Though not officially a garden designer and having coming to a garden with no experience whatsoever; I think when you dig into a mess of a 3 acre plot and 15 years later have a beautiful garden that is featured in a variety of magazines, you can, quite rightly, claim to know a few things.  Gerard Pampalone shares his experiences and garden wisdom at Your Garden Matters for Moffly Media in Westport, Connecticut.

My favorite things: Gerard Pampalone

My favorite component of garden design is structure ensuring the garden looks good twelve months a year.

What do you do to find inspiration?

Inspiration comes from the work of Helen Dillon (I had to take the Irish tour twice), Piet Oudolf, Jacques Wirtz & sons, Penny Hobhouse, Fernando Caruncho, Arne Maynard and a host of designers whose work I try to monitor regularly. Locally, I‘ve come to admire the work of James Doyle in Greenwich and Victoria Preston in Stamford.

Best Garden or Design Advice Ever (Given or Received)?
Early on, Penny Hobhouse told me “gardens are so much more than a bunch of pretty flowers,” I received an intense education from her in the importance of structure and looking at gardens in a new way, in every season.

What stimulates me now is writing my blog. With the web, the whole world is open. I‘ve been able to research gardens and garden makers not only in the U.S. but in Europe, Japan, Australia, and the Middle East, all in the comfort of my cottage. Ten years ago, make that five years ago, this would not have been possible. I feel that embracing technology, rather than
fighting it, expands our horizons and makes us better gardeners.