On thoughtful design, simple pleasures and finding beauty in the everyday.
There's a certain expectation that garden design involves sweeping transformations, elaborate planting schemes and beautifully photographed spaces that seem a world away from our own back gardens.
And while there's something wonderful about creating an entire landscape from the ground up, I've always believed that good design has very little to do with the size of a project.
A small courtyard, an awkward corner, a modest terrace or even a single garden gate can offer just as much opportunity for creativity and thoughtful design.
Sometimes, the simplest things are the most rewarding.
Understanding the Space
Every garden has its own character, its own challenges and its own possibilities.
Before putting pencil to paper, I like to understand how a space works. Where the sunlight falls, how people move through it, what they enjoy about it and what they might wish to change.
It's not always about creating something entirely new. Often, it's about recognising the potential in what's already there.
A neglected corner might become a lovely place to sit. An awkward change in level might offer an opportunity for a beautifully considered set of steps. An ageing boundary might be replaced with fencing that brings warmth, privacy and a stronger sense of enclosure.
The starting point is always the same: understanding what the space needs.
The Importance of Proportion
One of the things I find most interesting about design is how small decisions can have such a significant effect.
The height of a wall, the width of a path, the spacing of timber boards or the position of a step can completely change how a garden feels.
These details might seem insignificant in isolation, but together they create a sense of balance.
Good proportion rarely demands attention. Instead, things simply feel right, even if it's difficult to explain exactly why.
And that, to me, is one of the quiet pleasures of thoughtful design.
Designing With the Making in Mind
I have always enjoyed the relationship between designing something and understanding how it will be built.
It's one thing to imagine a beautiful structure or garden feature. It's another to consider the materials, the joints, the foundations, the drainage and the practical details that allow it to work properly.
Neither side should exist independently of the other.
A beautifully drawn idea must also be achievable, durable and appropriate for its surroundings.
Working across both design and construction allows me to consider these things together, from the earliest ideas through to the finished work.
It also means that even a relatively small project benefits from the same practical understanding that would be applied to a much larger garden.
Making Room for Simplicity
I think there is a particular beauty in restraint.
Not every space needs filling, not every surface needs embellishment and not every garden needs an elaborate collection of features.
Sometimes a simple timber bench, a carefully chosen paving material or a beautifully constructed wall is enough.
Natural materials, considered proportions and a little breathing room can create spaces that feel calm, comfortable and entirely unforced.
There's a confidence in allowing things to be simple.
And often, achieving that simplicity requires rather more thought than it first appears.
A Garden That Feels Like Yours
Ultimately, I believe gardens should reflect the people who use them.
They don't need to follow a particular fashion or resemble something from a glossy magazine. They need to be places where people feel comfortable, where they enjoy spending time and where the practical and beautiful sit happily together.
For some, that might mean a complete redesign. For others, it could be a new deck, a repaired wall, a thoughtfully made gate or simply improving one part of a garden that has never quite worked.
There is no prescribed scale for a worthwhile project.
What matters is the care taken in understanding it, the thought that goes into designing it and the satisfaction of making it well.
Because a garden doesn't have to be grand to be beautiful.
It just has to feel right.
Jojoë Atelier — Garden design, individual elements and thoughtful construction in East Sussex.