April 2026
April started with the tail end of my mum visiting from Devon, we had a nice visit including a walk and stop off at ‘House Cafe’ in Mayfield, a day trip up to Essex to visit a family member and a friend of my sister’s, we also went for a swim as my Mum is training to do a long distance swim back in Devon she took me to the local swimming pool for what I believed would be a simple swim but was actually 64 lengths and a mile of swimming, not what I had anticipated but I did thoroughly enjoy the challenge.
In the studio this month I worked on a cottage garden for a couple who live in a local village. The garden is wrapped by trees and sits within an angular, triangle shaped plot. The garden is currently bare, consisting of lawn, bare fence, gabions, paving slabs and a set of stairs up into the garden.
The brief was to create a cottage style garden that attracts and supports wildlife, could tolerate shade and was low maintenance with formal structure. I created a planting scheme that softened the harder edges of the garden, with frothy texture, winter flowering plants and trees with a long period of summer flowers. With this scheme, the garden will become a welcoming space, a place you look forward to opening the doors to and unwinding a picnic blanket on the lawn to watch the wildlife interact with the array of plants and flower forms.
While I worked in the studio creating this garden, I was continually visited by a little black and white bird, which was identified by my bird enthusiast friend as a long tailed tit fledgling. Black and white with a long tail, it would periodically perch on the windowsill, cocking its head to peer in. It felt like a nod towards the work that I was doing, creating another garden nearby that supports and encourages creatures to share our spaces. I had never seen this bird in the garden before and it was exciting that a new bird felt safe and secure in our little garden.
On completing the design, I am so pleased that the client loved the work and we are now getting ready for the next steps of sourcing, ordering plants and arranging the planting out of the new garden.
In mid April, little Horace, our wire haired Dachshund turned one. To mark the occasion I booked him to have his coat stripped. What a transformation. His scruffy wire coat with a long black mohican which was beginning to curl into a series of cow’s licks was removed to reveal his smart little body. His nails were clipped, paws trimmed, ears cleaned and he smelt fantastic. To complete the look, his worn out puppy collar was also replaced with a handmade leather collar to see him into adulthood. He simply looked gorgeous and seemed to feel the difference; strutting around with his new breezy coat that will also prepare him for the warmer weather ahead of us.
Within our own garden, April saw our white cherry tree blossom. One of my favourite moments in the year, the blooms have a big impact within our small garden. Situated directly opposite the french doors into the garden, the tree's moment changes the entire view of the garden from the house. The cherry blossom is unexpectedly beautiful at night, when the blossoms glow like white stars. The tulips flowers are in a metal pot near to the cherry, the unison flowering time makes it feel like an exciting moment, when the garden is finally coming to life again and flowers can once more be enjoyed along with the sun.
April had many blue skied days when we could leave the doors to the garden wide open and allow the dogs to wander in and out at their leisure. Wilbur, our velveteen rabbit’s summer run came out of winter storage and a new routine of bringing him out to enjoy the grass marks another step towards the summer months. He loves to bask in the sun and follows it’s movements throughout the day.
I finished off a willow woven fence surrounding our herb patch, using the techniques we learnt from a basket making class in March with Dominique Parterre. Although it is different from basket making, I hope similar rules apply and am happy with the makeshift little fence. It gives the herb patch an international feel, protects the plants from the animals and has a distinctly cottage garden aesthetic.
Before the tulips lost all of their petals and disappeared, I picked a couple to bring in to draw in the studio. I spent half a day using watercolour and ink to capture the romantic unfolding of the tulip petals. To celebrate my mum’s birthday, my sister and Mum spent a day in London, Mum catching the train from Totnes in the morning. We visited the Tracey Emin exhibition currently on at the Tate Modern, had a delicious lunch at Mallow in London Bridge then walked to Covent garden, joining the que to wonder at all the delights in the stationary shop, Choosing Keeping. It was a special day out.
To end the busy month, Ru and I snuck off for a long weekend camping trip in Streat, just outside of Ditchling. We were so lucky to have hot, blue sky days for the time we camped and went on some lovely spring walks. The landscape is in that perfect moment of vivid, vibrant green before the leaves settle and turn a deeper shade of green. The dogs loved the trip and Ru cooked some delicious camp side dinners from the local farm shop produce. We took the book Watership Down which we were halfway through, finishing the last couple of chapters in the garden the afternoon we arrived home. I loved reading a book from a perspective outside of a human, looking up at the world, as a rabbit must, with everything being epic and the landscape never ending.
Books I've read this month: I reread Hamnet and Never let me Go. I am really enjoying the podcast ‘The Book Club’ by Goalhanger which is inspiring my current reading list.
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