2012 was an enormous year for Vialii Garden Design. On February 2nd the business was given an injection of youth and vitality when we welcomed aboard our newest ‘recruit’, our baby daughter Lulu Ann Burt. She’s certainly livened up the business side of things although it has got us wondering what we did with our time before Lulu came on the scene. There have been adjustments to the way we operate but, to be honest, these have been for the better. Prior to Baby Burt we would utilise a lot of spare time doing business stuff. Now we prioritise our family time but ensure that we work cleverly with what other time we have in order to keep the business thriving.
Designing gardens allows us to meet some lovely people and this year has been no exception. Everybody is different as is every garden we have been asked to design, but the common theme has been an enjoyment of gardens and a desire to enjoy them more.
It's been an incredibly busy year too with some twelve garden designs commissioned and nine garden builds commenced and the garden builds have been a challenging but rewarding. The weather hasn’t been particularly kind(1) and has hindered some of our projects but most of our challenges have been set by ourselves. We have been commissioned to design gardens that have presented their share of difficulties in their own right whether they be sloping ground, incredibly boggy or out-and-out jungles (or all three in the case of one garden!). We have also endeavoured to stretch ourselves by included elements into our gardens that aren’t necessarily the most straightforward to build but represent a great solution to a particular problem.
It hasn't all been work though. We've visited our fair share of gardens too with our favourite probably being closely contested by An Cala on Seil Island near Oban and Glenwhan Gardens in Galloway.
All in all it has been a bumper year and we hope it continues. We’d like to thank all our clients for entrusting us with their gardens and we hope they enjoy using them as much as we enjoyed designing and building them.
Looking forward to 2013 our plan is to build on the successes of previous years and grow the business further and we’re looking forward to the challenges that come with that. We’re keen to bring motivated and skilled individuals on board in order that we can reduce the turnaround times on garden builds. We’re honing our processes in the design office too.
We’re both excited about this year's 100th anniversary Chelsea Flower Show and are confident it will be one of the best yet. Having missed it in 2012 due to Lulu arriving in town we are super keen to get there this year. It has it’s detractors and we can understand some of the criticisms it receives but it’s an amazing garden spectacle and is truly inspirational. We love it!
Most of all we’re looking forward to spending more time in our own garden with our little Lulu. She spent a great deal of last year just watching us garden but this year we’re going to get her mucking in. It’ll be a blast!
May this coming year be a prosperous one for you all.
Speak soon,
Michael, Jill & Lulu
www.vialiigardendesign.co.uk
1. This may be regarded as the understatement of the year but we endeavour not to bemoan what our climate throws at us too much. We live in Scotland after all and with that comes weather. As they say “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes”.
Comments
Hi Pete,
The sheep weren't installed by me, they were at a beautiful garden we visited whilst on holiday in the West Coast of Scotland last year. I am searching out the sculptor though as I'd like to specify them in some future garden designs.
Michael