Most of my recent articles that appear on the web can be read on Linktree, though you may have to pay for access to some https://linktr.ee/pacets
Glorious Glin Castle, Irish home of designer Catherine Fitzgerald and actor Dominic West/Veranda Sept/Oct 2023
What fun it was to visit Glin Castle with photographer Britt Willoughby-Dyer in the last days of the summer and to wander round Catherine’s abundantly planted walled garden and the policies beyond.
The walled garden nursery at Treberfydd, House & Garden, September 2023
A serendipitous glance at a nursery for sale in Wales led accountant Alison Sparshatt to change career direction – with glorious results.
Backhouse Rossie for Country Life, 23 August 2023
Backhouse Rossie is famous for its daffodils but there is so much more to it – a wonderfully thoughtful, intellectual garden in Fife.
East Lambrook Manor for Sale, The Sunday Times, 19 August 2023
There was a nice circularity to this piece, in that the owner bought it having read my previous article in The Sunday Times; hopefully someone else will have read this one and do the same!
The French country home of Thomas Boog and Elizabeth Leriche, Veranda May/June 2023
The colourful village house belonging to this talented design couple is filled with Thomas’s beautiful shell art.
Link to article below picture
Thomas Boog Veranda PDF (link)
Jinny Blom’s designs for a country garden/Architectural Digest, May 2023
Jinny is mistress of the light touch, letting the garden blend softly into the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside beyond. Photos by Britt Willoughby-Dyer
Woodland wonders in Devon, Country Life, 16 March 2023
Three generations have created a beautiful garden right on the edge of Dartmoor. Photos by Mark Bolton
Glorious glasshouses, Country Life 18 January, 2023
Taking inspiration from a wide selection ofglasshouses, where the human occupants are as at home as the plants. Photos by Clive Nichols
Ammerdown, the Jolliffe family home in Somerset for centuries
It was such a privilege to walk round Ammerdown (several times) with Andrew Jolliffe, who had an infinite knowledge of the place, which has starred in various period dramas. The piece was delayed by a few months, which was extremely sad, as Andrew died suddenly in Nepal without knowing it was finally to be published. Photos James McDonald
Louise Dowding’s delicious topiary garden in Martock, House & Garden, January 2023
I’ve known Louise and Fergus Dowding for ever and still their garden never fails to delight and surprise
Justine Picardie’s garden in Norfolk, Country Life, 4 August, 2022
A lovely day spent in Norfolk talking to Justine about her biography of Catherine Dior, rose grower and bravest of Resistance fighters (and sister of Christian). So who better to design a garden for her than her friend Jo Thompson, queen of rosy schemes
Thomas Heatherwick’s exciting new glasshouse at Woolbeding, Sunday Times, 26 June, 2022
It was worth getting up at 6am to visit Woolbeding before it opened to the public and to get my own private show of the glasshouse opening to the skies. Fergus Garrett’s gorgeous Silk Route garden was full of striking colour; just what you would expect from the Dixter maestro.
The gorgeous garden at Kestle Barton in Cornwall, Country Life 8 June, 2022
James Alexander- Sinclair’s exuberant planting at Kestle Barton: not too formal, which is just the thing for a summery, seaside spot
At home in Bel Air with Renvy Graves Pittman, Veranda magazine May/June 2022
Another piece for USA-based magazine Veranda. Amazing house that was one of the first on the original Bel Air estate and had belonged to Tony Curtis, Sonny & Cher and Larry Flint (who put in bullet-proof glass). What parties must have been held there!
At home with Esther Cazyer-Colvin, Veranda magazine March/April 2022
The first piece photographer James McDonald and I have done for Veranda, so we were quite chuffed to see this
Downsized but not out, Sunday Telegraph 7 November 2021
Moving to a new garden for later life doesn’t mean you have to lose out on style.
Aquaponics and tree planting in The Highlands, Sunday Telegraph, 22 August 2021
Paul Lister’s ambitions to reforest 23,000 acres at Alladale and make it self-sufficient in food (well, as much as possible). The cows are there to work the ground, rather than end up on the plate
Tom Stuart-Smith’s garden for Pierre Lagrange, Country Homes & Interiors, September 2021
A garden geared towards autumn and winter, to look at its best during the shooting season
How to encourage wildlife to the garden, Sunday Times 25 July 2021
A garden is for sharing!
Graeme Black, creative director turned artist and tree planter, May 30, 2021
From fashion to forestry: Graeme Black has left the glamorous world of fashion and moved to the Yorkshire Dales, where he and his husband are creating a wonderful woodland around their Georgian house.
