Blossoming Gardens Garden Design - Edinburgh & East Lothian

It was such a pleasure to revisit this East Lothian coastal garden earlier this week. 🌼

We first started this design project back in 2021, with the aim of creating a very natural garden that blended in beautifully in this stunning coastal setting. Seeing it now, established and growing exactly as intended, is incredibly rewarding.

Working with the site rather than against it was key. The garden was planted directly into the existing sand in the spring of 2022, using plants naturally adapted to dry, coastal conditions. As a result, it has been able to flourish in this exposed location without the need for irrigation.

Of course, gardens don’t establish themselves. A huge shout-out to and before that , for all the care, dedication and hard work they’ve put into nurturing this planting through some challenging conditions. 🙌

It’s always satisfying to see a garden settle into the landscape and look as though it has always belonged there. ✨

CoastalPlanting LandscapeDesign

Another picture from the garden I revisited in East Lothian last week.

The clay pavers were a favourite with all of us and blended in beautifully with the surroundings.

What a treat to revisit this garden that I designed a couple of years ago.

Built at the end of 2024 and planted last spring, it has been carefully tended by its owners and has established beautifully.

We created a mound when we excavated the pond and this has been planted to create a far more interesting space.

The garden was carefully crafted by

Beautiful Wood Anemones shivering in the breeze up in Perthshire last week.

Just back at my desk after a week up north. Looking back through my notes and photos from a wonderful cluster group visit to the workshop of in East Lothian. Here Jonnie and his team craft stunning outdoor furniture from storm felled trees. He often incorporates other innovative sustainable materials in his work. ⚒️

We even got to have a go on the tools, engraving, sanding and oiling our own bespoke cheese boards. 🧀

We then went up to visit Sam to see where the timber for his current commission for the was milled. 🪵⚙️

Many thanks to all who organised this event and lovely to catch up with other garden design colleagues.

I popped back earlier in the week to plant up this pond and was excited to see that it was swarming with tadpoles, bathing in the shallows.

As it is Earth Day today, it is worth considering that even spending time out in the garden makes us take notice of my environment. 🌎

Of the interconnectedness of everything. The owl in the back tree in our garden, hunts for thrushes and if these have been eating snails that have ingested slug pellets… or if they eat mice that have been poisoned…. 🐌

On a more positive note - if we create habitats for birds and provide nectar for pollinators we can breathe life into our surroundings. 🐝

We can provide food for ourselves and those we share the garden with. 🥕

We can put carbon back into the earth, improve the quality of the air we breathe and mop up excess rainfall to reduce flooding. 🌧️

And if together we each tend a small piece of land, collectively we can reconnect with nature and make a big difference. 🍃

This morning’s view from our window. The birds are singing their hearts out. 💕 What’s not to love?

Back in the Autumn, the view from this beautiful extension was blocked by a wall and overgrown planting. By taking down the wall and constructing a wildlife pond, we have transformed this space.

There are now ripples and reflections and we have created a habitat for frogs and birds.

We have also immersed a sauna in the garden by the pond - that can be accessed via a bridge over the stream or by crossing some stepping stones.

It was lovely to revisit this garden last week with to set out the plants for this garden and I can’t wait to see this space once these have become established.

and have made an amazing job (and moved a lot of very large stones) to construct this garden.

This beautiful Joppa house has a front garden that slopes steeply up from the sea to the front door . Although already terraced, first impressions are unwelcoming with steep steps of dark cracked concrete and swathes of dark gravel and the retaining wall is bulging and structurally unsound.

The front garden will be greatly improved by replacing the grey cracked concrete with lighter natural stone paving, fixing and repointing the wall and making the steps up to the front door easier to navigate when returning home laden down with shopping.

The owner of this property will be able to sit out on her hand crafted bench and sip on a morning coffee, gazing across swaying waves of airy coastal perennials and ornamental grasses to Fife.