Charlotte joined a panel of five experts at Country Life’s reader event at Daylesford this month, discussing what are the ingredients of the perfect country garden in the 21st century.

The panel covered hard landscaping, lighting, sculpture, and choosing materials that suit a country setting, drawing on their combined experience in garden design and architecture.

Harris Bugg Studio has been appointed by the National Trust for Scotland to design the Centenary Garden at Newhailes House and Gardens in Musselburgh, marking the Trust’s 100th anniversary in 2031. Work will begin in spring 2027.

Drawing on the history of the site, the archives of the estate, and the landscape of the surrounding shoreline town, the design creates a series of planted islands across a three-acre walled garden, with rich planting for pollinators and wildlife, trial beds exploring climate adaptation, and generous spaces to gather and learn. Stone from the collapsed tea house, old bricks and reclaimed tiles are being given new purpose throughout: salvaged stone becoming curving benches, crushed brick and tile forming part of the planting medium.