My Design Journal
Stay up to date on live projects, get design advice and discover things I’ve learnt along the way. New content is added regularly to this section of the website.
How to care for your new Pleached trees | A step-by-step seasonal guide
A simple, seasonal guide to caring for your new pleached trees, during their first two years of growth.
Life’s A Pleach. | Why pleached trees might be one of the smartest additions to your garden.
Discover how pleached trees can bring privacy, structure and elegance to your garden. Garden designer Mark Hardy shares his favourite species and planting advice from a recent project in Deal, Kent.
Words & Pictures | Recent media coverage
Recent Press & Media coverage for Mark Hardy Design
Designing with ornamental grasses | What you need to know
How to design with ornamental grasses
Designing gardens in Kent | What the Garden of England can teach us.
What can Kent, the Garden of England, teach us about garden design?
Legal edibles | The ancient brick wall that’s making me hungry
Legal edibles | The ancient brick wall that’s making me hungry.
How to Design an Edible Kitchen Garden Border.
Can you feel it?
Can you feel it?
La Rentrée, the arrival of autumn and why September always feels more like a beginning than an ending
Back to school at 50.
Back to school at 50.
Why leaving a 30-year career to become a Garden Designer felt less like starting again and more like moving forward.
You never know what you’re going to find.
You Never Know What You’re Going to Find.
What actually happens at an initial Garden Design Consultation, and why it’s the first part of my design process.
The Hedge That Stopped a Car.
The Hedge That Stopped a Car.
In praise of Pyracantha: the slightly unfashionable hedge that might just be one of the hardest-working plants in the garden.
Gnome Sweet Gnome.
Gnome Sweet Gnome.
Why creating a garden around the people who live there is one of the most important parts of good design.
What Are You Paying For When You Hire a Garden Designer?
What Are You Paying For When You Hire a Garden Designer?
The drawings are only part of it. Most of the value sits in the decisions behind them.
The importance of staying curious.
Alumni Achievement Award | The importance of staying curious.
A Room With A View.
A Room With A View.
Why the view from inside your house matters when designing a garden