The Leica D-lux4 is a beautiful little camera. I love the understated design. The case is exquisiteand the LCD screen as good as an iphone's.. oh and it takes superb pictures

It usually happens at this time of the year. The publicity fromChelsea starts appearing and with comes a steady flow of applications. There seem to have been more than usual this year. Perhaps the down turn has meant there are less jobs available for those seeking, perhaps we have a slightly higher profile. Firstly I would like to thank all those who have applied, the interest and effort given is flattering, especially when some of those writing for a potential position are doing so from the USA, Japan, Spain as well as closer to home. I would love to be able to meet with every person who contacts us but the reality of our business is that whilst there are some great months when we are working all hours there are others when things have a more casual flow, and whilst additional staff could easily be busy it would be work that is difficult to charge for. We protect our cash flow and it is unfortunate that this means that we must keep our overheads low and at present that must mean that we cannot have the luxury of more designers. I frequently wonder how it would be to share projects. I work to quite a strict routine on projects; would another head make it more efficient, would we compliment or antagonise each other, how could I make room in my office now that I have learnt to spread everywhere.

The weekend garden I have been helping on is close to completion. However the final detailing is taking longer because I am a perfectionist and measure everything three times and cogitate far to much over large mugs of tea or Pimms.

We are at the decking stage. The plants are in and looking perkier than when they were in pots..its not a good time to transplant but I thought it was worth liberating them as they would get better care in the ground. The delivered wood was (of course) supplied in totally different lengths than that ordered, which took a whole evening and several mugs to work out the new cuts & the adjustments to the subdeck structure. But it once it started to go down the whole character of the garden changed. The final scheme will feature on the website when its finsihed but for now here are a few transitional shots.

The weather has been kind and this last weekend saw our "big push" to get the majority of the work done on a garden being built for some friends. I do not normally get involved in the construction of the schemes that I design, I invariably get in the way, have far to many opinions and quickly get frustrated that it isn't happening the way I had foreseen. I am better resolving the details and getting on with the next piece of work. However, this garden has an ulterior motive, I'll get to use it. designed in an afternoon over a beer and built on the following three weekends; it has been a social occasion as much as a labour of friendship. Wives children and dogs helped to move 7 tons of soil, plant over 200 plants and consume two jugs of Pimms. Backs and shoulders are throbbing today but almost expressed as old war wounds might be , with a sense of pride and hopefully the trigger to reveal a starring role.

Three new enquiries this week, all are going to be planting biased projects I think. Interestingly all spoke about potentially moving within the next few years but still have the desire to make the most of their gardens between now and then. I think for the first time people are willing to wait. Current project commitments mean I cant start any new work until late August/ Sept but everybody has found this seems to fit in with their own plans. Its hard not to think about projects when I have seen them and been commissioned, so I do keep a sketch book going to jot down notes and ideas as they occur. I also quite like a long lead in to the start of a design, the preparation, the consideration of what sources and references I might use, researching, obtaining materials and probably most importantly planning the work so that it gets completed as anticipated.

I mentioned that I would start to tell you about the things that I like, as disparate and unconnected as they might appear to gardens. They are where I get my inspiration from, or are simply my enthusisms for the products of someone else's thinking

I read RJ Ellory's "A Quiet Belief in Angels" recently. Not a subject I would typically be attracted to but a crafted and very well told story. His blog is also worth reading.

Senz "Storm" umbrella. An elegant and striking design. The science behind it is impressive but what is most impressive for me is the redesign of something so common place.

The smell of oak, cutting it (or rather attempting to cut it, because its not easy) reminded me of how "homely" oak smells, almost yeasty, bread like. But then there are several smells that can drag me back in time; creosote (school sports day), cocoa butter (instructing on Camp America), 2-stroke engine oil (my father stripping motorbike engines on the dining room table)........

Technology defeated me. Whilst at Chelsea I thought that the updates and "tweets" from my mobile would be published on this Blog; however they never appeared and it seemed like to much effort to add the information retrospectively. So, we'll start again. Our work for Chelsea 2010 has already started so I will drop in the occassional note about progress. In May I was featured in Home and Garden, for a Steel pergola I designed, oh about 3 yrs ago. Its really strange that something that I thought a decent idea has come back again and is only now getting some attention. This month, the Chelsea Show garden is featured on the cover of the Garden design Journal. Not a particularly popular rag, but the Journal of the Society of Garden Designers. Sometimes you dont know what your ambitions are until you achieve them! I have put a link to the Society of Garden Designers on my front page, although the Journal is only mentioned in passing on their site (click on the SGD Logo).
Concept design work has just about finished on two small gardens and subject to final approval from the clients, I hope to start work on the detail design this week. I will add pictures as work progresses.
Three new clients visited over the last few days. It is difficult at this time of year to manage expectations. The weather, Chelsea, thoughts of holidays seem to incline people towards their gardens. Its the best time to be out in it, but it is not the best time to want to change it. We get many calls from people who must have their garden ready for the end of July or August at the latest. It is difficult to apply common sense when their desire is so strong. That the design can take several weeks, that identifying and getting a contractor to visit and cost even longer. The dream of a new garden in time for the next slot of prolonged sunshine suddenly starts heading to the horizon and the enthusiasm is replaced by resentment for daring to crush their dream. Which is not what we are about, garden designers are "dream makers" we try to make real what people want and what they didn't know they wanted. But we have to be realistic. Decisions made in haste make waste.
I came across the work of Angela Palmer (sculptor) yesterday. She uses layered glass with "slices" of images to create almost 3D sketches of her subjects. I really like the layering of materials, its a very theatrical technique and probably the one I use most in my work. Thomas Heatherwick uses it brilliantly in things like the Longchamp store entrance and his beach cafe. It also reminds me of architectural models where contours are achieved with slices of materials.
I will start to record my influences, inspirations and generally just the things I like; whether design work, literature, film, food or web. And I will post several times a week.