A short visual feast of some of the images and colours in New York following the New York Marathon
Entries Tagged as 'Inspiration'
Gardening | Garden Design | great plants – Campanula sarastro
June 8th, 2011 No Comments
Campanula ‘Sarastro’ – one of many wonderful Campanulas but somehow this is the daddy of all the bells! Large dark purple-blue flowers with a slightly unreal waxy appearance that start to appear from May onwards.
Tags: enjoy · garden design · gardening · Inspiration · low maintenance · Plant · Soil pH · striking display
Gardening | Garden Design | Inspirational Gardens | North Court
April 29th, 2011 No Comments
My family are all keen gardeners which made the decision to earn a living from my gardening knowledge fairly straightforward. Setting up as a Garden Designer on the outskirts of Bath brings back memories of past generations who shared my love of the garden. Last weekend I was lucky enough to return to a garden that probably is the greatest influence on that passion.
The gardens are at North Court in Shorwell on the Isle of Wight.
I hope that I have captured some of the spirit of these wonderful gardens and that it helps explain my passion for gardens and gardening – I feel very lucky and am delighted that they are in such safe hands now. I am already planning a return in the Autumn!
Tags: enjoy · garden design · gardening · Inspiration · Paeonia mlokosewitschii · Plant · Sissinghurst · Soil pH · striking display · Vita Sackville-West
Garden Design | An evening with Dan Hinkley – rocking with laughter!
March 17th, 2011 No Comments
It is perhaps appropriate that tomorrow is Red Nose Day 2011. What better way to get you in the mood than to listen to an American, with a passion for gardening and an almost British sense of humour – his dry wit had clearly missed most of his American audiences but was most definitely not lost on his very english audience tonight.
Though organised by Derry Watkins of Special Plants fame (who was keen to point out that her gardens were now open on Tuesdays) – who is of course american herself, Dan Hinkley drew a large audience to the Bath University Gardening Club to illustrate a talk on two Pacific North West gardens. The climate there seemed pretty similar to Britain with some oddities bought about by its coastal location.
Tags: development · enjoy · garden design · gardening · Inspiration · Plant · weather
Gardening | Gardens | Visit to the Green Dock by the Thames Barrier
June 30th, 2010 6 Comments
The element of the Green Dock that I had particularly come to see however was the large rectangular formal garden with ribbons of topiarised Yew hedging trimmed in undulating waves running the entire length of the garden, crossed overhead with angled walkways.
Tags: development · garden design · gardening · imagination · Inspiration · sunshine · value
Gardening | Gardens | Tulips at Hidcote Manor with Head Gardener Glyn Jones
May 12th, 2010 3 Comments
Every year the gardeners at Hidcote plant around 14,000 Tulips and as soon as they finish flowering they dig them all (well nearly all) of them out to make way for the summer planting. Why do they dig them out?
Everywhere you turn you can see how this Arts and Crafts garden of ‘rooms’ has been influencing gardens and garden designers ever since.
Tags: enjoy · garden design · gardening · imagination · Inspiration · Plant · striking display
Garden Design | Garden Design Masterclass with Luciano Giubbilei
May 3rd, 2010 1 Comment
When you meet an iconic person from your chosen field it is difficult to know what to expect. When that designer has won a prestigious RHS Gold Medal at Chelsea flower show for the stunning Champagne Laurent-Perrier Garden you have a real sense of anticipation. Joy then when Luciano smiles in a totally relaxed greeting. Here [...]
Tags: aspirational · garden design · imagination · Inspiration · lifestyle · opportunity
Garden | Garden Design | Is your garden costing you more than you think?
March 31st, 2010 1 Comment
In an article today appearing in Horticulture Week, research by multimedia retailer QVC shows that an untidy garden can knock £5,000 off the value of your property. That’s a lot of hard earned money going down the drain!
Tags: aspirational · benefit · development · enjoy · garden design · gardening · imagination · Inspiration · lifestyle · low maintenance · money saving · opportunity
Gardening | Garden Design | Meeting fascinating garden people
March 27th, 2010 2 Comments
Gardening can be quite a lonely pastime. Hours spent pottering amongst the borders tending those delicate blooms and marvelling at nature as she goes about her business. Don’t get me wrong I am very comfortable with my own company but sometimes it’s good to share your experiences with others. Debate designs, discuss plants and share passion for gardens.
As owner of the Garden Network I make an effort whenever I can to get out and meet members. It’s fantastic to put faces to names. These are people that only exist in a sort of parallel universe normally – today I was going to meet them for real.
Tags: aspirational · business · enjoy · Garden Network · gardening · Inspiration · networking · opportunity · Success
Gardens | Spring visit to Corsham Court
March 21st, 2010 2 Comments
One such opportunity is Corsham Court, and today I made the commitment to visit. The first day of spring and the house and gardens were open as part of the NGS Scheme. The gardens should have been awash with daffodils and spring bulbs. The owner had been round in the morning and counted just two daffodils actually in bloom! Not quite what he had hoped for in throwing open the gates for this event!
What was interesting though, from a garden design perspective was to see the structure of the gardens when they were void of floral interest. It serves to highlight the importance of getting this right when we look at the layout and design of our own gardens.
Structure is so important and can be achieved using hedging, trees and ornamentation.
Tags: enjoy · focal point · garden design · Garden Network · Inspiration · opportunity · structure · sunshine