Exemplary garden designs for any outside space from the award-winning originator of the ‘inside-outside’ concept.
In Garden Design Solutions, designer and author Stephen Woodhams draws on his longstanding, worldwide career to offer his latest ideas for outdoor living, demonstrating in glorious detail how to make the most of any outside space in any climate.
Be it urban or suburban, rooftop or courtyard, shady or exposed, Garden Design Solutions provides invaluable advice and inspirational case studies from some of Stephen Woodhams most celebrated projects alongside canny preparation, layout and planting advice.
Guiding readers expertly from assessment to final concept, Garden Design Solutions will empower you to make the right choices for your space and develop a design theme to scale and proportion with confidence. Leaving no stone left unturned, Stephen Woodhams ensures every element of a garden – its surfaces, furnishings, focal points, containers, colours, textures; the planting, the vistas, the scents – is explored and nurtured, as an extension of your home to be enjoyed all year round.
Stephen says: “We believe that garden-lovers should have as much or as little involvement with the design process as they wish. Ultimately we like to make connections between people and places, emotions and ideas, hearts and minds.”
Stephen Woodhams has been designing gardens for 25 years. He specializes in urban gardens, roof gardens and country gardens in the UK, Mediterranean, USA, Middle East and Mauritius. His award-winning designs are best known for their architectural character and lush, elegant planting that incorporates an eclectic mix of textures and colours. A design signature is the ‘inside/outside’ concept, which was first introduced when the practice created gardens for the 1995 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Inspiration is drawn from many diverse sources, including cutting-edge materials, historic gardens from around the world, dramatic landscapes, colours in nature, the play of light, reflections in water and the way plants grow in their native habitat. New or industrial materials are often used in conjunction with traditional planting techniques and sustainability is always a consideration.
In 1994 Stephen Woodhams was one of the youngest gardeners to win a Gold Medal at the Chelsea Flower Show for Mr Maidment’s Garden. He won a second Gold Medal in 2002 for his Sanctuary Garden sponsored by Merrill Lynch, and in 2010 he was awarded the Gold Trophy for the Best Trade Stand with Smallbone. Stephen is the author of several books on garden design and floral arrangement and his work has been featured in many publications including Homes & Gardens, House & Garden, Garden Design Journal, Hello!, FT: How To Spend It, Tatler and You magazine. Since 2010 he has been one of the garden judges at the Chelsea Flower Show, as well as other RHS shows around the UK. www.stephenwoodhams.com