Garden Design

Our showroom’s outdoor furniture took a little road trip to East Lothian for a sunny photoshoot. During the shoot, we caught up with the lovely Anna from Blackwood Gardens for a Q&A session about the importance of garden design. Anna shares her hints and tips below—discover her gardening advice and learn how to make the most of your garden this summer!

Q&A with Gardening Expert Anna Blackwood

Can you tell us more about Blackwood Gardens and your services?

Blackwood Gardens is a garden design studio based in East Lothian serving Edinburgh and Lothians area. We work with clients who want to invest in their outdoor space to transform into a garden that can be loved and enjoyed. We provide a full design service and work in partnership with quality landscapers to deliver the new garden. We also provide garden consultation and planting design services.

Where did your passion for garden design stem from?

My love of plants has been nurtured from a young age, as I come from a family of gardeners. In fact I would say gardening runs in my DNA!

I came into garden design as a second career. It ticked a lot of boxes for me as my earlier career was working with clothing, buying and marketing, so I have always had an interest in design and creative problem solving. Garden design combines my passion for plants with my practical project management skills to solve clients’ problems and create new gardens for them. It’s a varied and interesting job, and I feel very lucky to do it.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Every day is different. I could be working on a new design at the computer, or sketching out ideas. I could be surveying a new project – making sure I have the detail to do the designs. I could be visiting clients or setting out plants in a border – ready for planting. I could be doing site visits with landscapers to check on the progress of a project. No typical days in this job, which is great.

We’re not always very lucky with the weather in Scotland, do you have any advice for how people can enjoy spending more time in their gardens, no matter the weather?

There are many things you can do to make the garden more accessible all year. There are some fabulous garden rooms, outdoor pods and greenhouses where you can sit sheltered from the weather and still feel immersed in the garden but not in the weather.

You can also do things like build Pergolas for some shade ( yes it can be too sunny sometimes!) You can plant to create shelter belts from the wind to make a seating area less windy.

And of course you can choose plants that give winter interest, so your garden entices you outside to explore in the depths of winter. So lots of options out there.

Do you think garden design can complement the interior design of a home?

Absolutely it’s really important to look at the house – the exterior and interior when starting on a project. Understanding the materials of the building, the setting of the house, the landscape the garden sits in are all considerations to take in. The interior of the house will inform me what the client likes, their visual style and this can all be used to help me when designing their garden, so the materials work together and harmonise or contrast appropriately.

How does outdoor furniture fit into garden design?

It’s important when planning patios, terraces, decks and other sitting areas in the garden, to get the space and dimensions right. The first step is locating the best place within the garden to relax in. Then, it is understanding what type of furniture they want in the garden and how and who will be using it. This all helps to get the design dimensions right so there is space to move around and place furniture in the best place to relax and enjoy the garden. 

Interior design is often very personal, do you feel the same is true for garden design?

Yes, it is about getting to know your client, understanding what they like/don’t like and how they want to use their gardens. The relationship between the client and designer is very important, in terms of understanding the design solutions and in working together over a long period of time.

What are some ways to create a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor living spaces?

Materials is key. Selecting materials that work with the interior, for example using the same porcelain tiles inside and outside can create a seamless transition.

You can also mirror some of the colours or features from the interior design and bring this into the garden space. 

For someone that is new to gardening what would your advice be?

Don’t panic! Plants are not as scary as you think. Don’t rush into doing everything at once. Observation is key. Understand the space, the light, the soil and the weather. Where is the sun at different times of the day/year? Which parts of the garden are windy? What plants do you like/don’t like? Try and avoid the spontaneous plant purchase – consider the form of the plant, the colour, the season and the growing conditions and how it will work with the rest of the garden.

If you have absolutely no knowledge and don’t know the difference between weeds and the plants you want in the garden, then ask a friend or family member for some advice, or hire an expert!

What are your favourite plants for this time of year?

This is the hardest question to answer! My favourites do change with the seasons, who doesn’t love a snowdrop poking its head through late snow.

In the summer months is it the hard working geraniums that just keep flowering and provide that useful backdrop to more flowering shrubs? Is it the scent of peonies, roses or salvias? Is it one of the prima-donna of plants ( that look fab in flower for a short time but don’t last long ) like meconopsis? Or is it the beautiful swaying textural grasses of stipa or miscanthus that catch the light? Or could it be the wonderful foilage of ferns or rodgersia? I don’t think I can give you an answer as it goes back to the old saying ‘Right plant, right place’. Something I do believe in – it is about the right combinations of plants to make a garden special.

Cuba Lounge Chair – Carl Hansen & Son

Cestita Alubat Outdoor Light – Santa & Cole

Siesta Outdoor Sofa  – Andreu World

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