I’ve been working with a family in Monmouthshire for around a year now so I thought it would be nice to share a few pictures of the first phase which we planted in the Spring and is now really coming to life.

The Barn Garden sits away from the main house but we wanted to create a a space that could be enjoyed with family and friends in a less formal settting.

When I first arrived at site, the garden looked like this…

As you can see, it was pretty much a blank canvass. The levels were quite challenging as the drop from the barn doors was quite significant and there was also quite a steep slope away from the building in two directions.

The other challenge was that the two sections of the building don’t meet at right angles so the paving layout had to be thought through carefully to make sure it felt coherent and looked balanced.

We planted the garden in the Spring, fortunately just before the challenges that presented with the shortage of plants and it’s quite amazing how well everything has come on in such a short space of time.

I wanted the planting to have a naturalistic feel as it’s situated in a rural location. The seating areas obviously need to look good all year round so there are some evergreen grasses and structural plants but the summer palette of perennials brings a softness and links everything to the surrounding landscape.

The next phase of the project is now underway for the main house and it’s looking great already. There’s a lot to construct with a new swimming pool, formal garden and water rill which will act as a land drain in wet weather and provide interest in dryer summer months. Here’s a snippet of what’s to come…

Jamie Morgan is the local landscaper on this project and he’s been brilliant. Looking forward to working with him for the next stages and on future projects too.

I haven’t been to Chelsea for a couple of years so I was really looking forward to this year.  There’s always something there to provide inspiration and, as we’re finally about to embark on creating our garden (at last!), I was on the lookout for ideas that would get the creative juices flowing. Read more

It’s been a while since I’ve ventured out with my camera, and indeed had the time to write a blog post, but yesterday we decided to venture over to Purton Hulks in Gloucestershire to visit the Ships’ graveyard. Read more

Two months ago we were in Spain and I really don’t know how we’ve got to the end of November quite so quickly.  I’ve been rather remiss at writing anything here but, despite the delay, I still wanted to share some of the photos I took whilst we were away. Read more

Last year I worked with a couple near Llanishen in Monmouthshire to redevelop the garden areas around their beautiful barn conversion.  What sparked their initial call to me was that they’d ordered a hot tub and then didn’t really know where it should be located. Read more

I’m working on the detail for a project near Cardiff at the moment and we’re looking at different wall cladding which will enhance the garden and help to zone each area. Read more

I was supposed to be planting last week at one of my local projects but the ground is so hard and dry, and the weather so hot, that we have postponed it until we’ve had some rain.  Amazingly we haven’t had a drop here for over 3 weeks.  Even the promised thunder storm seemed to miss us last weekend. Read more

I’ve recently been working with a couple near Monmouth who want to make better sense of their front garden.  As with many sites around this area, the garden slopes steeply so I’ve tried to make better sense of the levels to facilitate a much more elegant route to the house and to make it more inviting. Read more

If there’s one thing that gets me going it’s when I arrive at site to carry out the planting and I have to pick up a fork because the beds aren’t prepared properly. Read more

I’ve recently been introduced to Iron Fire, a Wiltshire-based company who use an ancient Japanese technique for preserving wood called Shou Sugi-ban. Read more