Lottie Delamain , a imposing English Garden Designer , has devote severalyears to crafting breathtaking garden that perfectly harmonise wild and polished esthetics .
With unorthodox commencement in cloth design , Lottie has transferred her beloved of colour and normal to her designing practice – and is now celebrate for her lucullan , amorous outside distance that engage all of the senses .
She is also a Trustee ofGrow , an organisation that centres around getting unseasoned people involve in food production .
What is your earliest memory of gardening?
“ My early gardening memory is of my mother pulling up new potatoes and getting very excited about how toothsome they were , but I did n’t really get the exhilaration ! ” shares Lottie .
“ I distinctly remember her saying ‘ you ’ll get it when you ’re older ’ – and she was right . Although the idea of horticulture did n’t now grab me , I was always really interested in the natural world as a small fry .
“ We experience in the countryside and I had a trot and I ’d go out with my notebooks and collect leave and flowers to press . ”
Image credit: Dave Watts
How did your background in textiles inform your approach to garden design, especially when you were just starting out in this new field?
“ The move from textiles to garden was much less intimidating than I anticipated , ” she reflects .
“ There is actually a lot of cross - over in form , formula , color and texture . The same could probably be say of lots of design disciplines . I think having some purpose experience gave me the confidence to try out and explore , and have faith that something would materialise out of the process .
“ I was n’t so worried about getting it proper and did n’t chance a blank piece of paper completely overwhelming . ”
Image credit: Billy Bolton
Can you discuss the process of conceptualising and creating your first show garden at RHS Chelsea?
“ The idea for my garden for Chelsea had been percolating in my mind for year , ever since I went trekking in Northern Vietnam in 2013 and issue forth across a very rudimentary dye garden where cleaning lady were growing indigo and hemp to make their dress .
“ It was n’t until I came acrossProject Giving Backin 2021 that I began to develop it and think it could actually come to life as a show garden . There are so many constituent to a garden at Chelsea , but at the heart of it , it ’s about severalise a story .
“ I contactedFashion Revolutionearly on in the app process , as I knew they would be marvellous partners to help contribute this particular chronicle to life . The covering process is very thorough – as you ’d expect of RHS Chelsea – but it ’s adept because you ’re testing your conception all the way through to check that it really works .
Image credit: Dave Watts
“ conception - knowing I knew what I wanted to do : make a garden that looked like a material with a woven arras of plants that could be used to make dye or character .
“ However , the biggest challenge was finding enough dye and fibre plant that fit this brief and would be in flower for the end of May and bear enough decorative economic value for a show garden .
“ Lots of them I had never grown before or worked with , so it felt like fly unsighted at times . However , I was lucky to mould with a very experienced greenhouse , Kelways , who rise to the challenge and direct me through the process . ”
Image credit: Billy Bolton
As a trustee of Grow, how do you integrate sustainability and community engagement in your design projects?
“ Grow is a fantastical charity – [ they ] illustrate in a attractively simple-minded agency how having approach to unripe blank space and grow some veg can have such a across-the-board range of benefits , ” enjoin Lottie .
“ Being a trustee has reward my opinion that everyone should have access to dark-green spaces , disregardless of screen background or postcode , as it is cardinal to us as mortal and as a society .
“ In term of how I figure out : I work firmly to control that client feel affiliated to their garden and that the garden feels like theirs and somewhere they can operate with nature , not feel intimidated by it .
“ Feeling connected to the natural world is of the essence if we are ask people to protect it for next generations . ”
What advice would you give to novice gardeners who are looking to develop a personal style or theme for their garden?
“ My advice would be [ to ] start with what you bang , ” she suggest .
“ Find a starting gunpoint that inspires delight , be it a works that reminds you of someone , a colour in a house painting you love or a material you like . Use this as the anchorman and make a mood board to help oneself you envision the look and feel you ’re direct for .
“ look up back to this as you design and develop your garden . Do n’t worry about it all being perfect . experimentation and pick up by doing . A number like trying to learn to fudge only from look at cookbooks , you could only really learn to garden by gardening and get your hands contaminating . ”
How do you stay inspired? What motivates you?
“ I be in Somerset and walk a pot – preferably first thing while the pandemonium of breakfast is going on . I am try out to make room for a few sidereal day every other month or so in London to soak up art .
“ It ’s so well-situated not to permit this meter but I feel it beneficial for gathering thoughts for the ideas bank , which sometimes take years to find a home , but they always do .
“ In term of motivation , I really consider in gardens as a strength for adept , as it ’s such a pleasure to give people the opportunity to enjoy them and engage with plants and the natural world . ”
Image credit: Dave Watts
How do you see the landscape of garden design changing in the future, and how do you plan to adapt your practice to these changes?
“ It goes without say that designing with the mood in idea is a top precedency , ” states Lottie .
“ It ’s build into how I think about gardens from the head start – whether clients ask for it or not . This applies to sustainable materials choices and climate - resistive planting , but also call back about long - term use of the garden and how it will develop as children grow up or adult move into different stage of their lives .
“ I desire we ’ll see more innovations in cloth for the mass market . For object lesson . clever use of goods and services of reprocess materials and young bio - materials , which at the moment are quite limited and prohibitively expensive for most . ”
What are your future plans or upcoming projects that you are excited about?
“ I have scores of large project on at the instant . These admit a usurious ‘ jungly ’ garden by the sea , a adorable with child rural area garden in Somerset and a twosome of smaller London projects which are like petty jewels and always a joyousness to plan .
“ I ’ve also grow a few commercial projects on which is a great muscle to be stretch and a different skill - set entirely .
“ I ’m doing more penning which is a great excuse to research a subject and fit gripping the great unwashed , and I ’d love to bring more with brands who desire to use gardens and works to differentiate their story .
And , of path , allot more pottering in my own garden , which always seems to fall down to the bottom of the list … ”
