Why do I work like this?

Organic

Tread lightly - we are here for such a short space of time and yet can do so much good with that time. Every tree planted or delicious courgette grown at home will and does make a difference.

Where at all possible I work within the guiding principles of organic gardening:

• Protect and nurture soil health

• Encourage biodiversity

• Use resources responsibly

• Avoid the use of harmful chemicals

• Maintain a healthy and balanced growing area

This means that sometimes I might suggest a course of creation in the garden that might take longer to achieve an end goal rather than going for an apparently ‘quicker’ option. For example, over-sowing existing turf with yellow rattle (a remarkable parasitic plant species that weakens grass growth) to create a more diverse sward structure and allow natural recolonization with local flowering species, rather than stripping all the existing vegetation and removing the existing topsoil (and all its incredibly important micro-fauna) to get to the nutrient-poor subsoils before sowing with a seed mix.

Local

Maintain & enhance local richness of character. It's time to promote local distinctiveness and celebrate craftsmanship. Britain's amazing diverse geology and unique geographic location give rise to a wealth of combinations that have been made visible through years of craftsmen and women working with the resources to hand, in very small areas. This local connection shows respect to the land and community, and needs support in these times of global generalisation.

​

This means that on projects I will always try to source local stone, reclaimed materials or locally grown plants. Synthetic turf that will outlive you and I for hundreds of thousands of years really has no place in our archaeological record or present life. 

A wall built by local craftspeople will pick up small variations that result from the use of local stone that has very specific characteristics. These tiny variations are what make your garden settle into the immediate surrounding landscape and give a feeling of permanence and heritage connection.

For the future

Create gardens & landscapes with the resilience to be here, not just now, but well into the future. We live at a time when we reap the benefit of the farsightedness of  Victorian & Edwardian landowners and civic bodies who planted trees or built structures with the express purpose of leaving them for the future generations - us. Our times are more climatically challenging and so our gardens need to plan for that. With planning, this can open up opportunities not just present problems.

This might manifest itself in the use of mixed tree species avenue planting, that acknowledges the fact that plant pathogens can quickly spread through a population of a single species and have devastating consequences where insufficient diversity does not allow for population resilience. 

Planning for long duration weather events such as prolonged rain (winter 2019/2020) or drought (spring 2020) can inform a design through the incorporation of stormwater holding systems or mowing regimes that allow grass to stay longer, thus dealing with drought more effectively. 

Choosing to use UK-grown hardwood timber in a split rail fence means that not only do you get a most beautiful fence that weathers to a silky silvery grey, but you are not using any damaging chemical preservatives and you are supporting local foresters, craftspeople, and the very woodlands themselves. 

One positive decision can have numerous and surprising benefits well into the future!