35 Comments
Apr 13, 2023Liked by Jo Thompson

Hahaha and yes DFDS 🙅🏼‍♀️

Expand full comment
Apr 13, 2023Liked by Jo Thompson

So so clever!!! Utterly magical. I really appreciate your process of sitting in the clients space and tapping into that energy and intuition of their space. I do this with my interior design too. It’s ideal if you can visit when the client isn’t there on occasion to really take it in x

Expand full comment
Jan 17, 2023Liked by Jo Thompson

What a very wonderful garden that definitely embodies the original concept of family and romantic adventures. The sculptural seats are objects of surprise and beauty and I really found your DFDS! notion very interesting.

Expand full comment

What was the overall project cost? Did your clients ever consider doing the work themselves? Did they not have any interest in growing their own food?

Expand full comment
Jan 8, 2023Liked by Jo Thompson

Thank you Jo - an inspiring design and planting I admit to coveting! Thank you too for including RHS blurb on Amelanchier as am in research and sourcing mode for a dappled space alongside a fence. Once high enough top will be in full sun.

Expand full comment
Jan 7, 2023Liked by Jo Thompson

What a beautiful garden with ingenious solutions for accommodating the whole family! I love hearing about your whole design process and why some good ideas get thrown out in favour of something slightly different, and even more brilliant!

Can I ask some questions about the picture of the Chelsea garden you’ve posted on instagram today? Which rose and which astrantia are prominent? And the beautiful multi-stemmed tree - is it a hornbeam or something else? Thank you.

Expand full comment

Beats the water slide my children had !

Expand full comment

Hi Jo

Thank you so much for sharing this process with us the garden is absolutely beautiful.

The idea of the bench and pebble seats as art as well as practical use are truly inspiring.

I am always so amazed at the vision you can create from a blank space something personally I find daunting. I am really looking forward to learning so much about the inspiration behind a design as well as the process.

Expand full comment

Having spent more than a decade as an interior designer I can relate to your process. This is a truly beautiful result. It could so easily have been over-designed. Thanks for sharing.

Expand full comment
Jan 7, 2023Liked by Jo Thompson

Jo this is utterly magical. The fountain idea is brilliant. I often take my kids down to King’s Cross to play in the fountain in granary square, so the idea of having something like that in the garden which everyone can enjoy and is beautiful is genius!

Expand full comment
Jan 7, 2023Liked by Jo Thompson

Thank you for this account of how you took inspiration from your clients for this wonderful garden. I absolutely love your style. When finished it looks so easy and natural and we all know that’s the hardest thing to achieve!

As a novice garden designer I need to reign in myself to not to fall for DFDS. There is always the urge to show I can come up with clever ideas. Your story about the rill made me come to understand why.

Still, it’s easier with clients then with my own garden. I am much better at prioritizing design features for my clients than for myself. It’s too hard to let go of my little clever ideas when designing my own garden Perhaps I need a garden designer to do that for me. 😂

Expand full comment

Beautiful design and I loved learning about your process, so interesting. The shape of the curves intersecting also looks like the double helix - the essence of biology. Natural organic shapes echoed in furniture and the arcs of water jets - its humming on so many levels 💚💚

Expand full comment

I love the natural curves which take you around the garden , seeming to make it twice as long . Love the surprises as you meander down the path . Best of all the water jets ! What fun ! I assume ( being practical and a mother of 4 ) that they can be switched off mainly , and then suddenly a water garden springs up to play in on a very hot day .

Expand full comment
Jan 7, 2023Liked by Jo Thompson

Oh, I love that 2016 RHS Chelsea garden of yours, definitely one of my all time favourites. It's wonderful to see it used as inspiration for a family garden. I fully understand the issue of DFDS and I know I'm guilty of it in my own garden (I even contemplated a rill too). Keeping it simple and elegant is definitely the right way.

Expand full comment
Jan 7, 2023Liked by Jo Thompson

Looks utterly natural, a slightly tamed wild. Maintenance as little or as much as you like. Brilliant.

Expand full comment