ABOUT SCAPINO DESIGN
My name is Nick and I’m a Brit living in Italy since 2017. Ciao!
My passion for gardens and garden design is for me, intrinsic to who I am. From my earliest memories planting seeds in pots in my childhood garden, to my first property in London with the tiniest space to play with, and now to here in Italy where my ideas and passions have truly had space to grow, the beauty of gardens and their ability to transform a space and provide natural and beautiful background to our lives has given me immense pleasure for over 40 years. Also, I see it as a natural progression of my artistic background in music and the Arts; to create something beautiful which can be shared with others.
My work has focused on domestic gardens of varying sizes, but has also included larger projects such as hotels.
Stylistically, my designs combine structured planting and a strong sense of flow and focal points as well as creating or maximising the natural ‘rooms’ in the garden. This includes drawing on English traditions of cottage gardens as well as schemes that echo Mediterranean planting and Italian traditions to create evocative, charming spaces that are both practical and beautiful.
Make it stand out
WHETHER IT’S LAYERING AND TEXTURES, COLOUR, SCENT OR ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES, MAKING YOUR GARDEN UNIQUE AND PERSONAL CAN TRANSFORM YOUR EXPERIENCE OF LIVING OUTDOORS
MY APPROACH
Every garden is as different as the needs of those that own or use it. My approach is to work to fully understand and realise the aspirations of clients, at the same time as offering a range of ideas, creative impetus, practical solutions to problems, always within the specific environmental context
WHY ‘SCAPINO’?
My background is originally in music composition and one of my early musical heroes was the British composer, William Walton.
His virtuosic overture inspired by the Jacques Callot drawing of Scapino (shown here - Scapino is one of the commedia dell’arte’s lesser known roguish, romantic characters, from whom we derive the modern word ‘escapade’) was the first CD I ever purchased. I still have the CD and love Walton’s music just as much today.
I was also inspired by Walton’s life in, and love of Italy, where he lived from the mid 1950’s. I hugely admired the remarkable garden he and his wife Suzanna created on the Island of Ischia - La Mortella - and in my twenties would joke to friends that at some point I would move to Italy and create a garden of my own (never believing for a moment it would come to pass).
Today, whilst still very much a work in progress and nowhere near as grand, I have seen this dream realised. So, in setting up my garden design consultancy I felt I should in some way acknowledge my debt to the great man, his wonderful wife Suzanna who I met several times, and the legacy of their magical garden: a place that in no small part began my own personal journey to Italy and to making and having a passion for gardens today.
