Catriona Rowbotham Garden Design

Catriona Rowbotham Garden Design Architect turned garden designer and tutor, creating beautiful, lasting urban escapes

Going on holiday, particularly if it’s not going to conveniently rain while you’re away, is hard when you really get int...
28/07/2026

Going on holiday, particularly if it’s not going to conveniently rain while you’re away, is hard when you really get into your garden.

Some planning must be done to make sure the garden somehow gets watered and of course, you’re aware that you’re going to miss something, whether that be ripening tomatoes or the blooming of a particular plant.

On top of making sure work is in a good place before you leave, the thought of catching up from work when you get back and the organising of the holiday itself, for some, the thought of it all is too much and they start resenting holidays. In the case of a serious gardener with several acres that I met recently, she even stopped taking holidays altogether.

What camp are you in? Love holidays, slightly resent holidays, don't take holidays?!

Read on in my Substack to hear my take

Dyffryn Fernant Garden - love, love, loveDry, shady, wet, grassy areas, it had them all and all FULL to bursting with i...
23/07/2026

Dyffryn Fernant Garden - love, love, love

Dry, shady, wet, grassy areas, it had them all and all FULL to bursting with interesting planting, beautifully arranged to immerse and also link views out to the wider landscape

The relaxed style throughout was right up my street!

There are little seating areas to enjoy it everywhere and, unusually for me, I liked the sculpture, some of which was techically old farm implement but beautiful nonetheless!

It's not been all work this summer - I've just been too busy inbetween fun stuff to post about it. This garden visit whilst I was on holiday in Pembrokeshire definitely counts as fun

Have you been? Did you like it as much as I did?

I’m just back from a week’s holiday in beautiful Pembrokeshire, Wales where, due to a climate where they receive plenty ...
16/07/2026

I’m just back from a week’s holiday in beautiful Pembrokeshire, Wales where, due to a climate where they receive plenty of rain and despite the recent hot and dry weather, everything looks lush and green. I returned home to my southeast London garden to find it looking considerably less lush and green, and in parts, positively crispy

I do not have irrigation but I did have an 18 year old on watering duty. She admits she forgot about watering at the start of the week, and that my friends is all it takes for spring planted perennials to decide to crisp their leaves up as a survival mechanism to redirect energy back to their roots. Hopefully they will recover enough to come back next year. I’ve had to remind myself that gardening is often about patience (as well as disappointment)

I did not teach my daughter how to water properly before I left and that’s on me

To read what I omitted to tell her, some tips you can follow now to avoid the same fate as me, and some longer term watering ideas to think about for next year head to my Substack 'Cultivating Calm'


I was recently invited to speak with Noel Kingsbury on the Garden Masterclass podcast and it's out this week. Amongst ot...
14/07/2026

I was recently invited to speak with Noel Kingsbury on the Garden Masterclass podcast and it's out this week. Amongst other things we discuss how I got into teaching The English Gardening School and how to care for gardens after they're designed.

I decided to put a nice new photo of me up here to celebrate, courtesy of Lian

You can listen to the podcast on The Garden Materclass Substack here:
https://substack.com/Garden Masterclass/note/p-206683575?r=4ji1c5

I'm on holiday next week so I'll be taking a real break and won't be posting hereTill I return I thought I'd leave you w...
03/07/2026

I'm on holiday next week so I'll be taking a real break and won't be posting here

Till I return I thought I'd leave you with these beautiful shots from Lian of a project completed last year

Built by D & S Precision Landscaping LTD , they were so pleased with it that they straight away asked if they could submit it for this year's Pro Landscaper awards. I'm delighted to say the project was shortlisted and will be judged next Thursday.

I hope their work will be recognised, they were a dream to work with and paid so much care and attention to this project to bring the results you can see in these photos

My one horticultural claim to fame is that my great grandfather bred roses as a hobbyIf you'd like to find out the rose ...
30/06/2026

My one horticultural claim to fame is that my great grandfather bred roses as a hobby

If you'd like to find out the rose he bred, the roses I grow in my own garden in a slightly lackadaisical manner, why I think roses have become unfashionable in certain circles - and why I've never even thought to care, then read on in my Substack 'Cultivating Calm'

Elise Margaret Bennett you'll remember the memory I'm talking about:)

Link in bio

More epic wall planting in Pitlochry! Liza Kiesler I returned to the amazing daffodil wall from spring but sadly their ...
23/06/2026

More epic wall planting in Pitlochry!

Liza Kiesler I returned to the amazing daffodil wall from spring but sadly their Iris & poppy combo didn't quite fill out the whole space

Should have copied the house I saw nearby with just one Geranium repeated along the whole wall?

I know we're meant to be aiming for as many species as possible for biodiversity but a bold repeat of just one thing does look so lovely to me!

This article follows on from my last 'Connection, Craft & Communication in the age of AI' - expanding on the last partI'...
17/06/2026

This article follows on from my last 'Connection, Craft & Communication in the age of AI' - expanding on the last part

I've laid out my garden design process in writing, highlighting along the way just how much of it involves communication with clients, landscapers and suppliers

It's also kind of crazy to realise that the subtitle 'without a human involved' wouldn't even make sense not so long ago

ChatGPT was released late 2022 and Claude in early 2023. How times have changed in 3 short years...It's good to take a second to reflect on what we humans are good at and what we might want to keep a hold of!

To read more head to my Substack 'Cultivating Calm' link in bio

Spot Lian taking (considerably more professional than this one) photos amongst the nicely developing planting in this pr...
15/06/2026

Spot Lian taking (considerably more professional than this one) photos amongst the nicely developing planting in this project

Can't wait to see her final photos!

It has already been shown that AI, since it’s always learning from us, reflects back to us what we put into it. So inste...
02/06/2026

It has already been shown that AI, since it’s always learning from us, reflects back to us what we put into it. So instead of telling it that we’re scared of it and the kind of world it will create, this post is a positive look at what we humans are good at, the human qualities that I believe AI can never replace and a vision for a world in which AI makes things better not worse. Because if we can’t envision a better world how are we ever going to make one?

To read more head to my Substack 'Cultivating Calm' - link in bio

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