The Garden

A long weekend. And the only one in May I spend at home. Saturday is beautiful and sunny, I could do anything, go for a big walk to see the last of the bluebells in the woods or see masses of cow parsley. But not. I’d rather stay and home and make the most of this special weekend.

The garden is my happy place, it makes me switch off fully. My outdoor meditation. I spend the day outside, first, taking some pictures with the first light, then having my first coffee while enjoying (very much) my new book, then changing into my gardening jeans, picking up my gloves and off I go. I always start my dahlias in pots (it’s good I did as 3 tubers don’t show any sign of life) and time has come for those to be put in their final place. I take some cuttings to have a few extra plants (replacing those 3 that don’t seem to live). Then I plan the order of the dahlias. To my surprise, most of the colours are shades of orange, funny how one’s taste can change. Noticing my orange tulips too.

Then I sort out my plant nursery, which isn’t a nursery at all, just a small area by the shed where I keep plants that will go out in the garden soon. Either I grew them from seeds or plants I was gifted or plants I bought. I cherish them all the same way. When all the forget-me-nots are over and their absence reveal all the empty space, I can fill that with these plants. I remove bulbs that flowered, the bulbs go in the shed and the pots are filled with plants especially from this plant nursery stock. I also refresh the pots outside the front door. We eat lunch. Outside. In the sunshine. I wouldn’t want to be walking in the woods seeing the last of blubells. It’s absolutely perfect here.

After lunch, I tackle the perennial border that runs the long of the first part of the garden. Ground elder likes creeping in and I always try to keep this area free of that agressive weed (yes, weed). Time flies. Cold drinks arrive and I start to slow down. And when the sun starts to drop, the camera comes out again. I steal a moment here and there when the light is right.

On Sunday, a new camera arrives (should have come on Saturday but hey), a different one to the ones I’ve been used to so I spend quite some time learning about it (reading the manual, yes, that is a thing) and just experimenting with it as I’m planning to take it to an exciting shoot on a sunny island this weekend.

I hope you’ve all had a lovely long weekend. My weekends at home are now over for the foreseeable so I really wanted to make the most of these days.

PS - the cherry on the cake was a misty Tuesday morning.

South Wood Farm

Long before I became a full time garden photographer in 2017, I worked in an office. Full time. I always had a garden and always looked for garden inspirations. One day at the office, I remember this so clearly, instead of working, I was looking through Arne Maynard’s website. That’s where I first came across South Wood Farm. Visiting and let alone photographing this garden one day seemed like a long shot dream. But like most dreams, if we really want to, they do come true. I’ve been to South Wood Farm a few times now and I pinch myself every time I’m there. This applies to some other gardens too and I’ll share those with you too sooner or later.

My first visit was in 2020 when I was on a garden shoot nearby. It was Summer so I had a very early start to the day and I was very tired by the time I got to South Wood. (I was tired only because I booked a room in an inn and when I checked in I was told I was going to be the only person there and so spent my night alone - and awake - in an inn full of empty rooms and an empty pub below. All sorts of Agatha Christie stories came to mind) Anyway, later that morning I made it to South Wood. The first selection of images is from that day and all taken with a 50mm lens. No, it was not a sunny day but did I mind that?

In the Spring of 2021 I returned for a shoot of the gardens for House&Garden magazine. You can read and see the full article - by Anna Pavord - here and see selection of my favourite photographs below.
It was an early Spring shoot and the morning brought a gentle frost. I absolutely loved it.

And only just a week ago, I found myself at South Wood Farm again. Early July. A cloudy day. The garden visit didn’t last long as a heavy drizzle set in. Sitting on the porch, listening to the sound of the rain in this most peaceful place with the friends I went with was the cherry on the cake.

I really tried to limit the number of images I wanted to share here with you, too many, too few, I don’t know, here they are, gloomy or not, whatever the weather, I just love gardens. Follow along as I might have some more things to share with you with South Wood Farm.