Thursday 17 September 2009

Sculpture

Have a look at these amazing modern sculptures - I particularly love this one.

Autumn Colour

I'm not keen on the end of summer. I love the hot weather and hate the thought that I'll have to wait ages until it starts to warm up again. The start of September always makes me feel like it's all downhill from now until next March, a relentless round of leaf collection and disposal, cutting down sludgy, dead plants and pressure washing slimy paving slabs. The gorgeous, blowsy colour of late spring and summer is so sublime that I always get a bit down in the dumps. But there's always something to look at in a well planned garden and the herbaceous planting in my front garden continues to please me. Here's a photo of Cimcifuga (Actea), Aster frikartii 'Monch', Sedum spectabile 'Brilliant', Helenium 'Wyndley', Echinops 'Veitch's Blue', and Echinacea purpurea blooming their heads off outside my front door.

Sunday 13 September 2009

Nate Frizzell

When I was training to be a garden designer I was advised to keep my 'visual vocabulary' honed by looking at the work of artists, architects and designers in other fields. It's great advice, but I don't always get the time to visit galleries, walk around looking at gorgeous building, and read magazines, let alone go out and find new, interesting artists. Fortunately for me my partner, Spencer, is very interested in contemporary art and design and has unearthed several really interesting artists - see my previous post about Tessar Lo.

Nate Frizzell is another amazing young artist that Spencer and I really love. Have a look at the creation of this amazing painting Nest, a print of which is hanging on our wall as I write - see image below.

Also, take a look at his transformation of a recycling bin into a piece of art.

Spencer and Linsey's copy of Nest

Henley Show

Yesterday I went to Henley Show, it's one of my favourite things to do all year. I'm not a big fan of large, county-type shows where you can't move for other people bustling you out of the way and pushy sellers harassing you for business - I do empathise, but really give a girl some space! However, I love Henley show, its small, but big enough to potter around for a few hours. The weather is always gorgeous - I've been going for years now and have never got wet (OK, once, but right at the very end as we were leaving). Yesterday was no exception, it was one of the nicest days of the recent, so called summer.

I always go and talk to the Llamas, of course, see my previous post about Llama trekking. They didn't disappoint - I had a good chat with Rupert and he was happy to be stroked and generally interfered with. I love seeing all the different types of livestock - the cattle are always amazing, so gentle and some of them so huge! We also talked to the goats, ducks and chickens, although I must complain about a shortage of pigs - I love pigs. The problem is it just makes me want to sell up, buy a smallholding somewhere remote and knit my own underwear (or whatever)!

I really miss having my own horses, so I spent plenty of time watching the various horse classes and being amazed at their willingness to comply with our bidding - 'You want me to jump over that massive coloured construction? OK, then!'.

I loved every minute. It made me forget about work, which has been manic all year and shows no sign of abating (not that I'm complaining, you understand), and just simply relax and enjoy myself doing nothing in particular. It's a very necessary thing to do if, like me, you're a bit of a worrier and find it impossible to switch off.

Here are some photos that I took on my way round:-

Rupert Llama



Who'd have thought there were so many different types of chicken??



Judging the poultry



Friendly cows



Vintage cars



Pygmy goat



Gorgeous Suffolk Punch



Produce tent - yummy!

Thursday 10 September 2009

Garden Opening Party

I was invited by my clients Patrick and Linda to the official opening of their garden in Crowthorne - it's actually not quite finished yet, but any excuse to down a few bottles of excellent red wine and some delicious food. So, thanks Linda and Pat for the invite. I've loved working on this garden which I designed quite some time ago. It's been a long time in the development stage, but is finally complete apart from a bit more planting.

I'll be putting up the before and after shots on my Web site very soon. In the meantime, here are some photos from the party.

Formal Area



Deck with arbour, firepit and architectural planting



Stream



Herbaceous planting - it'll look much better next year......



Patio with guests



Path from deck to rear garden with view of stream



Linda & Pat - thanks you two!

Saturday 5 September 2009

Client's with a sense of humour - whatever next!

I've just secured a fab new client with an acre of garden to design in Winkfield Row - lovely! When I first meet a new client my main aim is to try and understand how they want to use their garden, what style they're looking for, how they want to garden to feel. I ask them loads of questions and one I always ask is what would you absolutely hate to see in your garden. This client gave me the best answer to the question I've ever received - 'my ex-wife'!

I think we're going to get on very well .......