Sue Townsend - Garden Designer - in conversation

Summary

Join us as we dive into the world of Sue Townsend, a renowned garden designer, in this insightful and heartwarming conversation. Hosted by Garden Masterclass, this exchange explores Townsend's unique approach to creating lush, immersive garden spaces, deeply informed by her experiences and the challenging climate of her Suffolk home. From her days as a European lobbyist to transforming gardens with a focus on biodiversity and climate resilience, Townsend shares her journey with wit and wisdom. Discover how her own expansive garden serves as both a testing ground and a masterpiece, while revealing the inspirations and challenges that fuel her creative process.

Highlights

• Sue Townsend transitioned from a career in European affairs to garden design, driven by a need for creativity in her life 🌱.
• Her extensive garden in Suffolk serves as her canvas and experimentation space, allowing her to push the boundaries of garden design.
• Despite harsh climate challenges, Sue successfully employs Mediterranean and drought-tolerant plants to create vibrant landscapes in Suffolk.
• Her innovative use of ponds and biodiversity enhancements showcases her commitment to environmentally friendly and beautiful solutions 💧.
• Sue’s work, while deeply personal, serves as an educational tool and inspiration for her clients and fellow designers.

Key Takeaways

• Sue’s journey from European politics to a celebrated garden designer is inspiring and proves that career pivots can lead to passion-filled success stories.
• Her work now emphasizes adapting to extreme climate conditions, showcasing how garden design can offer solutions to environmental challenges 🌿.
• Townsend's gardens in Suffolk prioritize biodiversity, incorporating ponds and drought-tolerant plants that thrive despite challenging conditions 🌻.
• Her participation in international learning experiences highlights the importance of continuous education and inspiration from global experts.
• Sue’s creativity is reflected in her use of resources like recycled construction material for her garden projects, making her work sustainable and innovative 🌿.

Overview

Sue Townsend's journey from lobbying in European politics to becoming a renowned garden designer is a story of passion and transformation. After realizing the disconnect between her career and her creative aspirations, Sue took the bold step to study garden design. Her background in international politics, coupled with her travels, influences her design approach, integrating a global perspective into her local projects.

Settling in Suffolk, Sue tackled the challenges of harsh, dry conditions head-on, crafting gardens that thrive despite limited rainfall. Her own home and expansive garden became a proving ground for her innovative ideas, where she experiments with drought-tolerant plantings, recycled materials, and biodiversity-focused designs. Sue's commitment extends beyond aesthetics, aiming for gardens that are ecologically beneficial and resilient to climate change.

Through her work, Sue has also emphasized the importance of continuous learning and networking, frequently seeking inspiration and knowledge from both local and international experts. Her gardens are not just beautiful spaces but are also testaments to sustainable practices. Townsend continues to inspire both clients and the gardening community with her commitment to marrying functionality with stunning, natural beauty.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Welcome The chapter provides an introductory welcome to the audience, acknowledging different time zones by greeting universally. It information about the 'Thursday Garden Chat', a weekly Public Service Broadcast by Garden Masterclass, and mentions that the recordings are uploaded to their YouTube channel and podcast channel, noting the latter as a recent innovation. It also outlines the organization's usual operations involving live workshops.
• 00:30 - 02:30: Upcoming Events and Workshops The chapter 'Upcoming Events and Workshops' outlines events for the upcoming months, focusing on a webinar scheduled for December 10th with Matt Pottage. The webinar will discuss life after leandi making conifers socially acceptable again, highlighting a blend of in-person events during warmer months and webinars during cooler months.
• 02:30 - 05:00: Innovation in Podcasting and Membership Benefits The chapter titled 'Innovation in Podcasting and Membership Benefits' begins with a humorous and enthusiastic mention of a person named Matt, who is known for his love of conifers. The discussion then transitions to upcoming events, detailing a break for Christmas, with the next event scheduled for January 8th featuring Neil Lucas. Lucas is recognized for his significant contributions to promoting ornamental grasses in Britain. Additionally, the chapter notes the resumption of a program or event known as 'bad,' marked for its third iteration starting in January.
• 05:00 - 06:00: Spotlight on Designer: Sue Townsend The chapter titled 'Spotlight on Designer: Sue Townsend' discusses the ongoing botany course with Caroline Jackson, which has been running for two years. The new season's focus is yet to be decided, but those signing up will have access to previous sessions. Updates and information will be available on the website and diary pages.
• 06:00 - 12:00: Discussion with Sue Townsend: Personal Background and Transition to Garden Design The chapter titled 'Discussion with Sue Townsend: Personal Background and Transition to Garden Design' includes an introduction to upcoming content geared towards garden designers and landscape architects. It highlights future courses covering construction detailing and visualization, promising practical, hands-on learning experiences. Additionally, the chapter mentions the growing collection of podcasts available on a subscription site, emphasizing their relevance and usefulness for the professional development of garden designers and landscape architects.
• 12:00 - 20:00: Surviving the Local Climate and Garden Design Philosophy The chapter introduces a new initiative, a members-only podcast site linked with a substack for members. The membership includes discounts and special perks. The upcoming launch includes a special series with a guest, providing exclusive content for subscribers.
• 20:00 - 25:00: Focus on Drought-Tolerant Plants and Meadows The chapter features retired ecologist Ken Thompson engaging in myth-busting around gardening practices alongside CLA Greenslade, a head gardener from Somerset. They explore the topic of garden shrubs in a way that balances being informative with a casual tone. The discussion aims to provide an opportunity for learning about plants while multitasking, such as weeding, planting, or driving.
• 25:00 - 30:00: Climate Change Impact on Gardening The chapter discusses the impact of climate change on gardening and the efforts to adapt through the use of podcasts and newsletters. It encourages listeners to sign up for their monthly newsletter to stay informed about new gardening techniques and updates, specifically designed for garden master class members. The utilization of various mediums, like podcasts, serves as a tool to disseminate knowledge and engage with the gardening community.
