Can we store cookies?
We use cookies to enable website functionality, improve your experience and tailor ads. Find out more here.
#PCPIONEERS
BUTTER WAKEFIELD is an award-winning Garden Designer based in London. Her work often focuses on smaller city spaces and sustainable processes alongside thoughtful, natural design.
Which style did you choose and why were those the pair for you?
I chose the Inclement Cropped Inclement Tassel Boot in Seaweed/Conker, because of their sturdy beautiful design, gorgeously rich colour, and lovely detailing on the tassels and stitching!
We love the idea of our customers and Pioneers taking our shoes around the world as they live out their various adventures. Tell us a little about what you will be doing in your PC’s over the next few months?
For me I can be moving from gardens to client meetings quite a lot and the lovely thing about these boots is that I can go from site meeting to client meeting and feel properly attired in both, I love their sleek multi-purpose adaptability!
Your gardens are so beautiful, you seem the queen of making city spaces feel magical and wild. Can you tell us a little about your journey into garden design?
Creating and designing gardens, particularly in London, has been hugely fulfilling. It’s inspiring and difficult and demanding in equal measure. Small spaces that can be viewed from most parts of the house have to outperform large sweeping gardens where unsightly views can be disguised. There are often very little places to hide in small city gardens, so boundaries, planting and hard landscaping elements must all be rich in detail and as extravagant as possible. Access is generally through the house, which creates its own set of challenges, meaning preparation and timing are the key!
Your designs feel quite different, where do you draw inspiration from?
As a designer, I take an enormous amount of pleasure and satisfaction in creating varied and unique spaces for every project. It is one of the most exciting aspects of my job, and inspiration comes in all forms, but a lot of the time, I take my cues from the existing architectural details and elements of the interiors – so that they sit together naturally.
As winter sets in, the garden can seem like a bit of a wet and windy place, but what should we be preparing and planting up ahead of the spring?
At this time of year, I try to be as measured as possible when tidying up the garden. Prune and tie in your climbing roses, divide your oversized clumps of perennials and redistribute them where needed, get your bulbs into your containers and the ground, and collect the fallen leaves from the lawn, placing them into hessian sacks to rot down over winter. The decayed leaves create wonderful leaf mould for mulching in the spring. Leave everything else untouched to create as much food and shelter as possible for the birds and insects.
Your approach puts sustainability and regeneration at its core. What are a few small things we can do in our own gardens to promote nature and keep them as sustainable as possible?
I know it might feel a bit overwhelming at times to do the ‘right thing’ but even the smallest changes can make a big difference. As stated above, I don’t tidy my garden in the autumn, I plant nectar and pollen rich flowers for the bees and insects whenever possible, I have a compost bin for my food waste, I leave the grass to grow long around the wildflower meadow (no mow May and June), I NEVER EVER USE PESTICIDES OR HERBICIDES in any of our gardens ever, and finally I am militant about turning the lights off as I leave each room!! Adopting any one of these will help to make a difference.
PC is rooted in heritage and slow fashion, and our collections pay homage to pieces that are built last, which heirloom piece of clothing is your most treasured and why?
I have a sensational Duchess Satin evening coat in emerald, green which belonged to my grandmother from Bergdorf Goodmans which I absolutely adore. It has lovely puffy capped short sleeves and is a wonderful A-line design with one button at the top, it’s an absolute beauty! I feel hugely elegant and grownup when I wear it out to special occasions.
