Vialii Review of 2015

Monday, 04 January 2016

As we squelch forward into 2016, we thought it would be good time to sit back with a cuppa and have a review of 2015. It was another great year for us here at Vialii Towers (especially for Jill & Tilda off on maternity leave!) and we share our garden related highlights here with you. From our favourite garden feature to the best wildlife photograph of 2015 read on to find out more…

Favourite Garden We Visited

This was an easy decision for once. Levens Hall Gardens were so outstanding that they undoubtedly take this accolade. From the moment we stepped through the gates to the topiary garden we were completely spell-bound. The topiary garden is the biggest in the world and wow, is it impressive! But there is more to it than just topiary. From the herbaceous borders to the kitchen gardens, it is absolutely worth a visit. To read more on this wonderful garden read our recent blog on it.

Favourite Plant of 2015

It’s not new and it’s not cutting edge but we renewed our love of acers in 2015. We used them in a lot of the gardens we designed and the colour, form and texture they provide is just gorgeous. Give them a sheltered corner of your garden and they will give you years of pleasure.

Favourite Garden Feature We Made

It’s impossible to choose an overall favourite garden that we designed and built as we love them all and they are all so unique. However, as a feature, hand-made by us, we truly love this bespoke seat with in-built planting. Made from hard wood it feels wonderful, looks great and with the lavenders and rosemary planted in it, smells great too.

Favourite Kids Feature

The winner of this category has to be our very own playhouse. Kindly donated by friends, we gave it a Vialii makeover with a lick of paint, some soft furnishings, home-made artwork, artificial grass “rug”, a new sign and a flower box. It is already a firm favourite in our garden with the girls and all their friends. To read more about the makeover read our blog post.

Favourite Show Garden

We took a year out of doing the big garden shows as we had Tilda (and Lulu) to concentrate on but as always we keenly followed them on TV and online. All the show gardens are amazing and inspire us in different ways but this year our favourite was Adam Frost’s Homebase Garden at Chelsea. It could easily be translated into any modern back garden and is packed full of wonderful features, uses gorgeous materials and the most delightful planting. Gold star!

And that is our review of 2015. Here’s to another year packed full of wonderful garden adventures.

Best wishes,

All at Vialii