It would be as difficult to write about St. Peter’s in Rome without mentioning the Catholic Church, as it is to write about Nanzen-ji without considering the Rinzai School of Zen. The Rinzai is one of the two main schools … Continue reading
I think future generations will look back and say that mass tourism was the curse of the early 21st century. Whereas people of my parents’ generation were happy to make themselves a home, carrying out DIY, and tending tomatoes in … Continue reading
Small London gardens have been a major source of interest and pleasure to me over much of my life and I have enjoyed designing a great many of them. The brief was almost always the same; all year-round interest, low … Continue reading
The twists and turns in the life of Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who built the Silver Pavilion, would have made a good Shakespearean tragedy. He never expected to be the Shogun (the feudal military dictator) but the death of his older brother, … Continue reading
I have always enjoyed visiting artists’ gardens because they often give an insight into a different view of the world; such as Monet’s garden at Giverny and Barbara Hepworth’s at St Ives. In the early 20th century the famous Japanese … Continue reading
When I started my scribblings about visiting gardens I showed them to a friend who worked for ‘The Independent’. He was kind enough to forward one to a grand doyen of garden writing who gave me a piece of advice … Continue reading