The historic gardens at Armadale Castle, Skye, May 12 Country Life
What fun it was to go to Skye just before the November 2020 lockdown to do this piece on a gem of a garden, tucked into a shelter belt and full of special trees.
Chrissie Rucker’s (nearly) all-white garden, House & Garden, June issue 2021
Another hot day, another road trip to see the garden belonging to The White Company founder and her husband Nick Wheeler. Photos by Chris Everard bring back that lovely refreshing feeling of stepping into the shade along that beautiful path.
Upton Wold for House & Garden, May issue 2021
The results of a visit to the Cotswolds on a boiling hot day last summer. Writing for a glossy is always a bit seasonally out of sync, but imagination, some background from the owner and beautiful pictures by Britt Willoughby Dyer sure do help.
3 March 2021
The low-slung charms of the sausage dog
Mitzi und Heidi were delighted to be featured on the front page of The Daily Telegraph’s Saturday section, shouting out for the wonders of the sausage dog. What is there not to like? They may be small but they have a BIG VOICE
Reviews of Dachshunds: the Long and the Short of Them
“Perfect present for anyone who has ever smiled at a passing sausage dog, ie everybody who isn’t actually dead. Sweet, comical and hugely cheering.”
India Knight, The Sunday Times
“Charming and informative” Ruth F, customer
“A wonderful book, with lots of fantastic photographs.. really interesting, with loads of advice on what to look for.. It is a fantastic book” The Barking Hour, Jo Good, BBC Radio London
Dog Day, October 202
Publishing in a pandemic is not great but we held a very jolly signing of my new book Dachshunds: the Long and the Short of Them in the Radic Pavilion at Hauser & Wirth Somerset in Bruton. As a (very) special concession, dogs were allowed to enter Piet Oudolf’s beautiful field of flowers behind the gallery, and we held a virtual dog show, with entries photographed and displayed. The sun shone, Mitzi und Heidi behaved perfectly, and we were delighted to welcome friends both human and canine. With thanks to all at the gallery for hosting, especially to Iwan and Manuela Wirth, whose smooth-haired miniature Yoko is one of the stars of the book, published by Pimpernel. For all those who missed it, you can buy a signed copy through this website!
Reviews of The Generous Gardener
“Easy to read and in a relaxed, chatty style, it is not difficult to imagine you are eavesdropping on a private conversation, with interviewees comfortable enough to reveal a few secrets and provide insightful quotes about their personality….. An absorbing and entertaining book” Matthew Biggs, The Garden, RHS magazine
“These very personal encounters, each rendered in little more than a thousand words, like miniature paintings, tell us so much” David Wheeler, Hortus magazine
“The book.. references Caroline’s thoughtful and conversational interviews. Teasing out the gardens’ stories and the way the owners enjoy their own private space, so that we can all step through these garden gates, seems effortless. Caroline describes them all, however well known, simply as people who love their gardens and that is clear in her telling of these tales: everyone is equal, whether they have diamond-handled trowels or not.
“It feels very comfortable walking and talking with Caroline: even though many of the owners are well known, she introduces them afresh, offering just enough information to make us feel that we know them more than we really do. Hers is a delicate brushstroke that fleshes them out and leads into a gentle riff that explains what the garden means to them” Garden Post blog
“Caroline Donald’s stories, in words and pictures of more than 40 private gardens, bring the joy of gardening and the generosity of spirit, to me the hallmark of every gardener, to the fore in an interesting and captivating book…..
An accomplished journalist takes you along with them in an easy and informative manner and this is one of the strengths of The Generous Gardener” The Reckless Gardener blog
“Her interviewees are famous, landed or lauded, but you get the impression Donald is unbowed by, almost uninterested in, their status…. The author captures their essence quickly, in lively prose” Stephanie Mahon, Gardens Illustrated
“There are things to enjoy in this book, in particular the unpretentious keenness of Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton, the Lancastrian self-restraint of Sir Harrison Birtwistle and the old-school charm of the late Lord Carrington. I am glad I now know that the late Sir Henry Cecil, planted rugosa roses round the fillies’ yard, because they liked eating the hips” Ursula Buchan, Spectator
“It’s cold and rainy outside. You could choose to stay inside and focus on other people’s gardens, hoping to gain inspiration for a new look for your backyard. A perfect source of ideas is The Generous Gardener: Private Paradises Shared by Caroline Donald.” Stephen Anderton, The Times
“..talking sympathetically to people ranging from Harrison Birtwistle to Kelly Brook” David Sexton, Evening Standard
“any garden voyeur will have a good time” Mary Keen, The Telegraph