Philosophy
The fundamental principle underlying Sandra's design philosophy is a primary reliance on plants, rather than hard landscaping, to achieve structure in a garden. Foliage textures and colours are intrinsic elements of her designs. Flowers are seasonal bonuses. This is the key to a garden with year-round structure.
Sandra has a deep interest in plants and uses a very broad palette of plant material in her designs. However, at the same time she recognises the concerns that many less experienced gardeners have about plant maintenance. All maintenance issues are addressed in the design process.
All gardens should have an element of mystery and surprise. There is nothing more charming in a garden than to lose one's orientation, to feel that the garden is larger than one might expect.
To this end, it is useful to create 'rooms' in a garden, to arrange points where unexpected vistas emerge, perhaps to borrow elements of a neighbouring landscape. These are all ways of manipulating space in a garden.
Creating garden 'rooms' is also a way of highlighting different parts of a garden for different seasons, or just different times of day.
Manipulating space is a challenge that Sandra particularly enjoys - even in small courtyards.
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