Posts Tagged ‘Garden Design Surrey’

The RHS Hampton Court Flower Show opens next week.  For once the run up has been dry, but I have no doubt that the heat won’t be so welcome over the weekend because it will be a challenge to keep the plants looking fresh for Monday when the judges will be making their rounds.

This year I know three people designing show gardens and I’m looking forward to catching up with them when I’m there on Monday.  In addition, one of my landscapers, Scott Hadley of SH Landscapes, has also been constructing the show stand for Alitex who make bespoke Victorian greenhouses and conservatories.

To make it easier for visitors to navigate their way around the show, the RHS have created three new zones…

Inspire Zone

Includes 8 conceptual gardens, 4 low cost high impact gardens, the show and summer gardens, hands on area to guide people with their garden design technique and a London College of Garden Design garden clinic where visitors can ask questions about their garden.

Grow Zone

Includes the Floral Marquee, Plant Village, Plant Heritage Marquee and trade stands

Escape Zone

The shoppers zone… including The Country Living Pavillion, Rose Marquee, Grow Your Own Marquee and lifestyle products.

Hampton Court Flower Show is set, of course, in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace.  It has a very different feel to the Chelsea Flower Show but it’s just as inspiring and I’m looking forward to seeing the show gardens and other exhibits.  What’s great about Hampton Court is that there’s so much space – there’s room to picnic and sit down under the shade of a tree which makes for a much more relaxing day out.

If you’re going to the show I hope you enjoy it – I’ll be blogging my thoughts next week so do pop back to have a look and I’d love to hear your thoughts too.  I thought I’d leave you with a few more pictures from previous shows to whet your appetite…

(Images: Lisa Cox)

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show opens next week and I can’t wait to visit on Monday.  If you read my blog regularly then you’ll know this is my favourite show of the year – for those involved in the creation of the show gardens and floral exhibits, they’ll be feeling truly exhausted by now but I hope they’re also feeling positive and energised. Read more

As some of you may know, my parents have a nursery in Somerset.  They specialise in growing hardy perennials but they also sell shrubs, trees and some seasonal bedding such as primulas and violas. Read more

If you read my blog regularly then you’ll know that the construction phase has commenced at one of my projects in Leatherhead.  Sods law it rained the minute the garden was stripped out and this means that the conditions on site are now a bit challenging. Read more

The construction phase started at my Leatherhead project on Tuesday.  I’m really excited about this project because it’s quite a sloped site and the new design will make it much more usable.  The clearance work has almost been completed and the machinery arrived yesterday so work will start today setting the new levels. Read more

Pathways are a crucial element to a well designed garden.  They take you on a journey from one area to the next so they need to be practical but also provide some interest along the way.  It’s therefore important to plan them carefully to ensure that they are fit for purpose. Read more

I have recently been working with a new client near Muswell Hill to help them to redesign their front garden.  At the moment it’s quite scruffy and there’s not really enough room to park the car comfortably. Read more

It’s no wonder that the English are famous for talking about the weather.  Last week I was out planting on Tuesday and Wednesday in short sleeves, Thursday was wet and I was working in waterproofs, covered from head to foot in mud, and then yesterday we had blizzards and bitterly cold temperatures! Read more

When I tell people that I design gardens for a living, their response is usually something along the lines of “must be lovely when the sun’s shining” or, more recently, “wouldn’t like to be working outside in this weather”. Read more

Over the past year I have worked with a lot of clients who have been tackling house building projects.  Most often I am called in after the work has finished when, inevitably, the garden has been rather trashed. Read more