Garden Illustrated Magazine is one of the best places to discover the world’s most inspiring gardens, irresistible plants and advice from leading designers and garden makers. We spoke to editor Juliet Roberts who reveals a few of her favourite East London horticultural hang-outs and shares her own green-fingered wizardry.

What sparked your passion for gardening?
Having my own garden for the first time, when I bought a flat in Stoke Newington in London. Encouraged by my closest friends – both keen gardeners – I began visiting Columbia Road Flower Market, buying books and magazines, took on an allotment and quickly got obsessed. Having always been interested in art and nature – it was my perfect hobby.

What does your garden look like?
It’s often assumed that I have a garden as beautiful as those that we feature in Gardens Illustrated. I hate to admit it, but nothing could be further from the truth! That said, each year I’m becoming happier with my slowly evolving garden in Bristol. At 130ft long x 30ft wide it’s relatively big for a town garden, and I’ve divided it into a miniature woodland, an allotment-style vegetable plot and a courtyard close to the house, which I’m currently planting with seasonal favourites that I can enjoy when bad weather keeps me indoors.

Which garden or outside space has had the greatest impact on you and why?
That’s a tricky question; I’ve seen a lot of gardens and landscapes during the 15 years I’ve worked on the magazine. I can just about narrow it down to two: Great Dixter in East Sussex for its beautiful, experimental planting and the unstoppable energy and fun that pervades the place; and Rousham in Oxfordshire, where William Kent’s genius use of light and shadow has given the garden an enchanting, almost dream-like atmosphere. They are the two gardens I visit the most.

Which tool couldn’t you be without?
The Azada – or ridging hoe – made by Chillington. It’s perfect for breaking ground, hoeing weeds and making rills for planting rows of vegetables.

Favourite app and why?
Instagram – I’m highly visual and really enjoy seeing what people all over the world, particularly friends, are up to.

Favourite plant and why?
I love umbellifers, and my new favourite is Taenidia integerrima, which has airy, acid-yellow flowers on wiry stems and, remarkably, copes well in dry shade.

What outdoor trends should we be looking out for this year/summer?
Clever planting inspired by nature, which looks great and benefits wildlife. Also, I see people investing in a few, well-made things that help make spending time outdoors comfortable and fun, such as good seating, lighting and fire pits.

Buy your tickets to GROW London 2016 now and pop along to see Garden Illustrated at their stand in June!

Ahead of returning to the fair this summer, we had a chat with GROW London exhibitor Bernard Mavunga from Mara Sculpture about wild gardens, his sculpture-filled London home and how he first began selling his contemporary Zimbabwean sculpture right here in the UK…

Where did your passion for sculpture come from?
When I was young I used to watch my great Uncle Biggie Kapeta sculpting. He was one of Zimbabwe’s first generation of sculptors and was extremely talented. I was fascinated by his focus and how the stone seemed to absorb him completely while he worked.

How did Mara Sculpture start?
My Uncle Biggie Kapeta always told me I should be involved in sculpture. But as I had no talent to sculpt myself, I went off and pursued a career in film and television instead. Several years ago, I was in Zimbabwe on holiday and a couple of artists asked me to bring some sculpture to the UK to sell for them. The economic conditions in Zimbabwe were tough at the time, so I decided to help out. I held a small exhibition in a South London gallery and did a couple of one day fairs. It was clear by how quickly we sold all the work that there was a big demand for this high-quality, accessible sculpture. It’s now five years later and I’m still selling Zimbabwean sculpture full-time, representing some of the country’s top sculptors. My Uncle Biggie Kapeta has now passed, but no doubt, he is looking down on me, laughing – he always knew best!

How do you find your artists? Are they all from Zimbabwe?
I only work with Zimbabwean stone sculptors. There are three main sculpture collectives in the country and I work with all of them, as well as several individual artists who have their own workshops. I go to Zimbabwe twice a year to source new work, and I will always travel to the remote sculpture community in the North of the country called “Tengenenge” as there are some extraordinary artists based there. They also have access to a particularly fine grade of Serpentine which has beautiful greenish tints to it.