• 30:00 - 36:00: Learning from International Garden Experts The chapter discusses plans for communication with members about a new series going live. A newsletter will be sent out to update all the members about the new material and changes. It is also noted that the upcoming Thursday Garden chat is the last one before Christmas, reflecting on the odd timing.
• 36:00 - 47:00: Garden Design Projects and Client Interaction The chapter highlights a discussion about a new book by CLA Foster and Andrew Montgomery titled 'Pastol.' The author expresses admiration for the book, noting its gorgeous visuals and unique range of lesser-known private gardens featured in it. The book's beauty is emphasized, especially through Andrew Montgomery's photography. There is a mention of a scheduled discussion about the book, encouraging readers to note it in their diaries for next Thursday. Additionally, the chapter hints at anticipation for the authors' upcoming winter book.
• 47:00 - 56:00: Design Process and Elements in Sue's Gardens The chapter provides an overview of a segment on design process and elements in 'Sue's Gardens.' It recalls past discussions and presentations, mentioning the visual quality of previous work that was primarily in black and white. The emphasis is on an upcoming event where Sue Townend will lead a session called 'Spotlight on Designers.' This session seems to be part of a recurring theme or series intended to highlight designers and their work at intervals.
• 56:00 - 62:00: Exploring International Landscapes and Inspirations The chapter explores the experiences and inspirations of designers by focusing on individual designers, learning about their backgrounds, and discussing their work. One key personality featured is Sue, who is known for her daily sea swimming. The narrative is conversational and highlights personal interests that influence the creative process.
• 62:00 - 85:20: Q&A and Audience Interaction The chapter 'Q&A and Audience Interaction' discusses the experience and joy of swimming in the sea daily without a wet suit, regardless of the weather or waves. The speaker emphasizes the invigorating nature of such swims, highlighting a routine of going early in the morning around sunrise to meet friends on the beach for a swim and social gathering.
• 85:20 - 87:00: Closing Remarks and Gratitude In the final chapter titled 'Closing Remarks and Gratitude,' the speaker reflects on the beauty and tranquility of the sea, describing vibrant Flamingo-colored skies and the serene blue tones that can greet early risers. They mention encounters with nature, such as a group of geese flying overhead or a playful seal popping up to greet them. These experiences are portrayed as enriching and invigorating, setting a positive tone for the day ahead. The chapter concludes with expressions of gratitude for these small yet significant moments that contribute to a sense of well-being and appreciation for the natural world.

Sue Townsend - Garden Designer - in conversation Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 oh well yes so hello we say good evening but it may be another time of day wherever you are so good whatever delighted that you're joining us this evening um Thursday Garden chat which is the weekly Public Service broadcast of garden master class and these recordings go to our YouTube channel um and in some cases to our podcast Channel which is a Innovation over over the last couple of months um our normal business is live workshops
• 00:30 - 01:00 during the uh warmer months and webinars during the cooler months and just a little reminder about what's coming up in the next uh couple of well really over the next month or so um our last webinar Before Christmas is on the 10th of December with Matt pottage um life after leandi making so conifers socially acceptable again um
• 01:00 - 01:30 oh you've got you've got to if you don't like conifers you've got to tune in Matt is so funny and he's so witty and he loves conifers um and then we take a break for Christmas after Christmas our first event is the 8th of January with Neil Lucas we're going to be doing an update on ornamental grasses with uh the man who's probably uh done more to promote them in in Britain than than anyone else and we'll also be restarting in Jan January the third iteration of bad
• 01:30 - 02:00 botany with Caroline Jackson which is a wonderful introduction to Botany We've ran it run it for two years now and um this this third season will be um looking at well hav quite decided quite which families yet but Caroline is working on this um and anyone who signs up new for this will get access to the the previous presentations uh so if you're not familiar with us do keep an eye on our website and our diary Pages uh where
• 02:00 - 02:30 we've got um a lot of really quite serious content coming up uh in the New Year particularly for guard designers Landscape Architects we've got a couple of courses construction detailing visualization um you know very useful Hands-On stuff so now uh I mentioned our subst site for podcasts uh We've getting quite a nice collection of podcasts
• 02:30 - 03:00 there uh and uh this over the next week we're going to be starting an innovation which is a a separate pod stack substack podcast site for members because we have membership and membership entitles you to uh various discounts and various goodies uh but this will be an extra special thing which will be for members only uh we're starting off with a a short series with um a seric
• 03:00 - 03:30 retired ecologist Ken Thompson who's going to be Garden mythbusting in with CLA greenslade um who's our tame head Gardner from Somerset and in the New Year Caroline Jackson and I will be doing a serious information heavy um serious but not too serious uh look at Garden shrubs which would be a nice way to learn about plants uh whilst doing something else like weeding or planting or driving or
• 03:30 - 04:00 or or whatever uh so trying to make the most of the the podcast as as as a medium anyway um do look at our website keep in touch with those diary Pages if you are new to us want to keep in touch then do please sign up for the um monthly newsletter uh so and the fact a newsletter will be going out this this coming weekend which will be a particular interest to members we we'll be talking about all the new things we're going to be doing for garden master class members what's Mark saying
• 04:00 - 04:30 will you reach out to members what's your question mark will you reach out to members uh when the new series goes live we will do yes we're going to be doing a we'll do a members newsletter um after that just just flagging up every all the changes we're going to uh be instituting and all the all the new material we'll be putting out so I think um Anie over yeah and we should also mention next week's Thursday Garden chat which will be the last one before Christmas oddly enough I mean it's gosh it seems weird
• 04:30 - 05:00 to say that but um and it's um with CLA Foster and Andrew Montgomery uh and their new book called pastol and I look through it today and oh my days what a beautiful book uh it is just drop dead gorgeous I mean Andrew's photographs are always beautiful but it and it's got a really interesting range of of not so well-known Gardens private Gardens but I mean do put that in your diary so that's next Thursday um but it's they're going to be talking about it's Absolut beautiful um their their winter book
