You may have seen the work of Su Blackwell as it's been featured in a few newspapers recently. Its beautiful and I love the underlying rule that what comes off the page has to have been there to start with, no paper is added. What drew me to this piece was that I have just finished making a scale model of our submission for Chelsea 2010 and had to make two trees. I used straws, and they were pathetic. However I had seen my model as something to help me work with and resolve the design and it has evolved a bit during and since I made it. I like the idea of it being almost a piece of sculpture, but I won't be remaking mine and I will just look in awe at how good a paper tree can look.

The submission for Chelsea went off today. Comprising 5 sheets of drawings outlining what the design is about and 4 sets of forms. The RHS are very methodical and all design work has to have an accompanying brief, costing information, statement of ecological consideration and of course a general application form.

To try and demystify the process of show gardens and dissolve the impression that they seemingly appear every May on a field in Chelsea, I will describe the process of putting a show garden together.

Of the forms mentioned, the trickiest (for me at least) is the one that asks for the brief behind the submitted garden. What this means is that in the absence of a "real" client, you are required to pretend that the garden has been designed for someone/ some organisation and therefore write down what is in it and why. You might think that a blank canvas is a godsend however in practice what it does is give you an unlimited amount of rope to hang yourself, or at least your design with. The design submitted is judged not only on its aesthetic value but on what is described in the brief. These forms are dusted off next May, when the garden is judged and a critical team appraise the built garden against what you said you would do and what you thought it might look like. There is scope for modification between now and next year but not to much. Changing materials, minor plants is fine, so long as you keep the RHS team informed. Last year when I had to substitute a tree for a shrub, for budget reasons, it was considered to change to the horticultural merit of the garden and meant several emails and calls to reach a compromise. One form asks for the garden to be costed, difficult at this stage as most of the design of water features etc is still a little vague. So "ball-park" figures are given. The design has already had the input of contractors and labour and general building materials have been estimated. The contractor is provisionally booked for the Show. All this is before the RHS actually announce the designs that have been accepted. There is a lot of commitment and effort and in a few months, we might be told that it has all been in vain. For those of you that like to measure things, I have just past the 100hrs mark for time put into this design.

Listening to visitors to Chelsea and other shows, there is a perception that "this year plant schemes should be white and green" or that one plant is in fashion because its seen on several garden ,so more than two occurrences = a trend. Firstly there is no collusion between designers and so any plants that are seen are the individual decisions of those designers. As you now know, those decisions , for me at least and I know that several of the large gardens have also been designed, have already been made. I know what my plant list is (it will appear on the website when I am back from holiday). Coincidence and probability will ensure that some of my decisions are the same as somebody else's, but my decisions are not quite as straightforward as what is best for the garden. Plants for shows, and in particular for the Show Gardens at Chelsea are supplied by a rather small group of very professional and expert nurseries and growers. Having received plant list they will advise on what they can obtain and nurture for the show. If lots of gardens want aquiligeas, they may obtain a limited selection in great quantities and then play with batches of them , holding some back, leaving some outside, hothousing others to ensure enough are in bloom for the show. Despite a specific request we may all only get Ruby Port for instance, which is what seems to have happened this year. It wasn't a trend just market forces. As designers we also tend to bias our selections to plants that we think will be reliably in bloom for the show, which again limits palates. despite what others are doing, my palate for 2010 is moving towards mauves and whites with some deep blues. I wanted a "warm garden for a warming climate" however, having just been prevented from leaving the office due to torrential hail (in July!!) I am doubting if such a scheme is ever going to see the weather to realise its potential.

The work of landscape artist Andres Amador, San Fransisco. I immediately want to convert this into a plant plan. Its almost like reptile skin. His website has lots more: www.andresamador.net

This is a stunning combination. Stipa Gigantea and digitalis ferruginea, that have grown absolutely straight, almost looking like foxtail lillies, below them is sanguisorba tanna and cirsium riv. (cut down now)These digitalis were planted as 1L plants 13 months ago. This is a combination that I will be using in my Chelsea garden for the rear wall.

After a cleanup and a bit of rain, the small garden we have been working on is just about complete. Just a few small details to finish but you'd not notice unless told. The fence panels will hopefully get replaced this autumn. For your information this is a 60m sq garden and 30 msq is given over to the deck/ patio and paths.

