When I merrily accepted in September James Rudoni’s invitation to chat for a few minutes at RHS Wisley, November 17th seemed a long, long way away. I’ve just looked at the calender. Ah.
Apparently I’m talking about garden design trends in 2011, so I’m feverishly poring over our most recent designs to see if there’s any common denominator: the list so far is pizza ovens, herbaceous borders, hot tubs, stepped hedges, walled gardens, rose gardens, false perspective walkway, banana-shaped benches, wildflower meadows, rooftop gazebo, outdoor kitchen, rainwater harvesters, pergolas, mirrored trellis, totally new garden on SAND (oh yes) and outdoor game console stations. Hmm but which of these is a trend for 2011? Lots of these are clients’ specifications (though my son is enthralled by the idea of Wii en plein air), but I guess I can still call them design trends.
The great news is that James Rudoni has just been made Director of Gardens for the RHS. He’s certainly worked his magic at Wisley: a fabulous destination which is becoming more and more of a great place to go. (Did they break the conker record I wonder?) I intend to get there first thing and have a good old snoop and a bit of a spend in the gorgeous bookshop.
To-do list today: Green Places article, chase some surveys, finish moving into the new studio built by The Pirate in the garden, and the planting design for a fabulous new walled garden in Kent, followed by another dog walk in which I hope to teach him to find his brakes and to stop using me as a buffer
There are lots of hugely-exciting things afoot, but I can’t say anything about anything at the moment, hence my brief posts – I just don’t trust myself not to spill the beans if I write any more…