• 05:00 - 05:30 that they did a couple of years ago we we had them on talking about it and it was equally lovely in fact most of it was in black and white I seem to remember but but this is really really Sumptuous you can imagine um so um so do put that put that note in your in your in your diary um right so um yes tonight Sue townend is going to start off with our um what we call Spotlight on designers so I've had this sort of idea for a while that every now and again we
• 05:30 - 06:00 will focus on a designer and sort of find out a bit more about them and chat to them and have a look at their work um and I've had Sue um poor Sue she she knows I've targeted her for quite a while um anyway Sue hello it's lovely lovely to have you on oh thanks for having me an and it's it's a pleasure and um and I know you've been swimming this morning because you are a daily sea swimmer AR yeah I am mad
• 06:00 - 06:30 without the aid of a wet suit that's right yes we we're really lucky because we um we live really close to the Sea and um swim there every day um throughout the year whatever the weather whatever the wave and um I really love it it's the most invigorating thing do you go really really early in the morning well yeah we do actually we sort of get down there for Sunrise so wow um meet up on the beach and have a big hug with some just friends of our who oh
• 06:30 - 07:00 nice and get into the sea and you might have like Flamingo colored Skies or wow really Steely blue yeah and um you know there's times if you if you get in there you might have a um a geese fly over so oh gorgeous your head or you could have a I don't know a seal you just pop up and say hello seriously oh so it really sets you up for the day and gets wakes you up yeah it's not just it's not just
• 07:00 - 07:30 the sea though because it's also that how we get to the Sea because we have to sort of drive drive or ride in the summer across the um westleton Heath in the summer if you can just imagine it's like purple everywhere so you've got all the heath land you got the head out there you've got these punctuated with these beautiful um white white stems of Silver Birch and the smell of the gor it's just it's just a really way so it's a sort of multi- sensory experience and so connected with
• 07:30 - 08:00 your landscape and you work and um so so that sort of leads us into where you are in the country because there's a few people here who are not in the country and so they want to know where you are so yeah can you just explain exactly geographically where you're located yes so I live in um westleton which is a very small village in suffk in East Anglia so we're the furthest Part North H past past furthest point east in the country wow yes so lowest stop is is the
• 08:00 - 08:30 furthest point east and we only about 20 minutes from there yeah yeah and um we're 2 miles in now from the sea and not far from the sea lovely Seaside towns like walberswick dunich um southw alra yeah and then what yeah so so people who've been to Beth chatow you're a good hour and a bit beyond that yeah yes we're further north and we've got the like best we're in East angle we've got the lowest rainfall in the country so we get less than 600 Mill millimeters
• 08:30 - 09:00 a year W yeah yeah but um I'd say that we're a bit more extreme than um Beth chatos because we've got the salt Laden winds and right right we've also got like sandy soil so yeah wow so it's quite extreme quite a combo quite a comb yeah so that so that really has an impact in the types of plants that I grow really in the Gard so so before we get into your garden design work you you know you've you've not always been a garden designer
• 09:00 - 09:30 so can you just tell us a bit about your life before garden design yeah um well like like many Garden designers I'm sure sitting out there I come from um a completely different background to garden design um I did my degree in Europe in politics economics law French and Spanish and and that meant that I had a really great time um on having a year abroad in France and Spain and then I went traveling around South America America and I saw some fantastic
• 09:30 - 10:00 Landscapes um I was in the jungle I was up in the Andes on the altiplano it was just incredible I mean just really amazing but obviously we all have to get down to work so a bit depressingly so I came back to UK and um I knew that I wanted to um work in Brussels because that was my background my degree so I became a European lobest and I worked in London and then I worked in Brussels and it was fantastic because I was using my
• 10:00 - 10:30 languages I was working Europe was a really exciting place at the time and um then I sort of decided that um I wanted to use my lobbying skills on a different cause so I returned to the UK and I worked on International Development right right and um so one of I think one of the proudest moments of that stage my life was that um I was part of a team that took the UK government Court um over a fun funding of a dam in Malaysia
• 10:30 - 11:00 called the pergal dam right and we proved in the high court that um the UK government had misused 234 million pounds worth of money wow hell of a lot money so he won that money back into the a budget wow fantastic you I know it just it was just not an achievement and and so what then what made you head off towards the gardens and the landscape what what was it that you know yeah well I was sort of really toying with um um you know I knew
• 11:00 - 11:30 there something was missing in my life at that time and I I think it was really creativity and and I at that stage I'd always made my own clothes when I was a kid um from the age of 10 um making my first summer dress and then when I was I made my own wedding dress um oh W yes and um all from scratch no pattern I had to do it myself and my grandparents had given me um you know the the fabric and it was wonderful um but hadn't done art
• 11:30 - 12:00 and so I thought oh God it's a bit pipe dream going into fashion um and we would we just bought our own home and I was looking up outside the house and thinking my God you know we've got this patch of land here and it was just derel and we're in state Newton I thought what are we going to do with that so I don't know if you remember it was early like in the 90s a long time ago and lights of um Andy sturgeon was on telly um derc Gavin um there are whole loads of people
• 12:00 - 12:30 um coming out it's all getting very exciting in garden design and there's a magazine called um the new Eden do you remember yeah yeah yeah that's right yeah um and so I I sort of got this suddenly got this passion I wanted to know as much as I could about plants and design how to lay out this garden and so I signed up for a course at Cal Mana in North not a fellow Cal Mana person no did you go there yeah but a long time before you Su a long time anyway I've been in it yeah yeah no I did I started off at C
• 12:30 - 13:00 yeah yeah all right well so I was there I did three three years of course I did the um part part-time courses I had a six-month year old and I had a toddler so I I was working part-time six Monon year old toddler and then doing three years of courses um in foundation in Garden sign um Garden sign and then I did the hard Landscaping which is right thoroughly recommend anyone doing that because it's yeah know how to build Gardens yeah yeah and I don't know if you did this but I was really determined to um get as much experience as I could
