Marc's Gardens

Okay, so our domestic gardens are still in the grip of Arts & Crafts, Edwardian borders. Whatever effect the naturalistic movement has had over the past 30 years, it really hasn’t made much of a dent in the ‘average’ garden of the UK. There’s not many British garden owners willing to rip out entire borders and re-imagine them wholesale – not without their beloved evergreen shrub layer, peonies and delphiniums… and those ubiquitous roses: adjective … ’seeming to be everywhere’. A rose is a rose.... is a rose... is a rose.......ZZzzzz I hate to say it, but maybe our attitude toward garden design, somewhat reflects our attitude towards the European Union and the Brexit vote. Maybe the truth is, that whilst the likes of Germany, Holland and Scandinavia have – in the last 50 years – been forging ahead with innovative, philosophical, ecological and ideological plantings, Englanders still believe they have the best gardens in the world. Trouble is, these gardens all  

My gardening ‘business’ hasn’t anything as fancy as a strapline, a mission statement, or even a business model come to think of it. I tend to keep my attitude towards the work I do pretty simple: I simply say that I just ‘go gardening’. I love plants and gardens, so why wouldn’t I want to work with both?  However, on my travels, little logos and quirky straplines do often come to me. I imagine a flowery and colourful van displaying such lines as ‘ Working in partnership, with both you and your garden ’. Good one eh? Or, another one I came up with is… ‘ To get a great garden… get a great gardener ’. I really like that one! I like it so much because it’s true. There’s always been a bit of a divide between the role of garden designer and that of gardener.   Of course, for some strange reason – and it’s probably a class/ego thing – it’s the role of Garden Designer that always seems to attract the fame, status and kudos. It’s the garden designers who hit the headlines and

Without wishing to let daylight enter in upon magic, and also not wanting to discuss the findings of my recent dissertation, I thought I would take a few moments out to discuss how (and whether) the New Perennial Movement has had any real influence within the average domestic gardens of England. Now, the history of the NPM dates back a very long way indeed, but for the benefit of this rather short post, let’s just say I’m talking mainly about the small band of Dutch Wavers (Piet Oudolf and friends) together with their extended English family, the likes of Noel Kingsbury, Tom Stuart-Smith, Christopher Bradley-Hole, and many many more! Similar to its history, the design style of the movement is also far too complex to discuss here: the NPM stand upon philosophies, sociologies and ideologies that go back a very long way indeed. But again, for ease of use, and by taking incredible liberties with over-simplification,   let’s just say I’m talking about that rather naturalistic look

Recently, a colleague of mine commented that you only ever really need one annual subscription to a gardening magazine, as the tips and tricks, together with the ‘ what to do now’ sections tend to repeat themselves with an almost same week accuracy, year on year. Of course, he was spot on. I once spent about 5 years tearing out the ‘ what to do now ’ sections of various gardening magazines and collating them in a folder. I know, very sad of me! Anyway, they acted as a useful reminder of what jobs I should’ve been considering in the various gardens I worked in. However, over time, I too noticed an obvious repetition of articles and tips... even using the same photos! A small portion of my borders last year. Now though, having spent many years gardening professionally, and having taught countless students the horticultural basics, I find myself having journeyed far beyond gardening as a pursuit allied to any calendar: I’ve discovered that the ‘ what to do and when ’ of garde