As a young girl (which was not so long ago!) my father had a shop and I grew up behind the counter literally, writes Claudia de Yong.
The problem was telling my peers where exactly the shop was.
You see the shop was in - Soho! Now ,I know what you are all thinking. Soho ,eh? Well, it gets worse. The shop sold adult games-but not the sort you are all thinking of!
In the seventies it was the only games shop of it’s kind,selling traditional games such as backgammon and chess. From early on I sat behind the counter playing shop and went on in later life to marry a man who had toy shops! I used to travel all over going to trade fairs and small craft shows buying and sourcing products for the shop. I also did the displays for the shop windows and so followed a love of finding unusual things either to use in the windows or sell.
In garden design and landscaping, a client may ask for or you may need to find for your project pots,arbours,chairs ponds ,troughs, paving, beehives, plant nurseries etc . I go to as many trade fairs as I can and pick up information but I also try to go off the beaten track and find something a little bit different.
In this new section of Landscape Juice, I will try to let you all into a few trade secrets (well maybe not all of mine!). There will sections and advice on where to buy and what else is interesting, like local pubs!
Claudia de Yong
Garden Designer
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