‘Building a Dream’ – The Planting
Ugly duckling no more! Despite having been planted just a few months and in some areas a few days, you can really get a sense of what the planting will look like over the next few years. We have a wonderful gardener, Fiona, to nurture the garden with the help of the lovely Steve and Amy over the […]
Building A Dream – III
We’re now onto the back area of the garden and paving in all other areas so the end is in sight. It’s REALLY coming together and excitement is palpable. The build team at Breathe now have several teams working on different parts of the garden and big changes are happening now on a daily basis. […]
Building A Dream
There’s a project I’ve been working on since November. It has taken several weeks to design and then many more to plan (and the planning is still going on). Among my friends and colleagues, its become known as ‘the big one’. I thought my blog would be a good place for any interested parties (if there […]
Water, water everywhere
So the build has begun. And what a wet start! It seems water is following me around on this project. It also means that unfortunately Leigh Lovely Legs hasn’t been able to show off his best feature yet much to my Mum’s disappointment. It’s very different this year. The build is three weeks long and […]
‘Catastrophising’ is a good thing…I hope!
So what ‘glitzy projects’, a good friend of mine asked me last night, have I got on this year? Well, having caught the ‘show bug’ last year, I’m returning to Hampton Court. This time I’m embarking on an even bigger challenge – a show garden. In a way, you would think it would be easier. […]
Ode to Leigh ‘Lovely Legs’ and the rest of my build team
Finally I have a moment to sit down and write something about what has being going on in the first 4 days of the build. It is SO MUCH FUN! I wish I could do this all the time. Have to say the show manager Mandy and her whole team have been so supportive to […]
Filming with BEEB – a good way to spend the day
I spent the day at my parents house being filmed for the forthcoming BBC programme on Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. There was something quite lovely about being back in the home I grew up in. At the same time the setting was slightly ironic in that my parent’s garden couldn’t be more different from […]
Concept Garden Tastic at Chaumont International Garden Festival
Today Hugo and I went to Chaumont International Garden Show in France, near Tours. The garden show is entirely dedicated to concept gardens plus there are interesting art installations in the main Park. What an incredible setting for a Garden Show. It’s on permanently from April through to October which means that the designers have […]
It’s a family and friend freecycle affair
On the structure in the centre of the garden will hang garden tools to symbolise that every good idea and to ‘think big’, needs the right tools to make it a reality. I wanted them to be painted in silver to create a sculptural effect. Acquiring the tools has been far from easy due to […]
Plant fear sets in
I went down to visit Ann-Marie Powell’s garden build at Chelsea a couple of times last month. It was incredible to see all the show gardens being built side-by-side. When it came to planting time, I watched teams of volunteers planting thousands of plants with more than the upmost of care and attention to detail […]