Magnificent York stone steps in Wandsworth or how to improve your front drive
Sunday, 08 March 2015
by caroline
I know it is difficult to get excited by steps but once you see really beautiful ones (or were you to own them yourself) you begin to appreciate the difference they make to a property. To get them right you have to have a very skilled builder (who is cutting very thick, difficult and expensive
- Published in Del the Townscapes builder, Gardens Designed
Lighting up the forest in February
Tuesday, 03 February 2015
by caroline
It was a pretty bleak day on Sunday, the first of February, overcast and rather cold and drizzly. But if you have Jack Russell dogs there is no alternative but to go out and give them a good walk… and my mother always says “never look at rain, get into it” – you feel much
- Published in Caroline's favourite flowers
Cobbles in a Clapham garden – how to grout the cobbles!! Who’d be a builder?!
Tuesday, 20 January 2015
by caroline
How to grout the cobbles! This is a totally back breaking job even for the most energetic, strong, resilient builder. Bending over, scraping down in minute detail, brushing out old detritus, adding in new, then forcing into spaces with small tool and then brushing over – then repeating the excercise! I have to take my
- Published in Del the Townscapes builder, Gardens in Progress
An old (cut) rose in a Wandsworth garden
Wednesday, 07 January 2015
by caroline
- Published in Caroline's favourite flowers
Cobbles in a residential Clapham garden – fabulous effect!
Wednesday, 07 January 2015
by caroline
There is absolutely no point in trying to explain in exact detail how to lay cobbles in general as you can find this information on the exceptional site offered by the Paving Expert – see the link below. At the end of the page I have given rough dimensions for our specific build, but really
- Published in Gardens Designed
Wreaths and garlands for Christmas
Wednesday, 19 November 2014
by caroline
Once again I am making beautiful wreaths and garlands for Christmas. Here are some examples of the wreaths that I make. For a medium sized wreath I charge £42. They are entirely traditional and are covered in gourds, berries, cinnamon sticks, cones etc. For the garlands I will charge £48 per metre and most mantelpieces
- Published in Uncategorized
Choose a good landscape contractor
Sunday, 02 November 2014
by caroline
I am a garden designer and more to the point I am a very lucky garden designer as I am married to a very good landscape contractor, Peter Garland of Townscapes Landscape contractors https://www.carolinegarland.com/ Why is this particularly lucky? 10 good reasons: It doesn’t matter how clever and detailed your garden design is, if you
- Published in Gardens in Progress
Garden design: Steps in Balham, Belgravia, Wandsworth, Battersea and Fulham
Thursday, 09 October 2014
by caroline
“Garden design” tends to conjure up a picture of grand designs and fanciful creativity but very often the London or urban garden designer finds themself dealing with the technical minutiae of building steps and retaining walls with obviously a good deal of paving and brickwork thrown in for good measure. Here I deal with steps.
- Published in Gardens Designed
How wrong can a London garden designer be? My Balham client knew best!
Wednesday, 08 October 2014
by caroline
Cladding How wrong can a designer be?! My Balham client knew best! The original retaining wall in this sloping garden was nearer to the house (the owners having built out into the garden for a big kitchen extension) and so to create a patio area we had to push back the garden quite considerably behind
- Published in Gardens Designed, Gardens in Progress
Oudolf Field – Hauser & Wirth Somerset – a good day out!
Tuesday, 30 September 2014
by caroline
I had a lovely day in Bruton with a girlfriend. We started at the Chapel for lunch http://www.atthechapel.co.uk/ and then moved on to Hauser & Wirth http://www.hauserwirthsomerset.com/exhibitions up the hill which is at Durslade Farm. Durslade Farm was a collection of grade 11 listed farm buildings that had fallen into disrepair. Working closely with Paris
- Published in Gardens Visited
Tom Stuart-Smith’s garden: Barn Hill in Hertfordshire
Sunday, 21 September 2014
by caroline
Last week I visited Tom Stuart-Smith’s garden in Hertfordshire. I caught it just in time as the prairie garden was coming to an end BUT there were still a lot of wonderful specimens and also some Rudbeckia seedheads which were magnificent in their own right. This day was organised by the Garden Museum at Lambeth
- Published in Gardens Visited
I’m in love with my oak leafed hydrangea – Hydrangea quercifolia
Thursday, 04 September 2014
by caroline
The oak leafed hydrangea has to be one of the most beautiful of the hydrangeas and also one of the most beautiful shrubs. In my garden in Wandsworth my hydrangea has sat in a reasonably difficult corner of my garden and has quietly climbed up to quite a height (well over 6 foot) and has
- Published in Caroline's favourite flowers