Summer Gardens

It's the height of summer and therefore the time to enjoy your garden the most.  I have a typical country cottage garden, high maintenance, lots of roses and climbers that require constant pruning and training.  I do love it though and I think the gardening bug caught me as soon as I moved in to Beech House, it is a truly relaxing past time. 

However, the busier I become (and a baby daughter on the way) I'm focusing on down scaling everything in my life and making things as easy as possible - for the time being anyway!

With this in mind, I have fallen in love with simple and stylish garden design.  I'm thinking lots of simple topiary that looks super chic and tasteful, some potted, some not... 

 

Top tips to achieve this look:

• Keep to a clean and classic style, with stylish and simple furniture 
• Up-lighting is an absolute must
• Choose a simple colour scheme to avoid that 'fussy' look, think simply green and white
• Use an outdoor fire for a focal point.  Chimneys or firepits look equally as chic at a fraction of the price
• Use lots of green!

 

 

 Lighting is so important and I just love candlelgiht on a summers evening.  Our fabulous lanterns look so chic.  They are £35 each - buy here. 

Dreaming of Al Fresco Dining

After spending days pottering in my garden, with my main objective to collect copious amounts leaves (a dustbin and three bin bags full to be exact), the new leaf free zone has unveiled the flourishing of spring - note daffodils in full force and the sprouting of, well all sorts, my garden is beginning to pop in to life!  This inevitably gets me thinking about outdoor entertaining and it spurs me on with the mind numbing task of 'leaf collection'.  

So this is the first of many blogs in the coming weeks with an 'al fresco' theme, but first things first...garden furniture!  Comfy, stylish and entertaining friendly are the key focus points I always have in mind when shopping for garden furniture.  

At the moment I have 'a thing' for mosaic styles, yes they are a more traditional than most on the market but they scream Mediterranean summers.   On the FADS website there is a very stylish table combining two of my favourite summer time stylings...mosaic tiles and a fire pit that can double up as a BBQ.  I love! 

Fire Bowl Table from FADS £444.99

Or this square style is fabulous too.

Miranda Square Stone Dining Table with Fire Bowl, £287.99 from FADS

I just love this quirky take on a classic teak garden table.  The central tin section is doubles as a ice bucket OR a garden planter to fill with your favourite flowers or herbs!  Love love love!  Available to buy at www.butterflylane.co.uk shortly.  Email us on customerservice@butterflylane.co.uk to be added to the waiting list.

Butterfly Lane teak table, £800

To take a more modern approach, take inspiration from the South of France with this Cannes breakfast set.  I can imagine sipping my coffee and juice with a croissant (or two) enjoying the morning summer sunshine.  The Cannes set is also available from FADS.

Cannes Breakfast Cube, £269.99

Sometimes you just need some luxe living and this collection from John Lewis does just that!

What is your garden style?