Zimbabwean stone sculpture is a contemporary art movement that is particular to Zimbabwe. So whereas there is a lot of wood sculpture and soap-stone sculpture across the rest of Africa, Zimbabwe is home to what is recognised as a “contemporary” art movement that began in the 1950s. Its roots however, lie in ancient tradition of stone sculpture that dates back to the 16^th century.

What does your sculpture collection look like? Does it fill your garden?
Yes our little London garden is filled with sculpture, as is our flat. We have three treasured pieces, a mouse by my great Uncle Biggie Kapeta, a rhinoceros by my other uncle Sylvester Mubayi and a bust by Lazarus Takawira all famous Zimbabwean sculptors. They are beautiful pieces and it feels like I have my family with me. My wife also likes to “borrow” pieces she likes from the collection.

Do you have a favourite sculptor, and if so, why?
I always have a favourite sculptor and it changes every year! This year I am loving Dickson Dickson’s work. He has created some very beautiful, stylised elephants in gorgeous Tengenenge Serpentine. They are simple and very powerful, capturing the bulk, the beauty and the intelligence of these magnificent animals.

Describe your own gardening style?
I like wild gardens. I love a slightly out of control look where nature appears to have the upper hand. I especially love wild grasses at the moment and often use them in our sculpture displays as they soften the hard lines of the sculpture.

Which garden or outside space has had the greatest impact on you and why?
My favourite landscapes are Zimbabwe’s vast granite kopjes, that hold little pockets of msasa trees, wild flowers and grasses. My favourite garden is Harare’s botanical gardens which despite the difficult economic situation in Zimbabwe, is still maintained. There are a couple of trees there I have loved since childhood. Sadly, their beautiful fever tree forest developed a root infection and all the trees died.

What attracted you to GROW?
We really liked the idea of a contemporary urban garden show – targeting smaller urban spaces. This is how we live and most of our friends live, and we loved the idea of a show Hampstead Heath.

What other things would you like to buy at GROW?
We discovered Hardy’s through Grow (they had a show garden in front of our stand) and now we buy all our exhibition flowers from them!

Who or what makes you laugh?
My wife and friends.

For the chance to see more os Mara Sculpture‘s stunning works on display buy your tickets to GROW London 2016 now!

For GROW exhibitor Philippa Lloyd, antiques are more than just a business. And here she’s shared a wealth of memories with us, from a childhood spent at auction houses to years spent taking treasure-hunting trips across the globe.

How did you get into antiques?
My mum had an antiques shop in Dorset and spent her whole life going to auctions, so as a kid I grew up in a van hanging around at the auction houses, picking up knowledge here and there, discovering how the business worked and how to spot the good stuff. I guess it’s always been in my blood.

Then, as a teenager, I moved up to London and during my studies fell head over heels for the huge 60s and 70s fashion scene there, so I was really into trends and design from an early age.

Have you always worked in antiques?
For the most part yes, when I was younger I dabbled in the music business working for various record companies and promoters. For me, the whole antiques thing really kicked off when my children grew up and I moved to the country.

I started off just buying. At the time I was very friendly with Cath Kidston so I did a lot with her and started to supply bits and pieces for shops. From there, word spread and it wasn’t long until I began to be asked to help find things for various people and shoots, styling props for magazines and catalogues, which is when I realised it could be quite profitable. When I started out I would buy a piece and use it over and over - I found this lovely old green wheelbarrow and it’s since been in almost every magazine I can think of!

When did you start exhibiting at fairs?
I was there right at the beginning when all the charity fairs started that were all the rage 20 years ago. I use to do at least 25 in the run up to Christmas, which was exhausting - constantly setting up, selling, packing and on to the next.

I did the Barnes fair for years and years – I’d sell to all the dealers on Portobello and they’d come at 6 o’clock in the morning and search for the best pieces, the paintings in particular, then off they’d go. It was great!

