Urban Garden

I work mainly in London. As a plant lover it is a sad truth that most clients are looking to smarten up their gardens and haven't got the time to be too experimental with plants and soft landscaping.


I get it! Limited space, limited time and limited money. Having said that there are little tricks and certain plants that I often try to force on the less committed gardeners amongst my clients.


To be fair this was a garden for the wealthy london bachelor who wanted to entertain the "ladies" with smart seating, slick lines and room for an enormous BBQ. Seasonal change and attraction to wildlife weren't too high on the agenda.


The garden was a classic modern city walled garden. Heavy hard landscaping had killed it of all warmth.


Using soft colours and natural materials I endeavored to give it a bit life and comfort.


Here are some before and afters.

Whenever using wood in a garden always use a hardwood if possible. They are more expensive but they don't need any staining and gradually get more and more attractive as time goes on.

Softwood will never look better than the day you install it, as long as you've managed to stain it evenly in the first place!!

Ipe and Balau are the best and should be considered when thinking about significant objects such as benches, handrails, tables etc. Anything you touch basically......

"Morantee" is a wonderful hardwood that is slightly more affordable that the glamorous Ipes etc.

It's very lightweight and easy to use and has a gorgeous grain.

NEVER!!! get rid of your off cuts. You've just forked out on expensive hard wood, you mustn't throw it away.

Above: I have built a handy little shelf for a small garden. It can be pinned to the wall with a few little pots either sitting on it or hanging from the slats.

Below: This garden had a very dark and depressing storage area which we managed to rescue with some off cuts. It's now something to be proud of!

You can design the layout of a garden any way you like but it is the materials you use that will give the garden it's effect.

When I walked into this garden originally it felt cold and uninviting. By using natural products like timber and a rough edged limestone for the pavers, the garden became softer and warmer and far more inviting.

It is tempting in a modern garden to use slick diamond cut lines that fit perfectly like a rubiks cube but often this can kill the garden.

Although extremely heavy, and I can guarantee you will lose a finger nail or two laying it, very large rough natural stone can look just as modern without looking like a cheap hotel bathroom.

When limited by space it is very tempting to resort to digging down for beds and avoiding building up. In many ways this would seem to make sense except that by building something you create and object that can be used as opposed to eradicating an area and replacing it with something that can't be used.

For example by building raised block flower beds for your roses, you also create a bench that people can sit on and rest their drinks on.

If you dig down and plant your roses. You create a rose bed that people will have to walk around or, inevitably, walk on!

Giardino

Immediately recognisable, Rome is one the most beautiful cities I've ever been to.

                                                              
Every corner you turn in Rome you see an example of an historical city slowly falling into greater ruin whilst the new city develops around it.

As a result of this the less ancient and modern buildings have had to grow around decaying columns and sculptures that are slowly being swallowed up by the surroundings.

This leads to some of the most wonderful integrations of old and new, man made and the natural, and hard and soft landscapes.

The Italian Influence.

The ancient romantic Italian courtyard garden has been mimicked throughout the world in vast country estates and small city gardens. Pick any garden reclamation centre and you will see copies of columns and sculptures that have originated from the Italians. Even the seemingly English kitchen garden has it's roots in the Italians monastaries.

There are very few styles or methods used in contemporary gardens today that don't have a form of influence from many years ago and Rome was a hot bed for such inspiration.

Whilst wondering around Rome I couldn't help but remember some of the Garden History I was taught as a student. Throughout the 19th century Landscapes were being painted as "sublime" landscapes. 

The "sublime" was a form of terrifying beauty. Landscapes where an old fort would teeter on the edge of a vast cliff, or where communities would live in the shelter of enormous terrifying mountains. Rome gives you the sublime in spades.

Everywhere you look there is a monster of a building perched on top of a crumbling ancient wall. Or trees growing out of temples precariously hanging over passers by.

Rome has many fine examples of both traditional beauty and sublime beauty. 

Unfortunately being such a wonderful place, it does attract the odd idiot!!

Last days of summer

There's a chill in the air this week and I'm starting to dread the thought of a long winter of cold hands, thermals and dark days.

This was a quick job for a friend who wanted a low maintenance, simple solution to what was an asphalt roof terrace. Decking isn't everyone's first choice but its light, flexible nature makes it an easy, low cost material to use. Creepers will wind their way around this trellis to create a textured green wall and bring flowers and colour.