We wrote last week about the book Gardens of Inspiration. In it, Nigel Colborn wrote an essay about gardens that have influenced him. W want to quote him further today – as we are currently designing a woodland garden and… well, he wrote beautifully about it here… “Species that enjoy similar ecologies will almost always look good together… a natural piece of North American woodland, for example, would boast trilliums and smilacina; in Europe, solomons seal and hellebores might occupy the same niche; and in Asia these might be replaced by meconopsis and epimediums. But in a garden, it is …

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If you google ‘Garden Design App’ a few options turn up. One for the I-Pad offers to help you create your perfect garden, and tells us it is easy to use. It offers choices of trees, plants, pavings, lawns… oh gosh, everything… but never once mentions logistical issues like soil amplitude, seasonal dynamics, companion plants or the effect of wind and rain on plant growth. That doesn’t mean it isn’t good, but what a ‘Garden Design App’ cannot do is the human work needed to create a garden. By human work, we mean creating atmosphere. Inspiring the owner. Giving confidence to people …

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You decide you need to sort out the garden, so call in a designer. You tell them what you want, what you like and they (if they’re good) help you discover possibilities you never knew existed. You get excited (if not, get another designer!) and you proceed with transforming your outdoors into something amazing. You stand on your new terrace, next to your new pond, looking out over your immaculate new lawn, feel the soft feathery leaf of the newly planted Mexican Feather Grass and sniff deeply the perfume of the roses from your new rose garden. Apples, plums and …

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