How do you go about sourcing your products?
Back in the day it was all about going to the auctions: Campton, Ardingly, Swinderby, Newark. I spent a lot of time in France where they’d have wonderful ‘puce’ fairs (French for flea) and ‘brocantes’ which were the next step up and had various antiquités. However in France, for me, it’s all about the lower end fairs – they’re the best place to find the quality stuff.

Another great source has been generous friends and family. Over the years I’ve often received calls when friends are either moving, or going though their parents’ loft or grandmother’s house, and they’d ask whether I’d like anything. I’d be straight over to take a look and buy directly from them, which is always great!

How often do you go on trips to buy things?
When I was doing it in a big way before leaving the country - when I had the space - I was doing at least 50,000 miles a year in my car. I was always off somewhere at 5am in the morning with a torch in hand, woolly hat and terrible old jacket on, as most dealers are. At least once a month I’d hop on the Euro Tunnel and off I’d go! That’s the fun bit, you get to see so much of a country because you’d wind up in obscure little villages in the mountains, and there’s not much of England I haven’t been to either.

Traveling around you’d meet so many friends too. If you sell at Campton there is a tight knit group of dealers, so they’ll be buying to sell there and will have customers who come again and again. It’s a great way to get to know your customers and find out who’s next door. It’s all about the early mornings, getting filthy dirty, longing for a bath and being knackered, but when you find this wonderful thing it’s all worth it!

What keeps the passion burning?
I think because my mum was a shop keeper by trade, it’s in me, I understand it. I like to deal with people; I would hate to be shut away in an office somewhere, that’s my idea of hell. I love to be out and about, moving and interacting with people, and you come across such amazing things in antiques.

Plus, I just love markets, from food to furniture, if there’s a market I’m there! I was in Italy the other week and I was so lucky that there was a market the next day, it was just heaven.

Do you have a favourite product to source?
I love paintings and I’m always drawn to textiles, lamps, ornamental pieces - I like quirky things. I’m not such a fan of furniture because I’ve never been able to lift the stuff!

What’s interesting now is the change of trends – we’re shifting to a more industrial look, I think the whole shabby chic thing is over. Mixing old and new is what I really love to do at the moment. In my little house in Hammersmith my big country furniture doesn’t look right, so my tastes have changed and I’ve been buying much lighter furniture, smaller chairs, side tables - it’s a different look, more minimal and less crowded.

So what’s next?
Well GROW! It’s something I really enjoyed last year and I’m looking forward to seeing some of the people I met last year again. It was great for me to meet a whole host of new clients that I otherwise wouldn’t have the contact with; it was a completely new audience for me, which is exciting!

Book tickets now to join us at GROW London this June and see Philippa Lloyd’s latest treasures.

BOOK TICKETS

Fiona Haser Bizony does flowers. And she does them beautifully. After exhibiting with us last year, not only will Fiona return with the Electric Daisy Flower Farm to the fair this June, she also helped in the creation of our new campaign - carefully crafting the stunning floral headdress adorning our model. We’ve been chatting to her to find out more about how her artistic past informs her horticultural present, and discover a penchant for midnight stealth gardening antics!

Where did your passion for floristry and British flowers come from?
That’s a long journey…when I left home at 18 and went to university, I remember deciding to grow flowers in the bedroom of our halls of residence. I bought myself trays, compost and flower seeds and then watched as my seedlings grew, and grew, and grew. I had no idea I was supposed to ‘prick them out’ and separate each tiny little sign of life into individual pots. Needless to say the trays, compost and dead seedlings ended up in the bin. You have to remember this was back-in-the-day before Google - I did learn how to propagate from books and started gardening as soon as I had a place of my own. I’ve grown fruit, veg and flowers ever since.

