Sometimes gardens and the people who create them simply take our breath away, both in terms of the intrinsic beauty of the landscape and the gardener who has enriched it with their wisdom and playfulness.  Far from the East Sussex gardens we normally frequent, The Serpentin organic garden on the east slope of Mount Pelion in Greece has left its indelible inspirational mark.

Created and nurtured by the extraordinary Doris Schlepper, Serpentin is a paradise of rare trees, historic roses and plants from all over the world. Doris has been developing the garden since 1990 and we were lucky enough to get a one to one tour with her, bringing her garden to life with garden stories, lessons learned and the knowledge you can only get with such deep horticultural dedication.  Luckily for us, she also had a wonderfully relaxed approach to our little ones treating the space as the best hide and seek location ever!

The variety of water features and the organic ethos of the garden have created a space where wildlife flourishes. Our senses were overwhelmed with the richness of colour and intense fragrance of the planting and there were many rustic resting places in which to pause and soak up this unique place.

Doris has encouraged many artists to work in the garden and there are some beautiful works that still remain, an ever changing gallery where even the placing of a rotting apple becomes a thing of beauty.

The playfulness Doris has brought to the space delighted us and our little explorers, with plastic buoys hanging from trees, gourds placed everywhere and the best bug hotel we have ever seen. We came away full of ideas, full of admiration and revived by a simply beautiful inspirational garden.

If you ever find yourself in the beautiful Pelion, Greece – don’t you dare miss this special place! check out more info here

Summer living does not come better than this….the flora and fauna native to the River Ouse, East Sussex was on spectacular show this weekend. Four in a boat, oars in hand with clouds of electric blue dragonfly, basking fish and a gentle breeze guiding us through the natural garden of the river bank.

Views to treasure, Swallows and Amazons we were, at bliss with the Sussex Landscape and at one with the world!…..Ok…so let’s be honest here….there was one particularly ‘interesting’ meeting with a huge nettle bank when the oarsman lost his way  (see last post for why, really this was not as funny as it seemed to some of us!)… but who managed to keep calm, carry on and join in with the peals of laughter coming from the little’uns end of the boat! Memories made, we will definitely be coming back for more..

We hired a boat from The Anchor Inn, Barcombe, East Sussex, which, weather permitting is open from 10am-6pm. We highly recommend getting there early as the river is much quieter at that time of the day.

Fresh from the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show and with so many things to see, do and get inspiration from, my main urge was to look closer and focus in. To get close to the scent and shapes of the exquisitely tendered plants in the show gardens, to look closer at some beautiful garden design and at the talent and skill from the wise, whose lives have been dedicated to nurturing and cultivating plants of so many varieties.

The plant stands remind me of miniature art installations and you can’t help but want to buy what’s on offer and take a little bit of Hampton back with you. I loved the starfish like bulbs that turn into the foxtail lily and the sculptural elegance of the Alliums, which have such impact on mass.

My main highlight enabled you to get really close, the brilliantly conceived RHS Invisible Garden. I could have spent hours looking closer at this one. It’s giving visitors the chance to magnify usually unseen organisms, including plants and insects, to more than 1000 times their actual size. The RHS team were excellent, their knowledge and enthusiasm bursting and it was a real education to look through the microscopes and see the absolute miracle of what the human eye alone could never see. This should be rolled out in schools, an amazing introduction to science and nature.

The stunning wing of a Blue Morpho butterfly, the structure of which manipulates light and as well as being breathtaking in colour and intricacy, I learned it inspired the creation of amongst other things protective clothing. I also got the chance to get closer to a nettle, this time, thankfully under a microscope where you could see the hollow stinging hairs called trichomes, which act like hypodermic needles, injecting histamine and other chemicals producing the infamous nettle sting. An image that won’t leave my mind for a while, especially during our often nettle packed Sussex walks. You can find out about RHS invisible garden here. A really great day out for us as landscapers and garden designers and highly recommended to anyone who loves their garden.

