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Meet the garden expert The green-fingered folk on hand to help your garden reach its potential

ROSIE NOTTAGE

JIM PENALIGGON

ROSIE NOTTAGE GARDEN DESIGN 07967 316259; rosienottage.com What do you most enjoy about gardening in Bath? Our slopes and listed buildings mean that planting is often enjoyed with a view and against a beautiful wall. Both also create challenges, which means designing gardens here can be especially interesting and keeps us on our toes. What’s your favourite local garden open to the public? The Courts Gardens in Holt. There are lots of different areas to explore and it works in all seasons, though it’s especially lovely in spring. If you could give one bit of advice to garden owners what would it be? Live in your garden for at least a year before you change it, so you can get a feel for where you are most at ease, where the sun lands and how the garden changes through the seasons. Its easy to get carried away and take out gems that you didn’t know you had. Describe your style as a gardener… I like to work with an already established garden and edit and curate as much as I like to start from scratch. A good design is one that you can’t see. If there is anything you can see in the garden it should be the client’s personality, not the designer’s, so I hope that my gardens all reflect the people in them rather than have a particular style.

AXFORD GARDEN SERVICES 01225 783344; www.axfordgardenservices.com

Rosie Nottage

Jim Penaliggon

What do you most enjoy about gardening in Bath? We count ourselves extremely fortunate to be working in such a glorious landscape at properties in and around the city of Bath. There is a rich history of gardening in this area from the Georgian era to the present day, which provides us with a diverse range of outdoor spaces to work on and maintain. What is your favourite part of the job? Meeting and working with our clients and delivering their vision – whether it’s creating something new or providing routine maintenance, our clients always end up with an outdoor area they are proud of and enjoy spending time in. We relish new enquiries as no two gardens or clients are the same, so we don’t know what next we’ll be faced with, which is fun! What’s the biggest mistake that can be made with a garden? Leaving seasonal tasks too late may mean your gardener has to do reactive gardening instead of proactive gardening. Every season requires you to take a certain course of action to get the most out of your space. Forward planning enables you to manage your garden most efficiently with your gardener, ensuring it is the best it can be throughout every season of the year.

NICK WOODHOUSE WOODHOUSE & LAW

KRISTIAN REAY

01225 428072; www.woodhouseandlaw.co.uk What trends do you think spring 2020 will see in gardening? More colour. The growing momentum in the home towards bolder colour choices will start to see itself being replicated in the garden; expect to see more of the hotter colours being combined with purples and blues. I think we’ll also see larger leafed, more exoticlooking plants being used to greater effect, taking their inspiration from the growing trend towards the houseplant indoors. What’s your favourite local garden open to the public? The gardens of Hauser and Wirth in Bruton. I’m a huge fan of Piet Oudolf’s work, both here and further afield. His naturalistic planting schemes are both playful and romantic, whilst his plant selections are really robust too. Describe your style as a gardener... I don’t like to impose any particular style on a client; preferring instead to work to their personal tastes and the style of their home. As well as ensuring a consistent look throughout, this also makes the job more fun for us – we get to work on a range of styles from ultracontemporary to the more classic, traditional feel.

KRISTIAN REAY LANDSCAPE DESIGN 07863 933977; www.kristianreay.uk

Nick Woodhouse

Kristian Reay

Describe your style as a designer? Modernism, with a sense of romance. Although every project is different, my designs often feature a combination of formal structural planting, fragrant perennials and ornamental grasses, all set within a framework of finely detailed, crisp, hard landscaping. As a designer I want to have a positive impact, not only for the people enjoying the garden but also environmentally. I aim to integrate environmental considerations into my designs by ethically sourcing natural stone, considering water use and irrigation in the garden and providing sources of food for birds and pollinating insects throughout the year. Which accomplishment has made you proudest? Winning the RHS Young Designer of the Year 2019 award at Tatton Park this year was such an amazing achievement. The whole experience was a bit of a whirlwind and it was so surreal to see Jo Wiley stood in my garden presenting the BBC coverage of the show! What is your favorite part of the job? Planting, that’s the moment when the project really starts to sing and you know that you have created something special.