How did Electric Daisy Flower Farm start?
When I left a job as artistic director of an arts centre, I knew I wanted to start my own business and that I didn’t want to be stuck in an office all day working at a computer so after much soul searching I decide to retrain in horticulture. I’d seen an article about a family growing flowers for natural confetti. The idea of harvesting an organic crop and using the beautiful, totally biodegradable petals really appealed to my green side. I started researching flowers and flower farms and I was away!

What’s your typical day like?
Every day is different on a flower farm. That’s why I love my life. There’s always some interesting task to complete, always something new to learn. If I had to choose a favourite day it would be a 5am start in mid-summer. It sounds terrible I know, but I love the peace and quiet of that magical time when everyone else is still tucked up in bed. I drive to my fields with my empty buckets and cut what’s needed for the next fews days. I love the meditative, rhythmic task of snipping and bunching my gorgeous flowers. Knowing that I’ve grown and nurtured them myself makes the harvest all the more satisfying. I stop picking as soon as I can feel the heat of the morning sun on the back of my neck.

What’s been the biggest (so far!) floral project you’ve worked on?
I’ve initiated several land art projects in my time. The largest of them has to be the iconic heart shaped ‘crop circle’ that my friends made for me in the dead of night. I had permission from the farmer who owned the land, not only to make the circle, but to stage a ceremony in the centre. The next day we observed a tour guide telling visitors that aliens had taken three seconds to crush the corn in this extraordinary rendition of a heart. We all knew it had taken four people six hours and that they had run out of time and hadn’t quite finished the pattern of little circles that they had intended for the outside of the heart!

Another great project was also carried out ninja style in the middle of the night. This time I had county council permission for a road closure. At 4am I rendezvoused with a group of volunteers and together we worked until dawn turfing over the main traffic artery going through the centre of our town. Residents of Bradford on Avon woke to a bucolic scene of picnickers in the middle of the road. Instead of the usual river of cars snaking up the hill, children played in the street and their parents stood watching in amazement.

2016 is the year I’m going to be doing much bigger, bolder and more creative work with my flowers - so watch this space.

What does your own garden look like? What’s your style?
Ha ha, that’s quite a funny question, because although I garden, I don’t class myself as a gardener. If I had the choice I would grow everything in rows. Blocks of colour and all the same plants. Obviously that’s why I’m a flower farmer - I can grow like that and it makes me immensely happy.

I have to choreograph our planting scheme so that we have blooms throughout the year. I want to show that we can have seasonal flowers grown in the UK, so I cultivate unusual, delicate things that wouldn’t travel well from the Dutch flower auctions, things that you won’t find on the high street. I like to say that “Air miles are accumulated only by the pollinating insects and wildlife who share the land with us.” I’m very proud of our ethical harvests.

Do you have a favourite flower, and if so why?
I love working with the seasons: growing, harvesting and arranging my flowers, and I relish the constant changes in my crops. In the winter there are so few flowers around that any sign of life warms the heart. Tiny snowdrops, primula, Iris reticulate, and all the beautiful sweet scents of shrubs like Lonicera fragrantissima or Sarracocca. And I’m always grateful for Hellebore in all their variety.

In spring I get full on ‘tulip fever’ when all my beauties raise their heads. I particularly love growing Parrot tulips for their impossible baroque frilliness.

The summer brings brighter stronger colours: Zinnia, Dahlia, Rose, and I’m spoilt for choice. I couldn’t pick a favourite because the others would be jealous.

Autumn is my all time favourite season. I love the rich, mellow fruitfulness, the burnt umber shades of foraged leaves worked in with the last flowers from the plot. I might even add fruit branches and artichokes to arrangements, all in the knowledge that the garden is going to sleep and won’t wake again until spring.

Which garden or outside space has had the greatest impact on you?
Coming from an arts background, I’m enjoying the horticultural/art mash ups that are beginning to happen right now. I’m in love with Piet Oudolf’s garden at Hauser and Wirth near us in Somerset. We visit regularly throughout the year to see the planting scheme as it changes. I’m looking forward to the Pearson-Heatherwick garden bridge that will cross the Thames in London, and I would love to visit the High Line gardens in New York.