It’s only a month ago and the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is long packed up. Gardens which were painstakingly planned and created are dismantled. The plants have been sold at the great plant sale on the final frenzied day and the dust has settled. Such an occasion, but oh what a crowd! Almost impossible to take any images which capture the inspiring gardens on display. Standing on tip toes, crouching on knees, stretching out arms, the ever precious mobile phone camera button at the ready for a shot which ‘please oh please’ is not out of focus again! Is this any way to soak up the glory of design and beauty of the gardens – we tried as hard as we could!

Here is what stayed with us after the dust had settled and let’s face it, here are the ones that were in focus and without body parts of the crowd in the middle of the shots! Some little pockets we managed to peep, windows of real beauty which remind us of why we love what we do and why we do it.

A highlight included the combination of strong structure and sublime planting as part of the Cloudy Bay Sensory Garden, which was beautiful. The Patinated Copper archway stole my heart as part of the Brewin Dolphin Garden, a stunning piece of artwork in itself. The excellent planting choices around this structure made them and the archway come to life, an exquisite collaboration, no crowd nudging can take that one away from me.

Check out the RHS Chelsea Flower Show website for a fantastic array of images and information on all the gardens at Chelsea this year and stunning Pavilion displays -no virtual crowd technique needed here! Bring on July and RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, elbows at the ready and stilts commissioned!

Imagine visiting this garden, with a platform high above magnificent full sized trees, no protective railings, no health and safety warnings….the danger of the bird’s eye view without wings…a different perspective, a garden with an edge on multiple levels.  I’d love to see this garden built and spend a day sitting at its platform, watching the trees move, hearing the noises from within and experiencing the changing light as the day progresses. This is ‘To Die For’, designed by Wilson McWilliam Studio and was part of the MiNiATURE Garden Show – our exhibition highlight of March.

MiNiATURE was a garden show with a fresh approach.  It exhibited ten unique designs by leading garden designers, all of which fitted into the compact Strand Gallery, Charing Cross, London. Unlike some of the crowd surging you get at other garden shows, we had time and space to look closely at the intricacy of the designs before us. These were no ordinary gardens; these were beautifully crafted miniature models of garden designs at a scale of 1:50 built using cutting edge 3D printing technology alongside more traditional model making techniques. We spent our time looking through the gardens and above the gardens, walking around the edges of the gardens, like giant spectators of the skills laid out before us.

MiNiATURE was thought up by curators Kajsa Björne, Tom Hartfleet and Andrew Fisher Tomlin, all award winning garden designers themselves, who were interested in the opportunity of what becomes possible when working on a smaller scale. The aim of MiNiATURE was to; “enable designers to move away from designs that have limitations such as restricted budgets, planting seasons or focus on awards and to instead give the opportunity to experiment and explore innovative designs through the media of 3D printing along with traditional modelling”.

The fast paced development of 3D printing is bound to have a huge impact on the way in which garden designers use models to visualise their designs, both for themselves during the design process and indeed for their clients in communicating ideas. The time it takes to 3D print a feature or structure within a garden, compared to hand making one from scratch will save days and will surely go some way to inspire more experimental approaches. As the technology becomes more accessible and less expensive it will become a much more frequently used tool.  A tool, which will feed into the creative process and inspire innovation within the industry.

We loved the movement and energy of Jo Thompson’s ‘Stage’, with her 3D printed spiral viewing point and Adam Frost’s, ‘A World in 21^st Century Stone’ which won the People’s Choice Award.

It was also really  exciting to see first-hand a 3D printer in action, from HOBS 3D and to view some of the beautiful models they had on display.

MiNiATURE will now be going on an international tour. To find out more about MiNiATURE, check out further info here or join their face book page to be first to hear about the latest developments.

We’re already looking forward to the next inspiring show.

A day to ourselves and the call of Friston Forest rings loudly in our ears. The forest is a stunning Beech wood, which we often visit with the kids as it’s an ideal place for den making, hiding, seeking, mud squelching and generally running wild.