The poor weather and some tricky detailing on the staircase we are building at home kept us away from the RHS Flower Show at Tatton. However the time at home was well spent and here at last is the Chelsea garden entry for next year. I have computer modelled it; however I thought it needed something more. The computer doesn’t really do plants justice and they take up so much memory that it gets very frustrating. So I built a scale model (1:25) of the garden. It was originally white but the family voted in favour of adding the necessary textures, taken off the computer model. But how to do plants. I had been relying on the local toy shop to have some train type trees and things that enthusiasts use to create mini landscapes. They didn’t and I was stuck, until I found a box of unused straws. Needs must and on a wet Sunday afternoon I took a sharp knife to the straws and the tips of my fingers…its passable, in a Blue Peter sort of way but was very therapeutic. Of greatest benefit was the time I had to spend thinking about how to cut card and build features. I realised some things need altering and the design has evolved a little. Despite promising the website is still not updated and I don’t think that it will be now until late August. We are off on holiday later this week, absolutely definitely as the expired passport was sorted out by an emergency dash to Liverpool Passport Office where there was a queue of similarly stressed families. I will post some observations on Valencian gardens when I get back.

Hedgerows and verges are suddenly spectacular. I must stop the car at least once a day to look at, identify and photograph a verge, island or hedgerow. I love grasses and umblifiers and would happily develop a planting scheme based on some of these “native” collections, however where I see native, clients might see “weeds” and I sympathise with having a planting scheme that looks not to dissimilar to what is on the side of the road. That said there is something dramatic about huge blocks of grasses, achillea, acres of oxe-eye daisies and even the humble dandelion when planted en masse. Some schemes are man made, annually. A pair of roundabouts on the edge of town are stripped and resown every year. Early mornings with a low sun, make them a stunning spectacle. This year (so far) it is a predominantly red poppy scheme. Most roundabouts are wild with a mown perimeter, so such colourful daubs are all the more effective and unexpected.

Tatton Flower Show is on this week. I have been asked so many times if we have a garden there, no, sorry. We did Chelsea in May and one show a year is enough, really! I recorded the time spent getting this year's garden together for Chelsea and it was over 250hrs, without actually being at the show. That equates to approx 7 weeks of work. That is a lot of late nights and time away from other things. I don't think I'd remain married if I did two show gardens. So one is enough. As the Chelsea deadline is looming I am not going to be able to get to Tatton even as a visitor unfortunately. We are on holiday at the end of next week and (fortunately?) found out that one of the passports had expired.. so the only solution is to spend Saturday down at the passport office in Liverpool.. maybe SSunday????

So where do garden designers go on holiday, isn’t most of their work a holiday anyway? Well yes I do love what I do, and it does take me to some unexpected and beautiful places, but almost always the places I visit are part of the duty of care and responsibility I give to my projects. Whether researching a planting scheme, visiting a nursery or discussing the supply/ source of materials. Choosing where to go for please is trickier. Trying to balance family desires, budget and of course a constant curiosity for how they do things in other places. Visiting Spain last year I embarrassed my wife by suddenly pulling off a road and parking suddenly, jumping out and photographing a verge side. It was astonishing, tall grasses, fennel, white alliums in profusion, and all in a dusty strip next to an awful smelling gutter. I had of course parked across the entrance a seemingly abandoned field whose owner chose that very moment to return. Despite knowing less than 5 words of Spanish, I managed to make out “loco”. By the way I’m not revealing where this verge was... I hope to use it in a planting scheme! You don’t always have to go to nature for inspiration... sometimes it comes to you. So it will be the same again this year. We are back to Spain, Valencia.. Oh and coincidentally it does seem to have some gardens that look interesting...well whilst there it would be a shame not to…

It happened over the weekend. I have been jotting down notes and ideas, schemes and doodles for a design for next year’s Chelsea Flower Show, since... oh the day after this year’s. I had decided to start drawing them up. My process was to simply take an idea, randomly “mate” it to another idea and see if I could make a garden that “functioned”, however well or bad the result. This is done on paper. The computer whilst allowing a 3D form to be quickly built imposes too much limitation on geometry and has no “soul” it is this elusive emotion that I was searching for. I think I developed twelve schemes, non complete and some rather simplistic. Design shouldn’t be a reclusive occupation and I wanted some friends and the family to have a say and who better than to shoot you down nicely... better now than in a year’s time!

Having developed the sketch ideas I then spent the better part of a very rainy Sunday modelling them in the computer. I find that presenting concepts as sketches can lead to some bias, the scheme is judged not on its merits but on which is the better sketch. The computer also allows for multiple angles of views so ideas can be explained. I dutifully printed off the first 6 and stuck them onto the drawing board…talked my audience through them...my teenage son kept proceedings short, stopping me half way through my explanation of a concrete reinforced arch..”I like no 4” and that was it. I imagined a little bit more of a ceremony but by consensus no4 it is. I should also say that preferred the same design.

