Thirty years of planning, planting and waiting have paid off, and while maintaining the now-mature topiary in this Suffolk garden is a relentless task, on a crisp morning John and Jenny Brett feel it’s worth the effort, by Barbara Segall. As featured in the December 2023 issue of The English Garden.
Pushing the Boundary – for the Garden Design Journal
Intrusive parking and blocked views stopped a Surrey garden from fulfilling its potential, but by moving and removing hedges and replacing an indifferent lawn with easy-to-maintain gravel and planting beds, Maïtanne Hunt MSGD has created a garden that is characterful and stylish as well as sustainable and biodiverse, writes Barbara Segall. As featured in the…
To the light house – Sue Townsend’s design for an East Anglian coastal home
Sue Townsend MSGD tells Barbara Segall how she has used soft waves of planing to brighten the outside space of an East Anglian coastal home. Published in Garden Design Journal, July 2023.
Big Sky Thinking – Marysa Norris’s Suffolk garden
After leaving London, Marysa Norris revelled in the space around Church Cottage in Suffolk. Her professed love of disorderly planting has resulted in a garden that encompasses formal borders and a relaxed perennial meadow. Barbara Segall explores, for The English Garden, May 2023.
Sarah Cook’s Search For Cedric Morris Irises – for the Garden Museum website
A full circle is a pleasing entity… and in nature usually absent. But in the stories about plants and people there is often a satisfying sense of coming full circle. And so it is with the story of Sarah Cook and her quest for the Benton End irises that artist/gardener Sir Cedric Morris bred and introduced……
Small But Perfectly Formed – for the Garden Design Journal
Barbara Segall speaks to seven garden designers, who share some of their design notes on how to achieve good outcomes for their small gardens. Published in Garden Design Journal in March 2023. As featured in the March 2023 issue of Garden Design Journal. Copyright Society of Garden Designers, sgd.org.uk
Planting for Winter Structure and Wildlife – for Garden Design Journal
Designers and plant experts offer their recommendations to Barbara Segall. Published in Garden Design Journal in December 2022. As featured in the December 2022 issue of Garden Design Journal. Copyright Society of Garden Designers, sgd.org.uk
Tom Hoblyn’s plant lab
Working scientifically to adapt new planting to the very precise conditions of his own garden at Mansard House in Suffolk, designer Tom Hoblyn has painstakingly built up an in-depth knowledge of what works where, which he applies to his clients’ briefs, Barbara Segall writes in The English Garden January 2023 issue.
Resilient Trees: Which trees should we plant to revitalise and protect our landscapes?
As the climate changes, attacks by pests and pathogens increase and the urbanisation of our green spaces continues relentlessly, which trees should we be planting now, to revitalise and help protect the landscapes in which we live? Barbara Segall writes in Garden Design Journal. As featured in the October 2022 issue of Garden Design Journal. Copyright…
After Party: Autumn at Norfolk’s East Ruston Old Vicarage
Every year, Alan Gray and his husband Graham Robeson coax from their garden a colourfully ebullient last hurrah. As featured in the October 2022 issue of The English Garden.