It’s also the perfect place to walk, talk and stop to take in the spectacular views, a place to recharge and soak up the stunning beauty of where we live.  As this particular day would have it, soaking we did get! In fact, the sky opened almost as soon as our feet left the car! There is something wonderful about walking in a forest when it’s raining heavily, you feel somehow protected, peaceful and the landscape comes to life; the moss glistens, the bark deepens and the smell of the flowers and ferns enrich the air. We loved it!

The hail kicked in as soon as we got to the open fields (of course!) and our focus became the landscape and objects at feet level in an effort to protect the hail attack on our faces. Heads down and we see abstract reflections in the multitude of puddles and the delicate textile quality of a rusted water trough, look up and notice the intricate pattern of the hedgerows still holding strong in the unforgiving bluster. In calmer moments, the birdsong filled the air, so lovely to hear.  Although our boots resembled mud pies at the end of the walk and we were soaked to the bone, every single step was worth it.

A favourite walk in a very special East Sussex Landscape, check out The Forestry Commission and The Woodland Trust and follow your adventurous spirit (even if it’s in the rain……go for it!)

As the name suggests seed swapping was the main focus on Seedy Saturday in Lewes last weekend and it was great to see such a hub of activity around the seed swap table. Eager growers brought their carefully saved seeds to share with the community and to swap for something new to experiment with. No money involved just the straight swap of well cared for seeds.

Lewes town hall was buzzing with gardeners swapping top tips, learning new skills and taking part in the various seed identification competitions. A great variety of plants were on sale, reasonably priced, well nurtured and strong – just how they should be. Some stunning craft work too, particularly from native hands, who run unique woodland making courses in East Sussex.

The super talented artists from Patina helped eager little hands create elegant tissue lanterns using an array of flowers and feathers to decorate and the gloriously mucky bird feeder maker table was mobbed with children wanting to take something home to help their flighty garden friends survive the cold season.

And then…there was Bob!, yes Bob …The ‘Mr Flowerdew’ from Gardener’s Question time– live in person in Lewes and not just on the radio waves!  We soaked up a brilliant hour full of wise words from the renowned organic gardener. The main focus was on the control of slugs, snails and various pests where companion planting was highlighted as an important combating factor. He also shared some genius DIY solutions of his own, our favourite involved hovering syrup coated cardboard above Brassica’s effected by flea beetle so they stick to the cardboard and in turn become a feast for the birds when placed on the nearest bird table – ouch! Watch out for further Bob inspired top tip blogs soon!

Organised by common cause, this has become an annual must in our Lewes gardener’s calendar. Seed swap events happen all over the UK at this time of year – don’t miss one near you. Happy seed nurturing one and all!

Bursting at the door….I believe our eldest really thought her dream of becoming a pirate Queen was about to come true. In fact, I’ve never seen her so eager to go for a walk!  On a crisp Gloucestershire morning, the last day of 2013, the time had finally come to discover Geocaching ; the real-world outdoor treasure hunting game. We were ready and willing to let technology guide our journey…phone in hand, maps discarded…bring it on!

Off we went through prehistoric woodland… a Narnia world full of moss monsters, legs of giants and bearded trees…through mud, brambles and leaf ditch traps….Heart’s pounding, an iphone battery dying, panic starting…the race was on.

At last the signal from the phone -we were within 15 metres of a hidden cache. A hearty pirate cry was unleashed when from under a large pile of logs a box was found and flung open to reveal logbook and trinkets to swap. As delighted she was with the green plastic whistle, her proudest moment was writing her name and documenting the cache she traded in the little logbook, for someone else to read and someone else to find.

Back in our lovely Lewes now and very excited to see just how many Geocaches are waiting to be discovered in our local area. A brilliant activity for us landscapers to be inspired by the natural world around us and for our kid’s imaginations to run wild –more pirate adventures ahead. Just how we like it.

Nymans gardens, West Sussex now have two geocaching trails for kids and even lend out GPS devices if you don’t have one. We’ll be visiting very soon ….it’s listed under their 50 things to do before you’re 11 ¾……us grown-ups have lots of catching up to do!