• 13:00 - 13:30 so um I offered my services as a laborer and a a planter to a couple of garden designers up here in in well up there in STO newon yeah and it was really hard work you know I was just I this one Garden I was working on I had to um it was obviously London is clay and I had to um put a whole load of um dig out a whole load of um heavy clay barrish up to skips and then and then just at the
• 13:30 - 14:00 end of day I was completely unly shattered I'd sort of have to go back and breastfeed my baby yeah and then start the next day studying or working whatever I was doing so yeah so I sort of did that whole work then finished the um the courses and started up my business in 2001 in working on residential Gardens right but you were still in London at that point I was still in London but and also I was really quite lucky because I had um the
• 14:00 - 14:30 opportunity of being um getting a job as the blue Peter Gardener so yeah so it was an offscreen role um but um I you know had to come up with ideas for the show yeah then I also had to um they said suddenly turn around and said would you like to redesign the garden yeah and I'd only just C out of college I was thinking you let do design the most iconic Garden in the
• 14:30 - 15:00 um so um what you think I did I just went home I got out the plas scene as you do you watch and everything's made of plastin and I made a little model I took it in and they um started filming the show so then I had to sort of be on telly for a little a couple of episodes and um yeah so that's when you know I was doing that as I was um the garden actually unfortunately was never made because they decided they're going to up sticks and go up to Manchester oh right yeah yeah yeah but but what a what a
• 15:00 - 15:30 great kind of experience a bit of a baptism of fire and and that you said you said you do it that's great no it good and and then we decided we were going to come up to um live in suffk anyway because we wanted to bring up our girls next to um it's surrounded by nature and near the so we came up here and then I had to make a name for myself up here yeah and so the way that I did that um was really by building our own garden right and um that meant I sort of got in contact with landscape papers and sort sused out the nurseries I'd need to
• 15:30 - 16:00 really um be working with and um then I also decided that I need to set myself aside apart from other designers in the area because other people were well known knew me yeah so I thought well I'm going to become a member of St of garden designers and also of barley so I you know had to submit all my work and I did that so that's that's how I was creating your own garden about trying to so well under understanding the local climate
• 16:00 - 16:30 and sort of you know was it becoming a would it become a showcase as well for your work was it was it you kind of getting getting to grips with this new environment that you were in yes it was very much like that I mean you know I was used to um gardening on on clay in London and so I came up here and it was just complete sandy soil so um it you know I just had to I I just thought I need to sort of get to the grips of my own landscape and um what better way of doing to build your own garden yeah yeah
• 16:30 - 17:00 fantastic and I mean we've got these lovely rolling pictures that are happening at the moment taken by marann and by Richard Bloom and and just showing how gorgeous your work is so so once you so how big is your own home Garden then what's the sort of footprint of that is it well it's quite big it's not an average Garden um it's um it's a it's we've got 11 acres right and um it the garden was originally designed by my wonderful um um late father-in-law um am Turner yeah and it's
• 17:00 - 17:30 um a garden of the mind um it really is we've got some eccentric things in there so oh lovely I mean you must come one day yeah no I will definitely yeah it's got um we've got uh the replica of the first Stone Henge in our garden made it's not it's not made out of stone it's made out of the lift doors of the former ICI HQ that used to be there's some really things here oh
• 17:30 - 18:00 fantastic yeah yeah so so your work I mean you know your work well locating a new home you know New Garden or or new to you anyway um H and you know and now you've you've really started to build your name on on Gardens you know drought tolerant Gardens and Gardens of that you know in in that sort of area or those sort of conditions so how has your work developed I mean what how many years have you been up in suffk now well we've been up here for 20 years now oh wow wow
• 18:00 - 18:30 so quite a while so can you can you see how you've developed and changed during that period of time in terms of your work and how and your planting palette and all of that yeah yes I mean I mean as I mentioned you know we we've got um we've got the lowest rainfall salt Laden winds and Sanda in the strip where I actually live um so excuse me so all of my plant all of my um my plant palette has to be um predominantly Mediterranean
• 18:30 - 19:00 and those that can survive in sort of Seaside conditions um but I have been also um thanks to the help of the likes and love lovely books I've got here of um uh James hitchmo and Nigel dunet I've been exploring um different types of Meadows um a lot of my clients up here um not all but a lot of them are um living in the seaside towns they then up here for the summer and time you have um they arrive in say July or something the
• 19:00 - 19:30 majority of The Meadows is just going over so if you have a meadow that is going into um that has a longer shelf life as it were and has perennials that are going to last longer and also feed the um pollinators for longer then in my book that you know that's a really good thing to do yeah I've been looking at that um but the other thing that's really I think the really major thing that's happened to me whilst I've been up here because we're in such an extreme conditions is that um I've been looking
• 19:30 - 20:00 at climate change mhm and um you know when it's when when we had the drought of 2022 I was cycling to the beach from my swim and um every morning I was I found it really shocking to see all this wonderful he Heather just dying in front of me wow and um it was really depressing and we lost 50% no 60% of the Heather on our Heath W which is a a lot of and of habitat so um I just sort of
• 20:00 - 20:30 looked at our garden as well and we lost had lost masses and massives of trees in that Pat had P we call them Pat as well as amade um Pat had planted um quite a lot of conifers in my front garden which I planted all with drought tolerant planting anyway um there were a few plants like um Cal calres brai cha that had sort of just couldn't take the dryness of the soil and I only use that now on really um you know free drain but
• 20:30 - 21:00 retentive soils um so I sort took out all the plants that were were not going to last long term and then um but there were like you know some real survivors like P plur and fruticosum Pia G all of those plants were doing really brilliantly and I V that I was going to um learn more about the types of ways of gardening in these conditions and that's where you com in
