Be Inspired: incorporating ideas into your garden

When I worked in fashion there was often a fine line between being inspired by the latest trends and infringing intellectual property rights. Thankfully in gardening there is no such law; imitation is indeed the highest form of flattery. The Sissinghursts and Dixters of our great gardening nation are not merely museums, nor are they shrines to Vita and Christo to be looked at, perhaps photographed, and then forgotten. They are repositories of ideas, waiting to be pilfered (the ideas, not the plants. Definitely not the plants).

Whilst we’re fortunate to have an endless supply of inspiration these days, one can of course have too much of a good thing. The way I use ideas tends to be different depending on the source, which I split into three categories: visits to gardens and shows, books and magazines, and social media and television.