James van Sweden – a memoir by Noel Kingsbury

James van Sweden – a memoir by Noel Kingsbury

A short time ago James van Sweden died. I vividly remember the excitement I felt when I first came across the book ‘Bold Romantic Gardens’ which he wrote with Wolfgang Oehme. (It seems my copy is now worth £60.10) Noel Kingsbury wrote a memoir on his...
Conspicuous Design by Tim Richardson

Conspicuous Design by Tim Richardson

I am very grateful for the generosity of Tim Richardson and the editor, Sarah Giles, of the Garden Design Journal for permitting me to use this piece, which I think raises an issue, as Tim says, of special importance to designers of small gardens. (as opposed to small...
The High Line: more than the sum of its parts

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.”

Can Gardeners be Considered Artists? by Gary Webb

Can Gardeners be Considered Artists? by Gary Webb

“I tend to think that in professionally tended gardens, the natural occurrence of targets, job descriptions, over-loading, all commonplace in a busy workplace, can quite often mask and tie up the creativity that exists within a gardener …”

Tim Richardson challenges ‘real gardeners’ over garden design

Tim Richardson challenges ‘real gardeners’ over garden design

“The anti-design agenda of some parts of the horticultural world is in part based on a shires-gentry brand of anti-intellectualism which sees design, and talk of design, as essentially vulgar.The country-garden conceit is that you just throw it all together and then, as a result of genetics or feudalism or something, it happens to look good…”

I Hate Designing Gardens by Suzanne Albinson

by Suzanne Albinson.
“the client went to a local nursery and purchased a job lot of trees on sale and stuck them in all over the place and completely shot the design…”

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