• 21:00 - 21:30 Annie you and all I mean I must say it's been um it's been really brilliant because you guys have um given me the opportunity to learn so much I mean and I'm really really grateful because um you know I I came with you to south of France you did you did yes you did and and and Sardinia this year yes yes so we've seen some really amazing Landscapes yeah um learned from you know the likes of Olivia Filipe on on
• 21:30 - 22:00 gardening on in really dry conditions yeah and James hitchmo and lovely Marco his beautiful work at Boran yeah yeah and so so who who else do you sort of look to for inspiration who are your sort of key or or there certain Gardens that you gravitate to so where do you do your sort of research part from garden masterclass of course yeah yeah yeah but mean the fact is that Anie but a lot of these did come from you as well but you
• 22:00 - 22:30 know you know the prompt is from oh there's a wonderful event happening oh should we just go and have a look at the delos Garden assisting her for example so I went um and saw Dan Pearson and what he'd done there yeah to had actually consulted um Olivia Filipe in South France and then there's people like um Peter Kar in Sweden and so I've been really listening to how he um Gardens and using like 20 200 MIM of
• 22:30 - 23:00 gritty sharp sand planting be Roots um there's a quite a long list um there's a of course John Little's just down the road for me really is exactly John Little John little and and his habitat creation so I've been doing stuff yeah um with that too um then Tom Stewart Smith um and the you know we're we're just so lucky aren't we to have that we are we are Library so yeah yeah yeah so Beth chatter obviously the yeah yeah and so and so your clients
• 23:00 - 23:30 I mean are your clients sort of asking you for you know how how how sort of informed are they are they looking did they come and see your garden I mean do you use it as a bit of a showcase or not yes I do actually I mean do I mean I've been doing um lots of stuff I'll tell you about that in a minute but um but I mean my dark Gardens uh my uh the clients I have um they probably don't come to me because of the drought Toler stuff they because I'm probably don't make enough of it on my website or
• 23:30 - 24:00 promotional things but um they come to me um because I'm in the area because I'm know what's going to grow yeah and um and so it's really a case of me educating the garden uh my clients as to what's work what's not going to work and steering them away from the sort of you know more moisture loving plants and and trying to sort of get the feel of what they're after if it is a typical Eng Country Garden but you plants are going
• 24:00 - 24:30 to survive long term yeah and and I mean interesting actually on the back of the webinar we had last night with James hitchmo about you know design versus management you know how many of your clients have gardeners or or are you educating them to look after their own Gardens is it you know how how does that work or does it vary greatly it varies quite a lot really I mean I've got some um clients who are real plants plants people and really and that might be why they've come to me as well so some people really Hands-On and then other
• 24:30 - 25:00 people aren't um and it's literally we're going to be up these weekends or you know I just need someone to look after it so there are some um there's some really great um teams that I can put their way um it is hard to find garden um Gard gardeners but um I try and put any any sort of good Horticultural people in contact with potential clients or clients yeah I mean that that that is one of the the big issues isn't it sort of you know
• 25:00 - 25:30 first question really is who's looking after the garden isn't it yes absolutely yeah yeah so so you know the majority of your clients are within the your area or do you do you dip back into London or do you just stay up in suffk now or you well I mean I I mean suffk is really big enormous you look at on map it's really big so um and um but I do you know I design throughout suffk um and further a field um I do dip into London
• 25:30 - 26:00 occasionally but not recently yeah you know I think it's you know there have plenty of really good designers down in London and you know if I have my area of expertise it's good to know the landscape and so I think I can offer so definely yes I I designed to all different types of gardens um to PE lots of different tastes yeah oh that's good so so you know now you're you're sort of well into this you know career up in suff where do you see yourself moving
• 26:00 - 26:30 and going where do you see your work and how do you see it developing um I mean you talked about being you know very focused on climate change but um what what what do you sort of see for the you know the future the near future and and yeah well I've got I mean I think what I've been doing more recently in the last few years is um is thinking more about the biodiversity and climate change as I've mentioned already and so I've been including more and more ponds into um clients Gardens and that's just
• 26:30 - 27:00 so nice to sort of have the um see what an impact it has on Wildlife how much it brings into the garden and and see the connection that you have the clients have with with nature and that's really beautiful and I've been you know um but what's really exciting for me at the moment is that in the last year we've been doing some work in our own garden um up until um very up until about a year ago if we plant anything in the main Garden it was eaten by Monk Jack or
• 27:00 - 27:30 or bunnies and so oh God yeah so depressing yeah and um so we took the plunge U last year and we actually have um rabbit proofed and monk Jack proofed about six acres wow gosh that's that's no mean feet either is it no no yeah and expensive too yeah exactly and and but what that's done is it's meant that we've got the opportunity of um doing a number of projects which I really want to use my case um case studies or you
• 27:30 - 28:00 know that I can show clients um how things um could be so there five five projects that we've got underway there's like habitat creation we've made a a natural swimming Pond used all the crush concrete and sand that came out from the original Canal that was there um yeah P to make a crush concrete and sand um Garden experimental garden and then um I've done a gravel Garden further up the
• 28:00 - 28:30 garden and then finally I've been planting um trees for the future right right so that's what I've been doing but it's um but it's it's quite it's been it's been a real learning curve because yeah I mean the heart I think now in our garden the swimming Pond has become the heart of the garden we've got it's the Beating Heart oh you've got all the dragonflies like scooting across and you along and you've got these wonderful little be iridescent Beatles I've got no
• 28:30 - 29:00 idea what they're called right scooting around and having a a great you did you guys construct the swimming Pond yourselves no no you got somebody because because it is a bit of an art isn't it yeah yes yes yes that's nice to get it to get the balance right and everything yeah yeah it takes time but I think the bit that I've been you know from all the work that you know I've been following with you guys is um I've sort tried to put put that into practice in the concrete Garden so um in the in
