Flesh and bones…

And so we continued – further comments were made on further sketches, and gradually, the bones began to form into the final skeleton of a design. Alex, Jim and I were happy that the space would tell the story we had constructed and that the elements were clear.

But then the bones needed fleshing out. This was a whole new conversation, and was destined to become another lengthy affair.

Yet again, Alex and I congregated at his studio, complete with cakes and tea. Each of us had already made a list of the sort of planting we thought would work, and we set about combining the lists and striking off the no-goers.

A couple of hours later the list was combined and (a little) shorter than when we had started. A conference call to Jim and a few more plants were added. Not many were struck off.

But, a clean and modern design (which is what the space had grown into) needed a clean and cohesive planting list. Long ramblings were not going to cut it, so a ruthless cull was required.