Design hero?
As a floral designer my hero has to be Constance Spry. I sometimes feel as if I’m channelling her energy and can-do spirit. She was such an indomitable woman, creative and adventurous. I love the fact that she died mid-sentence as she was planning the next grand project.

Favourite app?
INSTAGRAM!

What can we expect to see from you at GROW this year?
I grow stylish, sculptural and distinctive flowers and foliage, so you can expect dramatic arrangements and a new gallery of fabulous photographs taken by the brilliant Alma Haser. We will also be selling prepared bouquets of our fresh cut flowers for GROW visitors to take home.

Buy your tickets to GROW London 2016 now for the chance to see more of the Electric Daisy Flower Farm’s floral masterpieces.

We’ve been chatting to GROW London exhibitor Jake Hobson from Niwaki - purveyors of the finest, hand-crafted Japanese gardening tools (and they certainly found good customers in the form of the GROW team!). Here, Jake tells us why he was inspired to start Niwaki and reveals his assassin-like dedication to good tools.

Where did your passion for Japanese tools come from?
It began with the tools I was given to use where I worked in Japan - a set of Okatsune Secateurs and Shears, and the Tripod Ladders. I was working in a tree nursery where we were up ladders every day.

How did Niwaki start?
Back home, after two years in Japan, I realised the tools I used in Japan were so much better than what was on offer in the UK. Friends and colleagues (at the Architectural Plants nursery) noticed the difference too, especially after my brother in law, Haruyasu, shipped over a couple of tripod ladders. From that initial interest, we plucked up courage to contact the manufacturers and things grew from there.

‘Niwaki’ means Garden Tree in Japanese, but rather than the western definition, it describes more the idea of shaping a tree to fit into the scale of the garden through pruning and training, and we would sell the tools needed for that work.

What are you working on at the moment?
Our new website finally went live in September, and we’ve just finished work on the 2016 brochure - which is one of my favourite parts of the job, although it’s always an agonising process. This time, I immediately spotted a typo in the inside cover when I opened up the first box! From now until Christmas, it’s all hands to the pumps, as Christmas sales kick in, and then we can all have bit of a breather in the New Year.

If you had to pick a favourite Niwaki product, which would it be?
That changes almost every day! The regulars would be the Tobisho Secateurs with the red and yellow handles, the Masamune pruning shears, and Masashi’s amazing hand forged kitchen knives. But ask me on another day and it may be something different.

How do you source your products?
That’s another favourite part of the job - trips to Japan! We get most of our products direct from the manufacturers - sometimes very large factories, other times very small blacksmiths, but it’s great meeting the people who make the stuff, and building up a good relationship with them. We have a great agent who helps with other products - he’s obsessed by all things sharp and shiny, so a very useful contact. Recently, we found an old man making secateurs in a shack just off a busy road that we pass every day while visiting family in Osaka - we must have driven past his place dozens of times and not noticed, but this time we struck gold.

What did you want to buy at GROW?
I loved Geoffrey Fisher’s hand made dustpans and brushes, and I’m a sucker for the jungly stuff at Crûg Farm Nursery.

What makes Niwaki different to other brands?
The products are great - great design, high quality materials and excellent craftsmanship, but it’s also an extremely personal business. We use almost everything we sell, and make sure to stop selling it if we realise something is not up to scratch. We also try very hard at customer service which, when you mostly sell online, is essential.

Describe your own gardening style
More to do with chopping things down than nurturing. Actually, not quite - but it’s all about pruning and shaping for me, creating a sense of landscape. I’ve recently relaxed my border controls and one or two flowery things are sneaking in. I have a vision, but the reality is a long way off…

Which garden or outside space has had the greatest impact on you?
Growing up in the countryside (in Hampshire) I spent a lot of time outdoors, and that was crucial. Native woodland has always amazed me, especially after travelling and seeing it in other places. As for gardens, almost any garden in Japan really, but my experiences at the Furukawa and Yoshioka nurseries in Japan were the most formative.

