G Is For Garden Designer

With one foot in tradition and one in innovation, how does somerset inspire its workers? Over the coming months Vik Martin will take a stroll though the alphabet to find out.

- Vik Martin

I DON’T usually plan rendezvous with strangers in quiet lay-bys but I’m making an exception today. I’m at Lords Wood near Pensford to meet garden designer Michelle Wake, and she’s promised to show me where she gets her inspiration. I love a woodland walk, and it’s a classic spring day with dark grey skies, surprising bursts of warm sun and even the odd snow flurry. It’s definitely a win-win.

We slide, for a while, down muddy slopes and tracks until eventually the trees get sparser and we emerge into a clearing with a small lake, grassy hummocks and swathes of bluebells and wood anemones. Michelle smiles and sighs.