Redefine Success

Success and beauty and are in the eye of the beholder. As I look back over the year of 2025 it is interesting to redefine those concepts a little more. I have designed and built a diverse range of gardens. Success is largely delivering the intended garden for a client a garden and trying to exceed their expectation. One client commented in the summer that her three month old garden was giving her so much pleasure that she didn’t want to go on holiday this year because she loved being in her garden so much. It had been transformed from a dull poor performing lawn area into a relaxing haven full of texture and visual delight. It is very rewarding to have such feedback from an individual client.

On a different note a garden that I created the year before for St Francis School has been nominated for an Award from the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers. I am delighted both because it is a prestigious and international in the reach of the entries but also because it is a low budget and garden built for a primary school in an area of deprivation in Oxford. This small nature garden is a reminder that big budgets with glossy finished products are not the only measure of success and that bringing pleasure to wider audience is hugely rewarding. Like the individual client above the garden has made a huge difference for children and staff at the School. Every time I visit the young children ask me so many questions and want to help. Many do not have gardens and most have never had any experience of ‘gardening’. Creating designs on tight budgets in the public realm can increase the challenges and reveal unexpected results. We wanted a play tepee for the children and with no budget left we used the pallets that we had from the build. This was environmentally a win win and children use it all of the time. We try to reduce our carbon footprint where we can by keeping and reusing material on site and when the budget is tight you waste less and reuse more.