• 29:00 - 29:30 the sort of concrete Garden I've sort of create have created four beds right and added created different environments in each of those beds by um putting each the uh planting plants be root into um micro risal fungi and then oh right then putting them in one bed and then in another bed we dipped the um beo plants into the special compost that we made which all the microorganism from our garden yeah planted that and then in two
• 29:30 - 30:00 others the plants just went bare root oh right okay and then but the thing was an I was doing it um because do you remember when we were in France um uh Olivia said do you have to perform these little bassan these yes yeah yeah so I form these little bowls around the um uh around each of the plants so that all the rain Waters could gather yeah and what what's H been happening this year Annie is just like rained oh of course yeah yeah so so there's little puddles everywhere yes we've got swimming plants
• 30:00 - 30:30 oh gosh I mean that's the difficult thing isn't it about climate change because it's not just getting hotter and drier it's getting wetter and windier you know I mean it's so hard to deal with isn't it it's really hard to plan for um yeah but it but luckily you know we only had a couple of fatalities um yeah and then over the summer things dried out a bit and and now it's you know things are setting putting their roots look it looks looking good it's
• 30:30 - 31:00 yeah yeah well that's interesting that you you I think we saw an image of it when the when the images were rolling the sort of four the four quadrants of of the of the gravel or concrete Garden um you it's fascinating so and the trees for the future are you have you have you got henrik's book are you I it's here that's good no but I mean I was yeah lovely so so what's your um you know what what are your top tips for trees for the future are you are you looking toward for Henrik and AR's book
• 31:00 - 31:30 or are you trying different ones yourselves or well I think there's a fantastic resource that they've um prepared so um I've spoke I've I've used um suggestions um from them um but I have to adapt everything to my soil and that's that's what I'd love this book to have a little bit more information on is the actual soil type right that's so I have actually done my own research so I've been choosing plants that are going to be suited to s soil as well as the salt as well as the um lack of yeah wind
• 31:30 - 32:00 and lack of rain yeah yeah just and I spoken to BS and spoken to deep down and try and brought together a whole L of um everyone's ideas as to what would suit my soil so yeah that's interesting and that was one thing I was going to ask you how well served are you for nurseries up in in your corner of the country um yeah well we've got I mean we've got we're very very well served for um perennials so I can't speak highly enough of um of uh Howard
• 32:00 - 32:30 nurseries yeah yeah so it's Christine Howard who's got her Nursery up up in disc so they they sell lots of be root plants which is the way to go in the future it really is you don't have any of the compost issues you don't have the you know peep free and all that stuff they do all that as well but yeah there is there's a season where you can get your plants and so they're my number one go-to right there are some shrub nurseries around um smaller ones as well um but we don't
• 32:30 - 33:00 have quite as many um as and so sometimes I have to bring in things from further field like palmstead and places and they yeah so and then of course deepdale and Barts are not that far from you are they really B's closer details a bit further but yeah yeah good placees well good and so maybe let maybe have a little chat about some specific projects that you've done then so um or or you know client project s and stories you know particular ones that you've that
• 33:00 - 33:30 have sort of you know that you've really enjoyed doing well yeah there's um I think the one that's on the on the sort of promotional um thing you did on Instagram um that's um a garden uh for lovely lovely family clients of mine and it's the third time that I've um designed their Garden so they started off in London then they moved out to near Henley and they're they're great fun number one um so it's a GU it's a really nice design in that it has so
• 33:30 - 34:00 many different facets it's a family with teenagers and um so there needed to be a teenage Zone a place to play table tennis a place to have a really um wonderful time um just uh chilling out and then dining areas place to grow their own FEG and then they also had an apothecary Garden which had gone to ruin um it had been designed by somebody before previously but I was brought into to sort of regenerate it as well wow had
• 34:00 - 34:30 to um do a bit of research and find out um which plants are going to sort of cure all the ailments of the family wow so they they literally do use the plants it's not just a sort of a showpiece they literally do I believe they do yeah yeah W they try to yeah I believe I mean they should do if they don't they're watching but yes um that was the whole thing but I know that they do it for one thing because um where the Apothecary Gard is it's where you have we've
• 34:30 - 35:00 created a Terrace there so they could Overlook where the sun sets so they could pop in um just lean over and pop pop any of the Botanical plants that we put um that we' grown their gin and tonic or whatever lovely yeah that's my kind of AO Apothecary yeah yeah exactly great yeah yeah and then and then um so that's that's that lovely um uh family and client um Garden and um it was up for an award last year
• 35:00 - 35:30 as well unfortunately didn't get it but it was up one of the SD Awards yeah and so I'm very proud of that and um and then there's this other um Garden I'm working on which is on the other side of the a12 for me so it's not far in this called yoxford and um my clients had been to the Houser and worth um Garden of P2 dolphins in um suers and they really like that garden and so they um asked me if I could recreate that and I said well I can recreate that but I
• 35:30 - 36:00 think we need to have a bit more structure in your in the in yours and so we've added some multi-stem trees and some corus and a few shrubs and um that's going really well the garden's gone through a drought and we had these fishes in the in the soil which were just enormous the year of the drought G through the wetest year now yeah we had there were a few losses of plants along the way so we've just um been doing a a
• 36:00 - 36:30 session of dividing well my clients been doing all of this um dividing and getting in a few more plants because it's going to be open next year for the in I think I think she said 19th of September but it's right right so that's exciting so yeah yeah it's a really it's a really lovely space and do you work on your own do you have people help you how do you how do you go about your design work well I predominantly work on my own over the years I've had various um
• 36:30 - 37:00 Freelancers come in and help me and I have a lovely um Millie coming in to work with me at the moment and um and then I've also had um a gardener um who's been working with me that have one who's working with me for years and years with Laura and um now I've got Alice so um they help out with the um the garden here and also with clients Gardens when I need to have help and and sort of you know positioning plants on site and things like that so yeah it's it's it is a lot working on your own I
