Sussex Prairies Garden reviewed by Darryl Moore
It may seem strange to have three reviews of one garden on the thinkingardens site. However, we are frequently told that different people experience gardens differently. It seems right to me that those differences, or lack of them, should be available for people to...Sussex Prairies Garden Again – reviewed by Susan Wright
I make no apology for a new and different perspective on the Sussex Prairies Garden. I’m fed up with the ‘isn’t it lovely’ single viewpoint on gardens. Critical comment may also be easily dismissed – but perhaps not so easily when it is...Appeltern Gardens, Netherlands reviewed by Wanda Oprea
Is there an inherent problem with show gardens? And can you have too much of a (maybe) good thing? Does quality shine in the most challenging circumstances? These are some of the questions raised by this piece by Wanda Oprea in her review of the permanent exhibition...Sussex Prairie Garden review: Meadows, Prairies and Downs by Kate Buxton: a review of the Sussex Prairies Garden
The topic of contemporary naturalistic planting design is a fascinating topic: what is the relationship between ‘Dutch Wave’ gardens, the ‘New American Garden Style’, wildflower meadows, quasi arable fields, prairie gardens and ecological...
Chiswick House and Gardens: a dog’s dinner or a curate’s egg?
Barbara Taylor has recently discovered, Chiswick House & Gardens. In the interests of research, she decided to give it the once over and find out just what this 18th century building and its grounds had to offer. Here, she shares her findings with us Anne Wareham,...The Laskett reviewed by Emma Bond
“It is a shame that Sir Roy Strong is subjected to the now-obligatory drivel about his being a ‘national treasure’, because this unthinking cliché diminishes his contribution, over more than 50 years, to our cultural life, whether as a curator or, in later...Veddw reviewed by Bridget Rosewell
Just to wind up Matthew Appleby, who is complaining there is too much Veddw on this site… Having just been sent the review I can’t resist adding it to thinkinGardens – and I think I have earned a bit of self indulgence. Anne Wareham editor. ...Mill Dene Garden reviewed by Darryl Moore
Darryl Moore is a valued garden critic on thinkinGardens, with an astute sense of the relationship between the owner and the garden and its implications (see also his piece on Coombe House/Plas Metaxu). I am grateful therefore to have this review of the garden Mill...
Boughton House – Kim Wilkie’s Orpheus reviewed by James Alexander-Sinclair
“Perfect, Impressive, Majestic and Splendid. It is the sort of thing that makes one sigh from the pleasure of it all. And I did..
But…”
The High Line: more than the sum of its parts
“But it wasn’t Piet Oudolf who got most of the early press about the High Line. New Yorkers are far more interested in architects and landscape architects than garden designers, and in this case it was the elevated rail line itself, and its very costly rehabilitation, that was the focus of public and media hype. Now that the aerial garden has been opened to the public for over a year, the plantings themselves are garnering more public acclaim.”
Hidcote – a review by Barbara Taylor
“So, what did I think?
Initially I thought all the different views and vistas were fabulous; looking down little paths to a different area…..”
A Letter from America by Suzanne Albinson
I went to 24 gardens.
Some of the gardens were A gardens, some Fs. ……. my three favourites were……
Highgrove Garden reviewed by James Alexander-Sinclair
A review of Highgrove by James Alexander-Sinclair “The garden: if the truth be told it is very much a curate’s egg of a garden …”
Recent Posts from: Veddw
Favour the Ferns
Many years ago The Financial Times sent me to do a feature on the RHS ‘Flower Show’ at Tatton Park . I was totally naïve and had no idea what I was supposed to do or to write about. So my excitement was tempered by acute anxiety. The term ‘imposter syndrome’ could have been invented for me. […]
Snowdrop mania is coming…
In the UK, right now, the horticultural world is about to drive us all mad with snowdrops. Pictures of. Articles about. Gardens with them. Anything people can think of to bash us over the head with snowdrops.
Brilliant Brecon
Recently we made a visit to Brecon. This is not far from us, in case anyone was getting over excited about the possibility that I might have been travelling again. It’s in Wales, in the Brecon Beacons, recently re-christened Bannau Brycheiniog.
You should have been here Next Year
Charles made a complaint recently when we were walking in the garden.
When I complained about him complaining he told me that it was good for me to have complaints about the planting.
Garden Seats – to make and sit on.
I am discovering more and more often that it is important to have a great many seats in the garden. In fact there should probably be one every three feet or so.
