On a recent visit to the Tate Modern we went up to the brilliant 10th floor viewing platform in the Blavatnik Building extension. After I'd had my fill of staring into the flats opposite and admiring the modern furniture and tasteful decor my eyes were drawn to the green spaces down below. I loved the shapes, they felt really sketch-like. As if someone had gone over an architect's drawing with a bright green pen. 

I've had a busy period of planting recently which coincided with some very nice weather. Planting is the best bit for me - it's a joy to spend the day outside doing it and you finally get to see your design brought to life and framed by lush greenery.

In this client's garden I suggested putting in two larger beds off the terrace and made them quite deep to create more of a sense of drama and to reflect the shape of the house. In terms of planting I took my client along to Architectural Plants to get a feel for what she wanted and together we chose a palette of evergreen shrubs and grasses. I also suggested clearing all the undergrowth under the Magnolia tree to show off its stunning multi-stem shape to full effect. Below are a mixture of sketches, the final planting plan and some before and after shots.

I've just finished reading a book by the Italian master of garden and landscape design Luciano Guibbilei called 'The Art of Making Gardens'. I say reading, there was a lot of gazing at beautiful photography as well. It was given to me by a friend and the timing couldn't have been better.

The book centres on Luciano's time working in the gardens at Great Dixter alongside Head Gardener Fergus Garrett and students James Horner and Rachael Dodd. It's an experience he describes as enriching his work as a designer despite him already having a solid 20 years in the industry and two Chelsea gold medals.

Luciano's international work reflects his native Italian (he was born in Siena) tradition of clipped hedges, pleached trees and expanses of lawn which have a more sculptural, formal aesthetic and work on the play of light and shadow. So how did he end up deep in an English flower border planting out dahlias?

A need to experiment and push himself. Over the past few years he has made regular pilgrimages from London to East Sussex to work a patch of bare soil in the vegetable garden and in doing so has embraced colour and flowers for the first time. His descriptions of the place, of the people and of his journeys down from the city are beautiful. 

"My time at Great Dixter has quite literally grounded me. I find myself going there several times a month, so that I can at last experience the passing of the seasons and the feeling of being in a working garden. My work there has also improved and enriched my practice in ways I never imagined. It has led me towards a deeper understanding of plants and the work that goes into creating and maintaining a garden".

It really resonated with me as since January I have been making weekly visits to work in the garden at Gravetye Manor. The importance of getting outside and away from the computer, to actually be in nature and observe how plants behave through the seasons is the key to learning about succession planting (when one follows another and you can keep a border looking good for several months). But it's also about the people who, with a complete lack of ego, are all working together towards a common goal and exchanging ideas along the way. Like him, I have found it extremely grounding (although unlike him I am only at the beginning of my career). 

Below, he describes returning to Dixter in the spring:

"It was love at first sight. The border was a sea of soft bronze fennel foliage and forget-me-nots, dotted with the staggeringly beautiful tulip 'La Belle Epoque'... Combined with the other flowers, the effect was of a finely woven gauze, making the border seem vast, almost never-ending. Having last seen the space as bare earth, almost devoid of colour, I now found in painterly, full of movement and the beginning of a new world.

I still feel the same anticipation on each visit - curious to know what has changed, which plants have come up, how the compositions are working - but I feel it most strongly in spring, when the change between visits is so pronounced". 

I like the way he brings a gentle, romantic sensibility to the labour of gardening which, let's be honest, involves rather more in the way of dirt under the nails, inclement weather and a lot of heavy lifting. 

Every time I visit Gravetye Manor I pick up some new bit of information which feeds into my work as a garden designer. This week I was walking through one of the glasshouses with Steve and he was telling me more about what plants they grow there when we walked past this beauty (pictured). He delighted in pointing out the deep purple undersides of the glossy green leaves. Little details like this can really add something extra to a planting scheme, plus they're just fun things to notice.

Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' is a herbaceous perennial which grows to about 75cm in height and has sprays of lavender flowers. It was in the same cuttings glasshouse as the Salvias (sage) of which they grow many including 'Amistad', 'African Skies', 'Phyllis Fancy', 'Convertiflora', 'Curviflora' and 'Involucrata'. I didn't take any photos, but I can feel a dedicated Salvia post coming on at some point.. as they are such a (rightly) popular plant that just keeps on flowering. 

I spent a bit of time in the nursery doing a bit of pricking out of tiny seedlings into seed trays and potting on of more established plants into larger pots. This work is the backbone of the whole plant nursery operation as cuttings are taken from existing plants to create new ones. It is mindless, repetitive, calming work - but exactly what I needed after a week at my keyboard staring at a screen. And it was good to get my hands in the dirt as it always is. It was bloody freezing though, I had three pairs of socks on. 

My time at Gravetye this and last week has been all about the tidying up jobs that need to be done before the growing season really gets going in the kitchen garden.

Pruning the redcurrants, blackcurrants and gooseberries to maximise fruit production by ensuring there's enough light getting in and space to grow, and tying in new shoots so they won't topple over when heavily laden in a few months time. This task could be filed under boring but important, but snipping away at branches is surprisingly satisfying. I also mastered an essential gardener's knot. 

In the spirit of William Robinson and his 'Wild Garden' Tom got us naturalising perennials in the orchard and we planted out a few Leucojum aestivum 'Gravetye Giant' which you find dotted around the whole garden.  Leucojums like it damp, grow to about 60cm tall and behave a bit like daffodils in the way they die down.

I've got a new gig working in the garden at Gravetye Manor near East Grinstead in Sussex, an Elizabethan Manor that was once the home of celebrated gardener and author William Robinson. His influential book 'The Wild Garden' was published in 1870 and advocated a more naturalistic style of planting (it's still in print today). He was lifelong friends with the legendary gardener/artist/writer/all round wonder woman Gertrude Jekyll and at one time she edited his magazine 'The Garden'. 

So it's a real privilege to be learning from head gardener Tom Coward who continues the work that Robinson started. Tom is generous with his knowledge, as long as you've got a notebook to hand, because it is absolutely true that if you don't write down a new plant name immediately you will not remember it. And so I duly scribbled down Lonicera fragrantissima (winter flowering honeysuckle) and the notation 'already flowering'. 

But there is practical work to be getting on with too, last week we were pruning the apple trees in the orchard. I'm now pretty confident I can identify the leader (to be cut down by a third) and the spurs (to be cut five or six buds up the stem, depending on vigour). It felt good to be away from my computer screen for a day and up a ladder with a pair of secateurs in my hand. 

My hope is that by being in the garden on a weekly basis, working with the plants and observing the seasons, I will become a better designer. As one of my college tutors once wisely said: 'you can't learn about plants from a computer - get outside, look at them'. 

I haven't blogged for ages so I'm excited to be doing it again, I've always loved writing so it's good to have something to write about! I'll keep you posted on my progress.

With very little persuasion I was back in Milan last week for the annual design fair Salone de Mobile. Now in its 55th year, it is bigger than ever. Launch events are sprawled across the city taking place in elegant palazzi and modern showrooms. For me, it's as much about the new things on show as the context in which they are shown, reminding me how much I appreciate beautiful interior design, plus there's a real buzz in the city which is infectious. Here are a few pics with captions that sum up my week. 

I was delighted to be asked to write a profile on the fabulous Tricia Guild, of Designers Guild, for Studio Magazine. Since the 1970s the company has been selling colourful, patterned textiles from its King's Road store. A piece of advice she shares with up-and-coming designers is to balance creative fulfilment with commerce: "You need to be able to sell to survive", she says.

I was fascinated to hear more about the rapidly expanding world of boutique serviced offices when I interviewed Giles Fuchs co-founder of Office Space in Town for OnOffice Magazine. It's all about beautifully designed working environments which foster collaboration. 

I wrote a piece about the companies re-issuing classic furniture designs and what it means for the originals, for the FT's House & Home. 

Last week I spent two days in Milan immersed in the world of high end fabrics with Rubelli. The family-run Venetian textiles company was established in 1889 and is now run by fifth-generation Nicolò Rubelli.

