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Showing posts from July, 2012

Our New Build Garden in Hawkinge Nr. Folkestone - 1 year on

I spent last Friday morning with my client in Folkestone, we worked together: weeding, trimming, dead heading, feeding and I took some photos once we finished. Our clients have totally embraced their garden that we designed and planted last year and they tend to it regularly to ensure it looks great, we had a great time working through and sat back and enjoyed the views at the end! It's so important to regularly maintain your garden to gain maximum benefit and as you can see, a year on, this garden is maturing nicely. The herbaceous mix of Helennium's, Coropsis, Anemone, Diascia, Persicaria, Erigeron and Micanthus grass look stunning! A new variety of Hydrangea 'Pink Annabelle' and some rich coloured Sambucus nigra 'Black Beauty'. The only poor display was the Malus, totally wiped out by the wind and cold rain, blowing off all the flowers in the spring and so this year has no fruits, what a shame.. but the Nandina hedge looks great. The view from the main

great planting combinations

We are now looking after our Tunbridge Wells Garden that we designed and planted last year. Harriet is visiting weekly to keep it looking great. The Hydrangea Annabelle and Penstemon's with Rosa 'American Pillar' scrambling up the posts look amazing. and one of my favourite little Geranium's -  'Patricia' is doing its job well.

our painterly pretty meadow in Langton Green

We re-visited a garden designed by us  greencube today. Built last year and planted by us in the Spring of 2011. We have now been asked back to design the front garden. We took an opportunity to have a look at the plants to see how well they have established. We love the meadow and orchard, what a great success, a real dreamy space, buzzing with insect and butterfly activity. Trying to capture the wonder of a meadow is difficult, here I have photographed the mown path with orchard and meadow on one side and perennial and ornamental grass bank on the other, the white fizz in the backround is Leucanthemum 'Angel' and yellow flower in the foreground is Anthemis 'Sauce Hollandaise' which has now past its best but I think still looks great! Here a mixed perennial border with Stipa tenuissima and Miscanthus sinensis 'Adiago'  The Leucanthemum 'Angel' up close.

Does every family garden have a trampoline?

When I travel into London on the train, I often count how many trampolines I see in the gardens that the railway line travels by, just to pass the time. It always surprises me !!! We carry out designs for lots of family gardens and are often asked to include the obligatory TRAMPOLINE. For low cost options we position them within borders, sometimes behind hedges, which I like as you can see the children jumping up and down but don't see the ugly trampoline, sometimes with secret paths which children love. Another alternative is to sink the trampoline and here we have installed a trampoline designed in amongst rubber bark mulch and interplanted with Fatsia japonica and Ferns.

greencube's studio

We've outgrown our current office and needed more space, to get more organised, feel inspired and enjoy lots of natural light within a garden setting to encourage creativity. We are a week away from moving in and we can't wait..... ON THE OUTSIDE I have converted what was a very ' poorly'  double garage with single skin brick work, rotten window, a brick pier that was nearly falling down and old asbestos sheet roof and given it a total makeover. I designed the materials, windows and layout and we had a great carpenter and general builders courtesy of Bashford and Ball Builders Ltd and a zinc roofing company - Bell Zinc Ltd who bent the zinc panels into an amazing piece of sculptural roofing, a very skilled job and it looks great with the windows. and of course my husband who painted the internal plasterwork and laid the wooden floor. thank you x Our new studio is almost ready, clad in western red cedar with cedar details around grey windows and doors, 3 frame

Greencube is in another magazine and soon to be featured in a design book to be published this year

We were asked for photos of a small courtyard garden by Groei and Bloei, a dutch garden magazine. They have written a feature on outdoor built in seating and liked our garden in Twickenham that we designed for landscapers Outdoor Creations SW London last year which I photographed last summer. We have also been contacted by a publishers based in Hong Kong who would like to feature our Ide Hill Garden in a design book to be published this year. Great to know that people across the world are looking in.... and enjoying our creativity

Are you making the most of your courtyard garden?

We have recently been working on two small gardens, one in Wrotham Village, Kent and one in Crouch End, North London. Both clients asked for contemporary designs and materials, Asian/tropical planting creating a little oasis. We love doing these projects and the transformations are amazing. Here are our sketchup models of the proposed gardens, we are looking forward to seeing these built.

Garden construction in Tunbridge Wells, planting will now wait until Autumn

We are looking forward to planting a garden we designed in Tunbridge Wells, the construction now complete, built by Creative Landscapes, we chose a pale frost resistant brick to tie in with the creamy render of the property, lots of raised beds and two built in seating areas as well as a water blade focal point which bubbles into limestone chippings. A limestone Paving that also compliments the house facade. It looks incredibly sterile at this point but when the lorry load of plants arrive in the autumn it will be transformed. Whilst landscapers were clearing garden ready for construction they unveiled a well that has been there for hundreds of years, covered only by a thin piece of yorkstone and soil (scary), our clients were as surprised as us! We visited site to take a look, made adjustments to the lawn size and got the bricklayers to build a couple of courses around the well to bring it into and use as a feature, its now downlit and looks great at night. Our steel fabricators h

too busy to enjoy summer flowers?

We have been so busy with work in the month of June it's been hard to relax and enjoy our summer flowering border, although its not been particularly kind weather to sit outside. Lets hope for a better July and August. Harriet has joined the team having just graduated from Greenwich University with a B.A (hons) degree in Garden Design. A big welcome to a much needed additional resource! Greencube's garden is also moving on with second phase almost complete, retaining wall was built back in the winter months, levels sorted and kitchen garden ready to use and new turf down only last week.  I've added Cosmos 'Purity' to fill any gaps in the border, an annual with a lovely fern like foliage. We are leaving the purple and white phase in the border and entering the hotter colours, lets hope the weather hots up too. See the first Helenium in flower. Our sandy free draining soil suits Anthemis E.C Buxton and Euphorbia wulfennii