• 37:00 - 37:30 must admit this this is image that's up at the moment is your natural swimming Pond is it this is oh yes yes yeah wow that's huge it's deep yeah well I designed it so I mean we yes you know I like I want anyone to come and to um dive into it and hit the bottom so it had to be um deep enough and and this is the concrete so see how much rubber we had and and we had to get all that plastic out um go loads of rebar in
• 37:30 - 38:00 there so not all of the concrete could be crushed but right right yeah so that's it really it was really um it's it was a lot of work yeah but but it is it is great that we we have you tonight and we had James last night because you know there was this we sort of finished the his his discussion talking you know we you could talk about it for hours is that really to be a good designer to be a successful good designer you really do need to Garden you need to how to garden and oh absolutely and how plants grow
• 38:00 - 38:30 and that sounds so fundamental sounds a bit silly but I mean I know from my teaching experience that you know there might be people who've chosen to do garden design have never touched the soil with their hands and and you know what what you've been doing is is it's absolutely wonderful isn't it that you've you've been setting yourself challenges and yeah and quite big big projects at home which is is great because you can you know you can experiment you can afford to make mistakes um but you know then you've got somewhere to show clients but then
• 38:30 - 39:00 you've got much more confidence absolutely in your work and and in the local um you know in the local climate and the local soil and the local conditions as well I mean it's I have I'm very I do I do know that I'm really lucky I'm yeah yeah it's been Journey but it's been brilliant it's really good yeah and of course you've won awards as well for your work which is very exciting you should you should have them all up around the back of you I'm not I'm not an ego not an ego they're in the
• 39:00 - 39:30 L are they they're just over there I'm just like yeah anyway I'm very I'm very honored to have got the awards um yeah yeah really I mean it's really it's it also it's really lovely for the client to get the awards and the recognition so it's I mean that's yeah no I mean well it's lovely for everybody isn't it so um we've got we've got a couple of questions um Jenny Nelson who's in Texas North Texas wow it's saying she's
• 39:30 - 40:00 saying what's your average rainfall I think you said 600 mil didn't you yeah um but she was saying that she sees many um plants in your designs that would work quite well in north Texas so oh really oh great yeah and and also saying I noticed some elegant fences in the images do you get to design the hard Landscaping elements as well oh definitely definitely yes so there are some um so some of the fence you seen um yes I designed that so it's like a different sizes of split um wood um for
• 40:00 - 40:30 one project and then tongue and groove in other places so yeah I do I do the whole Landscaping I've probably spoken an awful lot about all the planting but obviously I do oh yeah I mean and do you do you have a a contractor that you work with or do you work with different contractors how do you how do you go about that well I'm really lucky that we've got some really lovely guys and um who work near me so I work with different um bring different contractors in that are going to be suited for different jobs so yeah emphasis on um on like soil prep or
• 40:30 - 41:00 something like that there's one team I definitely just always go to and if there's yeah somebody I want it's got to be absolutely pristine then I'll go the other companies so yeah I'm lucky that I've got a nice little network of people oh that's good now we've got a question from Mark saying do you use Brampton Willow I do use Brampton Willows of course they're great now is is is is Brampton Willow is is that a willow or is that a company what what tell the name Brampton Willer is the name of a company that by this guy and then um and
• 41:00 - 41:30 then it's been bought out by um uh champagne landscape so he um he runs um Brampton and Willows and has his own landscaping company as well all right very it's just woven Widow yeah right and Emma Emma bannister's asking have you tried Vitex Agnes castas by the Sea no no need to write that one down can I write it down later because I yeah yeah well we'll send you the notes
• 41:30 - 42:00 so that's that's yeah yeah I mean have you been have you been surprised that what has done I mean you know I think plants always do kind of surprise you but things that have worked that shouldn't work or things that should work and haven't worked you know there things that you sort of you know things that you um that you you well I think yeah I suppose I I suppose because I'm spending other people's money have to be really careful yeah yeah yeah so if it's if it's if I'm on the top of a a cliff face then I will go for something that I know is going to be able to withstand
• 42:00 - 42:30 those conditions so it might be um oara um comp traversi yeah which is a really good um Seaside nice silvery foliage absolutely good New Zealand plant rosemary yes or or Ellie Agnes um across B so that those sorts of things can work of initial barrier um right next to Sea so yeah I have to I mean I I do experiment in my own garden but I just
• 42:30 - 43:00 make sure that I know what I'm going to do in my yeah now Markus still a Flur is is has a question for you and he's saying do you see Regional differences in suffk where one plant Works in one place but not necessarily in another um and and things that work throughout so do do you see that around you yes I do I mean we have um obviously we've had the beast in the East which a little while back and um for those for those people who were who were abroad that was was a really that was a couple of winters ago wasn't it and it was it was kind of a
• 43:00 - 43:30 freeze out wasn't it for about we had yeah we had a couple a couple years ago we had yeah I suppose it's that one quite a long time ago we had this massive one we had drifts of snow really high which the son's heard of wow yeah but um but a couple years ago we did have um a period where it sunk down below 10 or 13 degrees um- 13us 10 um and and and that's I just planted up this gu Garden on the clifftop in dunich and some of the plants there did get
• 43:30 - 44:00 burnt um yeah yeah they'd only just got in they hadn't got the roots down they were just like you know H happen see got all this stuff so um yes but regionally um in Inland sometimes it can be a lot colder so I noticed that um there was a whole load of bay that um was we planted in one particular garden and it just browned off completely so yeah you yeah it isn't you know I'm I'm right by the Sea so we've got a little bit more warmth I suppose yeah now Duncan Carill who bless him he is in bed
• 44:00 - 44:30 with covid he said so he hasn't got his camera on so get well soon um his question though it's not about covid it's like it's for you it's what comes first when you're designing um if you have do you have an instinct for form color and texture and how do you work that into the environment so what's your process uh when you're designing it's the conditions first yeah it's the conditions and then it's also listening to the client as to what feel they want to have in the garden looking at the whole environment and what's going to
