It occurs to me that my New Vintage garden is really the interior designers’ form of shabby chic… in fact a couple of clients have tried to describe the style that they would like for their garden design in terms of “I don’t really know exactly what I want, but I do know that the style I like for my clothes and house decor is shabby chic”.  This is actually very helpful as it’s telling me a lot.  It generally means that they like the minimalist clean lines of contemporary style (probably incorporating a lot of taupes, lime washes, muted greens, dusty pinks, greys and numerous Farrer and Ball whites) but are frightened of losing favourite vintage bits and pieces that are much loved by the family – throws, cushions and rugs, that are possibly more vibrant in colour.  I think this reflects well in the garden too.  We have seen a lot of prairie grasses, clever muted planting and sometimes just white and green gardens, all of which we love, but perhaps secretly we still want to retain our old favourites that have a bit of colour.  We can have the very clean lines of contemporary minimalist planting but we can also include some, what I call, vintage favourites to enhance the plain and simple delicate shades.  I’ll be posting more of these stunning gaudy beauties….