April Column in Velvet Magazine

I have been going through an undiagnosed period of what I think is known as ‘empty nest syndrome’ recently. The truth is my children haven’t left our nest, but it has felt like they are growing faster than ever. In the autumn my daughter will start attending the local high school and my little boy is now not so little and walking around like he is a full-blown teenager. Of course, as parents, you want your children to grow but letting go is not easy. This ‘syndrome’ has been brought on by the need to clear my backlog of stored photos as I have finally run out of storage space in the ‘cloud’, wherever that is. As a garden designer I take a lot of photos, with professional and personal photos mixed together, I have been going through a melancholy time looking back to when my children were smaller and as we usually only see photos through rose tinted glasses, they also look sweeter.

Through the archives of photos, I stumbled upon the photos taken last April during our family holiday in Norway. I had never been to that part of the world before, but an invitation came from my amazing friends and Garden Designers Leif and Anna from Komplett Utemiljø, so we couldn’t say no. For those that have visited Norway will confirm, the landscape really is as spectacular as people say. Every time I looked out of the window it looked like a computer screensaver. Huge mountains, breathtakingly atmospheric forests and stunning sky lines. When looking through the photos I was reminded, however, how cold it was and that for most of our time there was still snow everywhere. This got me thinking about this wonderful time of year that we are now entering. I adore spring, winters can be so drawn out and the charcoal grey skies can bleed into March but in the UK, April is when spring hits us in the face like a splash of cold water and our hibernated senses wake up. There were signs of spring in Norway in April but nowhere near the carnival of blossom, fragrance and signs of life that we are so lucky enough to experience here. From flowering spring tulips in full display, reach green leaves spreading on previously dormant tree branches to pink and white blossoms on trees such as Prunus and Magnolias. These signs of new growth are happening all around us and should be absolutely cherished. I will definitely be doing so and just like my issues with my children growing up, I will do my best to let go of the past, forget about the future in enjoy the miracle of growth that is happening right before my eyes.

© Velvet Magazine