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Winter has come in a big way to Hampshire! I was aiming to update the site earlier in the week but after really heavy snow and a power cut that lasted nearly 2 days - getting on the computer and getting the cold fingers to type effectively has been difficult! The snow has looked stunning and we have some amazing pictures of the garden in its white glory but the excitement has worn a little thin as it has continued to sit on the ground and the temperatures have remained as low as they have!

Prior to the snow, the garden offered perfect specimens for creating the front door wreath and the decorations in the house. Yew, Holly, Teasels, Ivy and variegated evergreen shrubs are perfect to weave together in a festive manner and added to the seed heads of Allium, Angelica and Physalis they produced the look I wanted! We were also picking the last of the autumn raspberries until last week and those we didn't pick fast enough were eaten up by either the blackbirds or the dog - who is particularly partial to the produce of the vegetable garden!

The first phase of the large garden in Buckinghamshire was nearly completed when it snowed! All the specimen trees and most of the herbaceous material were all in the ground and the finishing touches of the gravel pathways were just being put in place. The new Gazebo is now presiding over a snowy scene but - with a bit of imagination and some luck - in a few months it'll be looking over a lovely wildflower meadow and a woodland edge to maximise the large space on the far side of the moat! Pictures will follow of this new garden after Christmas when we can see the plants and the lovely hard landscaping again! Meanwhile, we're also working on a terrace that overlooks the River Thames in Putney and a country garden on the side of a lake in Surrey! Water seems to be a recurring theme!

A Happy Christmas to everyone and here's to lots of new and exciting projects in 2010!