the Didsbury Garden that was built last year. So pleased!

More bulbs going in soon as I have been retained to advise/develop the garden which is a lovely way to keep in touch with the planting, and of course the clients who are pretty marvellous.

The garden was constructed by the excellent Landstruction and the stone was supplied by the fabulous Stockscape.

More photos of the garden here.

How to Draw a Straight Line

Posted: June 25, 2012 · Comments: 0

Monday 25th June, 2012

I’m trying to improve my drawing skills at the moment. I love hand sketching but I just want to be… better.

On Saturday I went to a great presentation and workshop on perspective drawing by Simone Ridyard at the Riba Hub in Manchester as part of the Love Architecture Festival 2012 events. Simone is a fantastic illustrator and showed us some of her work which was just beautiful.

It was a highly enjoyable session and here are a couple of great tips that resonated with me. Continue reading…

Show Garden Top Tips

Posted: June 19, 2012 · Comments: 0

Tuesday 19th June, 2012

I’ve recently spent some time at the BBC Gardeners’ World Live in Birmingham assisting Chris Beardshaw planting his show garden Urban Oasis.

We set out and planted 450 plants in the pouring rain. There was mud everywhere and I loved it. At one point we were bailing the water out of planting holes with buckets. I discovered that wearing waterproof trousers doesn’t mean that you won’t get soaked through to your underwear, and that as long as it isn’t too cold, being wet through is NOT THAT BAD.

Curly Sue

Posted: May 3, 2012 · Comments: 0

Thursday 3rd May, 2012

Last month I took a trip over the Pennines for a sunny visit to a Client’s garden in Sheffield to see how the borders were looking. The great thing about garden design is seeing how things grow and develop as they make themselves at home and get on or fall out with their neighbours. The planting is now three years old and was looking fantastic for mid-April. Continue reading…

Just the beginning

Posted: April 24, 2012 · Comments: 0

Tuesday 24th April, 2012

I have postponed my show garden until next year. It’s been a crazy few weeks and I have learned a great deal. Mainly that I can design a show garden, find a contractor, visit a load of nurseries and suppliers, get some sponsorship in kind AND the involvement of the RSC in just ten days. Continue reading…

Planting heroes

Posted: April 24, 2012 · Comments: 0

Tuesday 24th April, 2012

Last week I saw my all time planting hero Piet Oudolf speaking in Leeds. He’s a Dutch garden designer and a leading figure in the ‘New Perennial’ planting movement. I’m a bit of a fan. I knew it was slightly embarrassing but I took one of his books with me and a black pen. If I can stalk Jarvis Cocker so successfully then Piet should be a doddle.