We lived in rural Northumberland, and it was the 1970’s, so it was quiet – but it was quieter still in the walled garden, where many of my early memories are centred. Like most children, I didn’t like working in the garden but I loved being in it. Walking along its paths, I saw that each plant had its own personality, and that the play of different leaf forms, structures, colours and textures made it a magical place.

As an adult, I recognise that a beautiful garden and its intricacies – the interplay of plants, the hum of insects, the songs of birds – has the same power to enthral. I am not alone in this. When my clients experience this same delight, I know that my design brief has been fulfilled.

With fewer opportunities in our daily lives to have any meaningful contact with nature, our gardens are more important than ever before. They are spaces of beauty; our Eden, the sublime garden regained.