The solstice is coming: the point in the year when everything is still climbing, and the evenings haven’t yet decided to give ground.
The borders are at their fullest. The studio has been at its most productive.
Four years of work on one project finally open. A book landing in a new country. A speaking invitation that takes Ann-Marie to the other side of the world next year.
Here’s what’s been keeping us busy:
After four years, the Walled Kitchen Garden at Borde Hill is open! Every plant earns its place twice: first in the border, then on the plate at Restaurant Isca.
Ann-Marie is heading to the US in March 2027 to speak at the Northwest Horticultural Society annual symposium in Seattle.
There’s more: My Real Gardens, Ann-Marie’s personal Substack, has earned a place in Substack’s global top 20 in Home and Garden.
Real garden design thinking, from AMPG lead designer herself.
And A Year of Colour has now arrived in the US. If you have friends stateside who love gardens, this is the moment.
With warm regards,
Ann-Marie, Mary, Penny and Lisa
Four years in the making, and the Walled Kitchen Garden at Borde Hill has finally opened its gates. We have been waiting to tell you about this one.
Cultivated since 1906, redesigned around the four elements: earth, wind, fire and water, biodynamic principles run through everything.
Curved edimental beds, a reflecting pool, an aperitif garden, and a glasshouse restaurant behind.
Photo by Julie Skelton
Great news for our US readers.
In March 2027, Ann-Marie will be speaking at the Northwest Horticultural Society annual symposium in Seattle, Washington.
The horticultural society has been bringing together gardeners and plant lovers in the Pacific Northwest for decades. It is, by reputation, a room full of people who really know their plants.
Our kind of crowd.
Ann-Marie’s weekly newsletter, My Real Gardens, is ranked in Substack’s global top 20 in Home and Garden, alongside India Knight and Willow Crossley.
Practical garden design thinking, honest seasonal advice, and the colour obsession that drives everything we do at Ann-Marie Powell Gardens.
If you’d like to know how Ann-Marie thinks about gardens, this is the closest thing to it.
A Year of Colour — How to Create a Bold and Bright Garden is Ann-Marie’s guide to bolder, more colourful planting, drawn from 40 tried-and-tested combinations from her own Hampshire garden, photographed through every season by Julie Skelton.
Summer is the right time to read it: your garden is currently giving its most honest account of what is working and what is not, and we’re thrilled to say that it is now available in the US!
About AMPG
For three decades, our studio has been seeing landscape differently.
We design bold, vibrant gardens where meticulous hardscaping meets verdant, naturalistic planting, creating spaces alive with colour, texture and biodiversity.
Whether you’re considering a complete garden transformation or want to bring new energy to an existing space, every project begins with a conversation.
We look forward to creating more beautiful gardens with you throughout 2026
Photo by Julie Skelton
