Suffolk based, John Woods nursery have commmisioned us to prepare a design for permenant exhibition garden at Capel ManorCollege, north London.  The garden will be part of the very successful 'National Garden Centre' which was set up to offer visiting members of the public a chance to see a wide variety of gardens and be a centre of garden and horticultural ideas.  I know what you're thinking, 'where does Chelsea fit in'?  Well my friends, part of the Capel Manor garden will be exhibited in the grand marque as part of the Sunflower Strees, sponsored by the Sun news paper.

The theme of the Chelsea garden is 'upwardly mobile'.  This will mean that the small 5m x5m space will be created to have a flexibility to its design and function which, will provide an outside space that can adapt to changing requirements and conditions. This theme will also be taken into the Capel manor.

London College of Garden Design, Regents Park, London

Last night I travelled from Suffolk to attend the 1st Anniversary of the London College of Garden Design (Regents College, Regents Park, London) opening, attended by the great and the good, including myself, as well as a number of the students form its inaugral course in Garden Design. Normally, I am sceptical of students on garden design courses but the ones I spoke to seemed well grounded, albeit still alot of growing to do in the profession, naturally given their short exposure. They are without doubt though, in safe hands, with an excellent pedigree of course directors in Mark Gregory (Landscape Construction Guru), Andrew Wilson (Designer, Writer and RHS judge) and Andrew Fisher-Tomlin (Designer, Writer, All round decent chap and Thrive Trustee). It was an honour to be invited and to have the opportunity to meet garden designers of the future and Chloe remember to send your CV to me at deakinlock garden design!

Congratualtions to the students and directors on a great achievement and a successful 1st year - Happy Birthday.

Our office is based in a Garden Centre and over the last few weeks I have noticed a continued and steady flow of people in the Garden Centre, more so than previously experienced. It is by no co-incidence that we have had above average weather conditions, some 7 degrees above the seasonal average of 14 degrees, reported recently.  So is this flurry of activity a sign of a recovery in consumer confidence? Is it a sign that the consumer is improving there surroundings because they are planning to spend more time in there gardens this summer? Is it the result of a great marketing campaign? It could be all or none of these but one thing is certain, when the sun shines it makes a difference.

But the weather aside, there are signs movement in housing stock, estate agents are seeing a slow recovery in there activity, mortgage approvals are on the increase for the first time in 12 months. The Government have announced an increase in house building initiatives in the budget and some developers are starting to re-open sites they had moth balled which has to be good news. But it will take time for this to filter through to being on site and landscaping a new build site.

So where does that leave the current market. Still on a very fine line, the grey pound (55-65 market) was always a sure bet with dividends funding projects for many landscapers across the country – it is again no co-incidence that this is/was the biggest market for most. The high rollers are perhaps not rolling so high now and those at the bottom of the market have all but gone. So here does that leave the many garden designers and landscapers until this happens?

Building links with other businesses and sharing opportunities is a way forward, it is not very sophisticated or scientific, but it will broad your potential network of contacts and therefore potential work.  There is still a long hill to climb and we cannot just rely on the weather.

If you’re planning to stay put at home this year, sacrificing the family holiday abroad for a so-called “staycation”, you’re not alone.  There are 3.7 million of us in the UK doing just that this year.  So, assuming it gets a bit warmer, the Blackberry will be parked for a week and we’ll soak up the sun in the garden.  Just imagine if you could recline on your sun-lounger in complete privacy on a beautiful stone terrace, surrounded by scented herbs,  enjoying the view of the birds and the damselflies around the pond.   Wake up – it’s just a dream!  However, if you’d like some help converting your dreams into reality, give us a call.  deakinlock could create your dream garden within just a few weeks!

It’s bad enough if you have nosey neighbours. But what if you have noisy neighbours instead?   Perfectly nice people can seem like neighbours from hell when they have dogs constantly yapping,  their lawnmower starting up at 8 am precisely every Sunday morning or a constant stream of high-volume visitors in their garden.  Thank goodness deakinlock knows all about the best foliage, fencing solutions and planting techniques that will help to reduce the sound of unwelcome outdoor noise.  [...........] Hear that?  That’s the best sound in the world. The sound of silence.  Enjoy your holidays!