Chosen by Suffolk garden designer Sue Townsend
Chosen by Suffolk garden designer Sue Townsend
Christopher LloydI have always loved a rebel, so when the late Christopher Lloyd dug up his traditional rose garden at Great Dixter, Sussex and planted it with exuberant exotics – bananas, cannas and dahlias galore – I was thrilled to see the exciting, clashing and colourful outcome. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but what’s wrong with a bit of fun and experimentation!
Andy Sturgeon Best in Show winner of Chelsea in 2010, Andy Sturgeon, comes high on my list of favourite contemporary garden designers. I love his use of traditional natural materials combined with innovative planting to create bold and timeless gardens with wonderful shapes, form and above all style!
Tim SmitHats off to Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project in Cornwall, below, who had the vision to create the biggest conservatories in the world – the Rainforest & Mediterranean Biomes – to showcase the incredible diversity in plant life around the globe and how we use the plants for medicine, fuels, materials and food. Fascinating!
Friday Harper You don’t want to be doing it like that ... do it like this!’ Under the tutelage of my Suffolk born and bred, septuagenarian friend and fellow gardener, Friday Harper, I have learnt how to time my sowings, feed my sandy soil and improve the yield in my fruit and vegetable patch year on year.
Beth ChattoBeth Chatto, above, the nation’s ‘plantswoman extraordinaire’, has been a tremendous inspiration to me. By carefully observing a plant’s origin and the conditions in which it grows, she has developed the principle ‘right plant for the right place.’ This mantra has helped thousands of gardeners create successful planting schemes suited to the conditions of their own gardens and underpins all my designs.
Sue Townsend Garden Design Tel: 01728 648 790 www.suetownsendgardendesign.co.uk