• 44:30 - 45:00 work really so it's not necessarily about color it's not you know that I do have lots of people who love purples there's lots of photographs of purple flowers everywhere um but you know it is it's about it's about the it has to be able to withstand the whole of the year as well and so it has good form good form structure and for me personally I love seeing light coming through um planting so it's thinking about where those plants are going to be positioned they have that wonderful back back lighting that yeah yeah and what about
• 45:00 - 45:30 the hard Landscaping elements Sue I mean do you does that come to you quite does the layout and the design come to you quite quickly or because I mean the planting you've obviously pretty damn good at that but I mean you know does it does it sort of do you start off with the hard landscape and the footprints yeah yeah well I mean it's it's it's really taking the brief from the client first of all so you have to find out what what the what needs to go in that Garden then you work out your roots and and how everything's how the client's going to maneuver themselves
• 45:30 - 46:00 around the garden where best place sit and the Sun and all the basic things that we all know about Garden sign yeah then that then that that impacts on the on on the hard Landscaping so the hard Landscaping is key and I'm but I'm always thinking oh what how can we enclose this or you know it's all everything has to in my when I'm writing my little labels on this planet like enclosed with planting yeah yeah yeah it yeah your your planting looks so immersive and so Sumptuous so you know
• 46:00 - 46:30 you it's obviously it's kind of style but um now Emma's got another question um what plants that you saw on your trip to South America would you think about using um here in the UK were there any that you yeah well um um I was very lucky um I actually went to Chile and Argentina earlier this year as well which is lovely incredible um and so when we were in the the atakama desert in right up in the north of Chile um we
• 46:30 - 47:00 were it was you know completely Barren but just in the um just where there once or could have been a river um I was looked at this um plant and I was thinking God that looks really familiar and it was atroplex um so I grow atroplex in these conditions over here so there are PLS that are growing over there that it might not be exactly the same form but here and then when I was like was climbing onto the top of this mountain it was really really really
• 47:00 - 47:30 windy and um so windy that I had my nose right down flat because we thought we were going to be blown off the off the mountain side W and looking at these tiny little saxop frogs that are just just surviving on on nothing just bare earthe yeah yeah so you know I I I put some of those in couldn't I yeah absolutely absolutely and so I was I was Chile as as did it live up to expectations absolutely I mean that's
• 47:30 - 48:00 what's next on my list yeah no it's absolutely amazing because it's got so many different um Landscapes you've got the atakama you've got the so you've got the desert then you've got the um the Patagonia you've got the glaciers we got the grasslands it's just it's just stunning it really and and were you on an organized trip or did you did you do this was it your own sort of um we' worked with this expert and he sort of say and we just said we would love to do this this this including Tango Tang oh right wow that
• 48:00 - 48:30 when we got to Argentina um so much to the annoyance of my husband because he had he hates dancing oh gosh if you told if you if you told me that before I would have said right give us a demo but I'm not gonna put you [Laughter] on it was good no it's good yeah yeah um Jenny Jenny's also saying do you have clients demanding only native plants as we some times here have in the US so yeah this interesting this um Native
• 48:30 - 49:00 non-native thing how what what's the what's the feel in suffk for that our clients yeah I think it's um not really not really to my clients you know um they no they're not they're they're interested in having one plants that are going to melt in meld in with the rest of the landscape yeah and and something that's going to work and yeah so you can get away so for example if um somebody says that they want to have a Mountain as because they're Scottish because I have quite a lot of Scottish
• 49:00 - 49:30 clients sometimes as well for some reason and they're near the sea I'd say well there is the sorus that we can use but it's probably sorus intermedia cross um browers variety do better because it can coope with a bit more wind yeah so I sort of try and steer them into a certain direction yeah yeah yeah no that's very it's an interesting thing isn't it it's very interesting um I don't think we've got any question there was a funny question earlier on which I will go back to when you were talking about the blue Peter Garden Emma said
• 49:30 - 50:00 did you get a badge I couldn't resist got two [Laughter] badges you jealous Emma it was it was too Wicked I just had to had to throw that one in really um it's been really really lovely having you on Sue and I know I know that you were a bit nervous and you were like oh do you know but honestly I was so Keen that you would do this because you're is just beautiful thank you and really inspiring and and I think again it's
• 50:00 - 50:30 that thing about you being a sort of guardner and designer and and trying out you know or you know having the pette in front of you and and and experimenting at home and that's it's just so important I mean it's a luxury to have it and have the space obviously but so important isn't it you know to to do that um yeah so um what we've got some got some comments now Stephen who you met in Sardinia uh absolutely wonderful
• 50:30 - 51:00 designs yes and Wendy who's in South Carolina lovely presentation I could see myself in any of those Gardens Yes W you come come over Wendy and you can go them and Jenny saying beautiful immersive work thank you for sharing so um and Duncan thanks Sue great to hear your story and talk about your work brilliant so no I hope you've got a nice big glass of wine waiting for you it's skin and tonic glass it didn't oh you're a woman after my own heart wel thank you it's been a real privileg
• 51:00 - 51:30 oh no thank you Sue it's it's a no no your your things off you're um your M thank you Sue that was great thank you so much for sharing that nice nice to have a designer who's very very regionally focused and exploring the the problems and the challenges of of that location yes and Emma's saying please think of joining the Mediterranean Garden Society if you need a Christmas present an idea oh I need to talk to you I need to talk to
• 51:30 - 52:00 you about that Emma yeah yeah definitely now there's lots of thank yous coming we'll send you the notes because I think it's really yeah well enjoy that gin and tonic and I hope I hope the winter isn't as is you know dries up a little bit it's pouring down here I don't know what it's like with you but yeah yeah and you can have a nice relaxing swim in the morning because you don't have to do a talk thank you I'm looking forward to it all right pleas thank you so much thank you
• 52:00 - 52:30 very much and thanks everybody for for tuning in and um see you soon hopefully okay take care bye