July has been another busy month for me – I think the week of summer we had (at last!) has put everyone in a spin about their gardens.  The persistent rain in the UK this year has meant that whilst our gardens are growing like mad, the best we can do is look and wonder how we’ll ever get the chance to get out there and keep everything in check.

RHS Hampton Court Flower show kicked off July with a bang and I was very privileged to be able to go on Press Day with my friend Rona Wheeldon – a little bit rainy, but crowd free and great for taking pictures of the show gardens of course.

Probably the highlight of the month for me was winning a gorgeous Italian Terrace vase in the raffle at The Making of a Perfect Garden event in Eton Square Gardens, London.  Italian Terrace were exhibiting their amazing pots and urns alongside the brilliant David Harber and Gaze Burvill.  It’s always great to see garden art and furniture in a garden setting but winning the raffle made my trip just that little bit more worthwhile!

This month, with the Society of Garden Designer’s cluster group, I visited Orchard Dene Nursery in Henley.  An amazing wholesale nursery that specialises in herbaceous perennials.  I shared my pictures of our trip earlier this month because I think it’s great to show you the process plants go through before they end up at your local garden centre.

This month I was invited to talk at two local networking groups and it was especially great to speak to a group in Putney as I will soon be running a new workshop at The Decor Cafe with Debbie Blott.

In July I met with 3 new clients and I have received the go ahead for them all which is very exciting…a back garden in Wimbledon, East Horsley and Leatherhead.  I met with two landscapers at my project in Oxshott who are now quoting for the build phase and I also worked on a concept design for project in Twickenham and produced the final drawings and planting design for my clients in Wandsworth.

My July blog posts for Heart Home Magazine were…

Award winning EcoSmart fires for the garden

The Making of a Perfect Garden exhibition in London

Design inspiration from RHS Hampton Court Flower Show

Beautiful copper swing seats by Myburgh Designs

This month’s Garden Flowers post,which I write with Rona Wheeldon of Flowerona, features Heleniums.  The flower’s common name is Sneezeweed which is derived from the false belief that they cause hay fever. Read more

On Friday I featured garden sculptor, Beatrice Hoffman, whose work had been introduced to me by Emma Riley and Alison Ramsay of the The Art Agency in Esher. Read more

I was introduced to Beatrice Hoffman by Emma Riley and Alison Ramsay of The Art Agency in Esher as they often display her smaller pieces in the gallery. Read more

 Part 2 – The Garden

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Part 1 – The House

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I thought you might like to see the concept design and sketches I have put together for a client in Twickenham.  I have known Rob for a long time because we used to work together in the City. Read more

You may or may not be aware that I coordinate my local “Cluster Group” for the Society of Garden Designers (SGD).  It’s a peer network group for members of the SGD and each month we either invite a speaker, choose a topic to discuss or make a visit somewhere. Read more

If you’re a regular reader of my blog then you’ll know that I wrote a monthly blog series last year about the garden at Loseley Park.  I haven’t been there since September so it was great to be able to go there with my Mum a week or so ago, who has never been before. Read more

The Low Cost, High Impact gardens category was put together in association with The Association of Professional Landscapers (APL).  The idea of the garden category was to demonstrate that high quality design can be achieved with a fixed budget. Read more