Which tool couldn’t you be without?
A pocket knife - preferably a Japanese one. My problem is, having experienced such great stuff in Japan, a lot of tools are a bit of a disappointment so we always take a good kitchen knife with us on holiday, and, rather like an assassin has weapons stashed around their home, I’m never more than a few feet from a pair of good secateurs.

Favourite plant?
Trees in general, but Pinus sylvestris in particular. I love the role they play in the landscape - the open ground in the New Forest, or the Caledonian Forest. The way low winter light falls on them. The bark. The branches. I learned recently that what we call the Scots pine is known in Norway as…the Norwegian pine, and that made me laugh. I’ve always found nomenclature fascinating.

Top gardening tip?
Tidy up at the end of the job (better still, persuade someone else to do it for you). I hate tidying up, but it’s so much worse the next day.

Most unusual thing in your garden?
The trampoline. I’ve tried to make our garden feel like some sort of landscape, and then plonked a massive trampoline right in the middle.

When you’re in your garden, what do you spend most of your time doing?
Apart from trampolining? Pruning - I can happily ignore everything else.

If you fancy adding some Niwaki products to your own tool box, you can browse and buy from their collection on the website.

Balcony gardener extraordinaire, Mark Ridsdill Smith - founder of Vertical Veg and The Vertical Veg Club - will be sharing his passion for balcony growing and revealing the secrets to container growing success in his talk at GROW London on Sunday 21 June. Here he tells us how he got started, and why there’s simply nothing better than eating food you’ve grown yourself.

Where did your passion for growing your own produce come from?
My mum and dad had an allotment when I was kid. I moved to London aged 19 and always wanted to grow food again, but didn’t realise it was possible on my balcony… It took me over twenty years to discover it was.

You started growing food in containers on your balcony - what was the trickiest thing about getting started?
I had no idea what to do and not many people to copy, so it was all trial and error… and mostly error at that! For example, I had no idea about fertility or how to achieve this in containers on a balcony.

How did the neighbours react to your burgeoning balcony?
With intrigue and enthusiasm?! It has been very well received and everyone has been genuinely interested in finding out more about what I’m doing. Having said that, there was one incarnation, built out of plastic recycling boxes that looked more like a scrap yard and after viewing it from my neighbours garden, I quickly built a wooden facade to hide the plastic boxes!

Why did you start Vertical Veg?
Growing simply changed my life. There’s nothing better than eating fresh salad and herbs every day; it’s been great chatting to more neighbours intrigued by the growing; being able to recycle food waste in a wormery, and, above all, the simple joy of growing in the heart of the city. The inspiration for Vertical Veg came from a cycle round London when I noticed hundreds of empty balconies, rooftops and other concrete spaces. What if more of these could be filled with edible, beautiful crops? I founded Vertical Veg to raise awareness of what’s possible and to provide support and information to help people grow food successfully in containers - as well as enjoy the wider community, health and environmental benefits of growing in a city.

Tastiest thing you’ve ever grown?
It’s hard to beat a mixed salad, picked minutes before eating it (very easy to grow, too).

Which urban garden has had the greatest impact on you and why?
Mark Donaldson’s rented back garden in Islington inspired me to create my first ‘proper’ balcony garden. He opened my eyes to what was possible in a small urban space. Thank you, Mark!

Your life motto?
Do what feels right (even when everyone else thinks you’re bonkers).

Who or what makes you laugh?
John Peel, Paul Merton, and the banter on Test Match Special.

What tool couldn’t you be without?
My hands, the only essential tool for container gardening.

Crafting his stunning ceramic sculptures by hand, and using techniques which ensure they can live outside all year long, Nigel Edmondson is bringing his fantastic garden sculptures to GROW London this June. Here he tells us where his passion for sculpting came from, what inspires his pieces, and a little about what his own garden is like.