So what next?
Well you are probably curious to see what project code-name-no-4 actually looks like. I am updating the website this coming weekend and last year’s Chelsea details will come down and make way for next year’s. We haven’t got there yet though. The submission deadline is two weeks away. The RHS panel have to select the gardens to be built from the hundreds submitted, so we may not even get selected… and then there is the sponsorship. We need to start looking and asking and selling the garden. Probably the hardest part of the whole venture and it doesn’t get any easier. I will record the work we are undertaking to move the garden along. You’ll hear me shout for joy and curse. Bringing a garden to fruition is, however a joy, working with skilled contractors and crafts people, to realise the dream that emerged out of my head this weekend is quite humbling. That such a few scribbles on a page in a rather small note book can initiate so much effort and commitment….I am very lucky to be able to do this.

I have been full of good intensions, to get out and see more gardens. I had listed places and dates, researched when particular places might be at their best. But like any well intentioned expedition into the British summer, the weather has made the excuses for me. The National Garden scheme is in full flow, I weekly regret those that I miss and will have to wait another year to see. There has been a lot of work on recently and little chance to escape for a few hours of personal indulgence. The summer holiday is quickly approaching and it acts like a barrier, work is being squeezed up against it and hopefully delayed and outstanding work can be cleared before we go to sunnier places. If I am honest, there is a paradox in visiting gardens; I don’t get much out of seeing other outdoor spaces. I don’t want to be influenced by how someone else has solved a problem, plant combinations are influenced by a location and don’t relocate well and I want to give my client’s a unique solution not an ensemble of other people’s work. Yet I still love the experience, the peace and calmness, the ambience and sense of escape. I won’t stop going, I will have favourites and ones that I dislike and I will talk about them here, just don’t expect too many! I play in other people’s garden all week, even at weekends sometimes. Doing the same for pleasure sometimes pushes the family to distraction.
In less than 2 weeks the designs for 2010’s Chelsea Flower Show have to be in. I am still perusing potential sponsors and at this time of the year not many seem to be interested in something that is almost a year away. Currently I have 12 designs on the drawing board…well actually they are printouts, taped to the drawing board. Choosing which one to develop further will be a task that will require some additional opinion, so I might do a bit of a straw poll amongst friends. Something I have recently bought is Adobe Acrobat 9- extended. It has an amazing feature called 3d-PDF, which allows a 3D computer file to be placed into a STD PDF file. When the file is opened the Computer model can be rotated and zoomed, but without any additional software or viewers. I have sent simple files to clients who are getting used to it, but for collaborative things like show gardens where I need opinions from widely distributed people it is a god send.. I am still working out how to get it working on the website.. So look back once in a while.

I like geometry. I like things to be aligned and in rows, proportioned and accurate. Sometimes this can lead to detailing that is redundant but nevertheless it is still satisying to appreciate well considered lines either in a completed project or in someone else's work. Our first trip to the Alhambra General Life gardens in Granada was little more than a blur. I had heard about even researched a little, but the reality is astonishing. I never tire of seeing it and we try to see it as often as we can. The Moorish and Islamic geometry around which these garden are constructed is deceptively simple and very serene. My brother and I grew up, entertaining ourselves on Saturday afternoons above the shop in which our parents worked, colouring in huge line drawings of intricate patterns. These I now realise were my first experience of lattice work and from which I derived great satisfaction with my felt pens. I had wanted to try and create my own and have a few texts explaining the geometry and principles of construction. Don't bother. I came across this website and a far more patient and talented mind than mine has saved me the trouble and produced something that I wish I could. An Arabic geometric lattice creator. Its worth the effort to download. Its even more satisfying to see the tiles in situ around one of the greatest gardens in the world; word of advise, if you do go..book your tickets online before you leave as entry is restricted and you are unlikely to be able to turn up and get in.

http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/~csk/washington//taprats/.

The weather was intermittant this weekend but held off enough for us to finally finish the decking on the small garden. Notice the glass panels are now in between the oak uprights. This has the effect of making the space seem bigger than before it was installed. Is it because it gives the eye something to stop at, or is it that phenomena that still suprises me: when a house/ garden plan is laid out on the ground it appears small, sometimes unrealistic and always underwhelming. yet as soon as the verticals, the walls or hedges are added the space increases and we can relate to it. We didn't get it tidy enough to have a celebration BBQ..perhaps next weekend. Four weekends, start to finish, quite a result I think.

Its been a bit of a worry, however the olive tree in our garden has finally broken bud and is looking lush. We went to a lot of trouble to select this tree and had feared that being so far north it might be to wet and get a battering. So despite a rather late start its reassuring to know that it is happy; also being the only plant in our courtyard,reassuring to know we won' be looking at an expensive bundle of twigs.