I was there as part of a European press trip including British, French and German journalists for a party at the new showroom at via Fatebenefratelli, 9 and to visit the Rubelli mill in Cucciago, Como. The mill was bought in 1985 and has 28 (incredibly loud) jacquard machines producing over half a million metres of fabric a year. 

There are a few 18th century hand looms still in operation, but on a very limited basis with only one highly skilled - and irreplaceable - weaver. To the untrained eye the difference between hand and machine-made fabrics is hard to spot, but I'm told it's all in the feel.

This year's London Design Festival spanned nine days and a multitude of venues and, as ever, there was way too much to see. Instead of freaking out over choice paralysis, my attitude was this: pick a few things, talk to people, have a laugh and roll with it. It is a festival after all. 

So here's a very personal selection of highlights as observed through my camera phone and in scribbled notes. I definitely took more pictures of things I saw near the start of the week, as opposed to the end. 

Handmade designs that tell a story are causing a real stir in textiles... Here's my piece from last weekend's FT House & Home. 

The inaugural London Craft Week kicks off today with a programme of events across the city until Sunday.

I wrote a piece for this month's The London Magazine about the Mayfair craft 'atelier' The New Craftsmen where you can work with a skilled designer/maker to create a bespoke piece of work - whether it's an embroidered quilt or a decorative mirror - for your home. Here's the link. 

Last week I was in Milan for the annual furniture fair Salone del Mobile which is the big international product launch event in the design calendar. The fair is in its 54th year and is centred on the giant furniture and lighting show at the Fiera di Milano convention centre, but over the years it has sprawled into town and there are installations and events across shops, galleries and historic palazzos. These days it is as much about socialising as the latest chair.

Dissenting voices question the point of design weeks as there seem to be more and more taking place each year and whether the media's insta-reporting via social media only reinforces the superficial image of the industry. For me it was a fantastic opportunity to make contact with companies, and the people who represent them, who I usually only encounter through my computer screen. The digital revolution is well underway, but you still can't beat face to face.

Any round up of Milan excludes as much as it includes so this is very much how I saw it. 

I wrote a short piece about the Hexagonal Table by Alexander Girard in the FT House & Home supplement the other week. One of the reasons I wanted to do it was to learn a bit more about Girard who was a prominent figure in post-war American design, but I would say isn't as well known as his colleagues Charles and Ray Eames.

Girard lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife Susan where he worked for US furniture makers Herman Miller and turned his hand to all sorts of design projects (textiles, furniture, graphic design, Braniff International Airways) as well as amassing a collection of over 100,000 pieces of folk art. He was crazy about pattern and colour. Click here.

It's timely then that Vitra recently launched their Home Complements Collection featuring some distinctly folk-art influenced patterns and objects from the archive of Alexander Girard. The accessories range is based in the principle that "small things play a major role in our emotional attachment to the home" - a nice sentiment that explains our love of knick knacks - but also: "to bring a bit of joy to the everyday". Amen to that.

Despite being from Girard's archive I think it looks pretty fresh and 2015-ish. 

It's International Women's Day on Sunday. YEAH!!!!!! 

But what does it mean? I was wondering that myself so after a bit of research I discovered that it happens every year on 8th March, it's global, in some countries it has become so important it's a national holiday, and it celebrates female achievement and equality in all aspects of life. We may take our right to vote for granted, but that freedom is obviously not the case worldwide.

Anyway, politics aside, while the day has its roots in the socialist movement of the early 1900s it seems like a good opportunity to take a minute to think about some rad women in design today.

What got me thinking about this was an article I read on Dezeen about Hella Jongerius, the Dutch industrial designer, who said this week that the design industry has lost touch with its social and cultural values and is producing "too much shit design".

I love a good quote and this one made me sit up and listen. She argues that design companies need to take a more ethical approach and focus on quality rather than novelty: "there's too much shopping without thought" (er, guilty). You can read the full article here. She is currently design director of Dutch company Danskina which makes beautifully crafted rugs. 

