21st Century Garden Design?
We are – ‘in studio hortus voluptatis’ – in pursuit of garden pleasure. Our approach in this pursuit, is 21st century. So what makes a design 21st century? It has been said that the living today are exposed to more information in one day than an average person in the 17th century is exposed to in […]
‘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 – It’s Finished!
We have pretty much finished the garden build at the Old Rectory. Thank you to the lovely Jacqui Hurst for wonderfully capturing the garden as it is now, just a few weeks after planting. I have added some before and after shots at the end of this blog but here’s what it looks like now after 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. […]
How To Create Kerb Appeal
We spend much time and money improving our homes but the front garden is often last on the list or gets neglected completely. However, creating kerb appeal, by giving your front garden a makeover, will have both emotional and financial benefits. Not only is it an important view from the house (often the living area […]
Building A Dream – II
Much has happened in the last few months on the Northants project, so I thought I would capture the main points in a simple, ‘Ups and Downs So Far’ blog. Here’s a flavour of what’s been happening a third of the way in. DOWNS Mud, mud, not so glorious mud… And managing water and drainage on a clay site […]
An Unusual Collaboration
I had the pleasure of working with Charlotte Spencer, a contemporary dance choreographer about 18 months ago on a workshop. We did a few exercises to focus in on how we can influence how people walk through a space. Simple yet it had a profound effect on my design work ever since. Then we […]
Oudolf Field – Hauser & Wirth
I have been intrigued about the development of Hauser & Wirth Somerset, since I first heard about it on the grapevine a couple of years ago. So it was with some excitement that I battled the traffic at Stone Henge yesterday morning, to make my first visit. After a delicious lunch of meaty modern country fare in the buzzing […]
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 […]