Where did your passion for sculpting and ceramics come from?
I trained to teach painting and sculpture and after I left college I developed an interest in jewellery, which led to an interest in sculptural ceramics. Initially it was just a hobby, but for the last 18 years it’s been my main occupation.

What are you working on at the moment?
Stock for this year’s shows! I’m taking part in five major ceramic shows up and down the country in June and July.

If you could keep only one of your pieces, which would it be?
I have one of the first ‘pebble/fissure’ pots I ever made (it must be almost 30 years old!) and it contains a self-seeded, naturally bonsai-ed Silver Birch alongside some miniature grasses. Over the years it has also acquired a rich patina of lichen and mosses. It keeps getting better and better with age and I wouldn’t ever part with it!

What inspires your sculptures?
The landscape of the Lake District, particularly the mountains, on which I walk and climb regularly.

Describe your own garden/gardening style
I would have to defer to my wife who tells me it is ‘ornamental’, there is quite a lot of hard landscaping, gravel and stone flags, and a good selection of my own work, too.

Which garden has had the greatest impact on you?
Levens Hall Gardens for the stunning topiary.

Guilty gardening pleasure?
We drink many a glass of wine in our garden - but never feel guilty about it!

Your life motto?
If I had one it might be: ‘Solvitur ambulando’, which means ‘it is solved by walking’. I do much of my best thinking and problem solving when I’m out on the fells.

Favourite book?
‘Shantaram’ by Gregory David Roberts - riveting from start to finish.

Favourite artist and why?
I ought to say ‘my wife Libby’ (she’s a great painter of the Lakeland landscape), but I would probably choose David Hockney, whose work and career I have followed since his days at The Royal College in the early 60’s.

Rachel Ducker exhibited at the inaugural GROW London in 2014, and is returning with her playful wire sculptures to the show this June. Here she reveals how jewellery and floristry led to her passion for sculpting, and describes her own gardening style, too.

Where did your passion for sculpting come from?
I originally trained as a jeweller and the passion for working with metal led me to experiment with wire as a medium for sculpting the human form.

How did you get started?
I was working in a flower design studio and I made a small sculpture using floristry wire. It was displayed in the shop and to my surprise, it sold! I have now been sculpting for nearly twenty years years and still love the work.

Where do you find the inspiration for your pieces?
My inspiration comes from the human form, I like capturing the energy, movement and beauty of the body in my sculptures. I am also greatly inspired by different materials, found objects and new techniques - I’m always experimenting and combining mediums, it’s a great way to stumble upon new ideas.

What has been keeping you busy since GROW?
I’ve been incredibly busy since GROW 2014. I have a broad international client base, and in the past 12 months I’ve been commissioned by private and corporate clients to produce work in Qatar, California and Marrakech. I was engaged by Rolls-Royce aerospace to produce a special gift for their client, Qatar Airlines, to commemorate the largest order ever placed for Rolls-Royce engines. And was commissioned by the BBC to make a piece to feature in the programme “Glorious Gardens from Above”, which I also appeared on. Then another exciting request came from a private client in California, and I was flown to Napa to make a life-size piece for his garden!

What do the next few months hold in store?
I am currently working with a landscape architect who was chosen to redesign a landmark roundabout in Henley-on-Thames. I’m producing a life-sized sculpture that will remain in-situ for the next ten years, to create a vibrant welcome to the town.

What did you buy at GROW last year?
There were so many wonderful things on display at GROW, I could have bought so much! I did buy some lovely plants and vintage tools, and was bought a gorgeous hand-made leather handbag.

Describe your own gardening style
I have a small garden in the middle of a city; it’s a calm oasis and my workplace when the weather permits. It’s very natural and I like to create a composition of shape and colour.

Your life motto?
Be grateful and believe.

Favourite garden/outside space and why?
Our two and a half acre garden in Marrakech. It’s beautifully calm and peaceful, alive with birdsong and has stunning views of the snow-capped Atlas mountains.