A few weeks ago, another comment grabbed my attention when designer Ilse Crawford announced her new StudioIlse furniture range with Ikea. One of the materials she's decided to use is cork because, apart from its acoustic qualities, "no one wants wine corks any more". You can read the full article here. I love the idea of re-purposing a material and cork is a fantastic environmentally friendly product - cork is stripped from the bark of trees, so it's sustainable as they don't need to be chopped down, and there are huge cork oak forests in Portugal.

Ilse Crawford was the launch editor of Elle Decoration (in 1989). She's been running StudioIlse since 2001 and created the much emulated laid-back interiors of Soho House and Babington House. Her focus is always on how the space makes you feel and with consideration for life's "messy realities". The normal, over the spectacular. I love that.

I heard Paola Navone introducing her fabric collection for high-end Italian textile company Rubelli a few months ago and I thought she was fantastic. Not just for rocking oversized jewellery, but because she said, in the context of explaining why one fabric was a bit rough around the edges that was meant to look "like your cat has destroyed it". 

She has spent twenty years living in SE Asia learning about craft and takes a painterly approach to fabric. She says: "I try to promote imperfection. Those little accidents - I like them. Things get old, textiles age, the industry doesn't like to talk about it". 

"I work fast. I don't look back, I don't have a sense of history. My favourite project is the one I'm working on, or the next one. And if we don't have a client we go to the beach". She's got attitude. 

Afroditi Krassa works mainly in hospitality design which is something we can all have an opinion on as we actually get to experience it. Do you like the feel of Itsu, the packaging at Pret, the cosiness of the upgraded Curzon cinemas? Afroditi's design studio was behind them all. She even did my local Cafe Rouge and has just won an award for the design of Heston Blumenthal's The Perfectionist's Cafe at Heathrow's Terminal 2. I was introduced to Afroditi during the London Design Festival last year at the bar she had designed for the SuperBrands exhibition and I was impressed with her intelligent approach to designing social spaces. 

I stumbled across Tracey Neuls shoes at last year's Designs of the Year media preview at the Design Museum where she was nominated for her rubber-soled Geek shoe for cyclists. Tracey is an Australian-born designer, based in London, whose design ethos resonates with me. "Good design is something you feel as well as see", she says. "You wear the shoes, the shoes don't wear you".

She launched her business in 2000 and takes a traditional approach to shoe-making by designing all the toe and heel shapes from scratch - no pre-fabricated components - so they're not cheap, but they will last. She displays them in her Marylebone and Redchurch Street shops by dangling them from the ceiling. As a recent convert to flat ankle boots I can walk around town in all day I'm going nuts for her new collection (pic below).

As with any list it's completely subjective and I've only picked five awesome women today, there are many more. But this post has been done in the spirit of an upbeat quote I read the other day: "celebrate what you want to see more of". 

I love it when seemingly humble household items have an interesting design story behind them. The Zeroll ice-cream scoop (I wrote about it in FT House & Home 21st February) is a great example of this. It has heat-conductive fluid in the handle which transfers heat from your hand to warm the blade thus enabling you to roll and release balls of ice-cream more easily. Intended for commercial use in ice-cream parlours (the more you use it the better it works) it has become a favourite with ice-cream afficionados and food bloggers. 

Who doesn't love a bit of behind the scenes Hollywood action? May I present to you images of the green room (where the stars all hang out before they go on stage) from this year's Academy Awards.

It was put together by an LA-based design collective called Commune using furniture from the American design studio of Holly Hunt (who has just opened her first UK shop in Mayfair) and, here's the best bit, it was styled by the actress Julianne Moore. Yes, the actress Julianne Moore, who incidentally snagged an Oscar on the night. 

From these images it's clear she's has very good taste - the whole feel is light and airy and very understated. It was inspired by "classic midcentury homes of Mulholland Drive" and certainly has that enviable indoor/outdoor Californian vibe. I can just see Gwyneth & co chillaxing over a green juice on one of those pert bar stools. 

The pictures all have an AD in the corner to reference the room's sponsor Architectural Digest.