Text by Emma Elwich-Bates, Vogue
Victoria, how does your garden grow? As you can imagine from Beckham’s stylish procession in understated navy (by her own design), hers is a garden seeded in chic. “I really love flowers, and spending time in my beautiful gardens. I’m lucky enough to have homes with outdoor space, so I’ve been able to have fun with them and experiment with my gardening over the years,” she explains. She describes her gardening taste as “quite classically British,” inspired by the historic yet poetic “The White Garden” at Sissinghurst Castle (designed by prolific writer Vita Sackville-West). On both her Cotswolds and London spaces she worked with the “very brilliant” landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith to achieve a “fresh, and not too fussy” look.
Sissinghurst Castle Gardens. Image: Great British Gardens
Celebrating her green thumb (concealed beneath those perfectly manicured hands), earlier this year, Beckham opened her prettily curated terrace at Scott's restaurant in Mayfair, working with bespoke floral designer celebre Flora Starkey (“She has this amazing ability to transform space,” Beckham says.) Inspired by Beckham's very own gardens, the terrace includes groupings of troughs and cubes, and a dramatic archway, canopying the entrance into the restaurant with scented garden roses and white wisteria. The back walls will have fragrant white roses and clematis climbing up them. Planters along the front of the restaurant will be filled with espaliered fruit trees—“they’re so lovely”—creating a delicate screen along the front of the terrace for clandestine meetings be they work or play. “It’s very English and seasonal; I’m so thrilled with it,” Beckham says. She likes her gardens like her clothes: feminine yet clean.
The surrounding design is a riot of joyous whites: seasonal roses, foxgloves, aquilegia, hostas, delicate geraniums, and acebia. “I know Scott's have never opened their doors for breakfast before, so I feel really honoured that they did so for me, and just thrilled that we could bring three exciting, British brands together for this moment,” Beckham says.
“Flowers have a way of brightening up a grey day, or a flat mood, and I think that’s what’s most important in a garden –it needs to make you feel good!” Beckham says.
As you begin to tend to your own summer blossoms, consider her top 3 garden design tips:
1. Keep it authentic to your own taste, and not too manicured. Nonchalance works.
2. Experiment—the great thing about gardening is if something doesn’t work you can change your mind. Dig it up and start again.
3. Invest in some nice garden furniture so that in the summer you can sit out and enjoy a glass of wine at the end of a busy day. If you have kids that love to run around and play football, like mine, try to give them their own area of garden to do that in. That way you can enjoy your glass of wine in peace.
Feature Image: LDN Fashion
