Let’s face it, we all love a secret garden! A narrow passage way opening up into a little hidden areas of garden, be it woodland or filled with the promise of early spring colour. A rustic archway veiled with climbers leading to a secluded pond, as yet undiscovered by  damselflies, whirlygig beetles and pondskaters.

This month we have designed the very garden in good ol’ N8. What was particularly lovely about this brief was the client’s request for a colour palette of yellow, oranges and brown. We are loving the idea of primula vulgaris giving way to a seasonal display of geums, lupins, sumptuous iris dutch chocolate, verbascums. Followed by chocolate cosmos, heleniums and rudbeckias. All nicely foiled with a peppering of anenanthele lessionia, heucheras and the supremely elegant anthriscus ravenswing.

In complete contrast, this month has also seen us design a vast, shrubbery to cover a large open space in a school in Primrose Hill. We particularly loved the huge climbing trachelospermum Jasminoides, which we have trained into almost heart shapes to cover the fence at the back of the shrubbery. We in-filled this with passiflora, and early and late clematis. The shrubbery itself, we filled with a delightful promise of purple and white ceanothus and choisya’s, dotted with the elegant evergreen needles of the aromatic rosemary. The design was completed with clouds of catmint which will froth their way along the border.

Don’t forget to sow your broad beans now everyone, and it’s time to get those bare rooted fruit trees in!