What you can always guarantee when you live high up on a hill is a breeze.  A couple of weeks ago when the sun was blazing hot we certainly welcomed it, but on other days it can make things a little chilly.

I’m undecided yet how best to deal with creating an area of shelter because the garden isn’t only about the view, it’s more a case of the garden being “in” the view and I don’t want to compromise that feeling.

What is sure, when you have a windy site, is that timber garden fences just won’t cut the mustard – they won’t last five minutes.  This, for me, is one of the joys of living so rurally now, no more timber fences that seem to always annoy the neighbours, and quite often don’t last more than a few years.

In Leatherhead, we changed our fence twice in 10 years – it can be an expensive affair!

The best way to deal with windy sites is to create a shelter belt using plants and trees as they diffuse the wind, but still allow it to pass through. If you get it right, you can reduce wind speeds by up to 75%.

Where you have the space, this should be a combination of trees and shrubs and/or a hedge so that the wind is slowed through each of the layers.

You need to choose plants that hold up to the wind as tender and more delicate plants won’t like the conditions.  Going for coastal plants can be a safe bet as they’re used to salt too.  Escallonia is great, as is Hawthorne, but take care to choose something that fits with its surroundings.

In our garden, native hedging would feel more appropriate and it might be that a small section near a seating area will be enough to diffuse some of the breeze when we’re sitting out.  I certainly need to give it some more thought – even a strategically placed shrub could be enough for what we want to do.

We walked over to Veddw House Garden yesterday afternoon which is just a couple of miles from us.  The forecast had been horrible, but it was a glorious day…a bit too bright and sunny really for great photos, but I hope I’ve managed to capture the spirit of the garden. Read more

Last Friday marked 8 years since I launched my garden design business.  In some ways it feels as though I’ve always been designing gardens, but I also can’t believe how quickly that time has passed. Read more

Using curves in small spaces can be a challenge as often there just isn’t the space to allow the curve to be what it is. Read more

I’ve recently been working with a family back in Surrey – I first saw them last summer but they weren’t quite ready and so it wasn’t until a few months ago that their plans to transform the garden got under way. Read more

Over the last month or so we’ve watched out new garden come to life.  Not because it’s full of plants, but because it’s so wild and hasn’t really been “gardened” for years. Read more

When I designed the garden at RHS Flower Show Cardiff I really thought the crowd would be divided about the planting because of the warm and vibrant colours.  But I couldn’t have been more wrong, everyone seemed to love it! Read more

Although I’m now living a fair distance from London, I’ve been working over the past few months with a client in Chiswick.  After an initial visit to site when I was up in London earlier this year, we have been liaising remotely and it’s working really well. Read more

I’ve recently been introduced to La Hacienda who specialise in stylish and affordable garden accessories. Not all of us have pots of money to spend on our gardens but that doesn’t mean we have to compromise of style. Read more

This morning I wanted to share some images of my favourite Artisan Garden.  Sometimes these small gardens can be more inspiring than the main show gardens. Read more