Joe Swift is on a mission to carry this Nineteen Seventies paving development again
You may have thought it had been consigned to the same dustbin of 1970s bad taste as flock wallpaper, Artex ceilings and avocado bathrooms.
But Gardeners’ World presenter Joe Swift seems to be on a mission to bring back crazy paving – and in a very unusual way – to the dismay of some of his fans.
The landscaper has proudly unveiled a new garden path at his home in rural west Dorset, with stretches of haphazard blocks alternating with sections of more traditional, regimented patterns.
Mr Swift – sidekick to Monty Don on the BBC show – has gushed over the result of what he calls an ‘art process,’ and professed: ‘I absolutely love it, I have to say.’
But not everyone is convinced. ‘Messy,’ one Instagram user declared. ‘Too crazy’ said another.One follower wrote: ‘Seriously? That looks like a bodge job.’ And yet another compared it to the ‘shoddy work’ that had been done on their own garden.
Gardeners’ World presenter Joe Swift seems to be on a mission to bring back crazy paving – and in a very unusual way – to the dismay of some of his fans
Mr Swift, 59, swapped his terraced house in Hackney, East London, for his new rural property late last year, and is charting his efforts at redesigning its two acres of land on his YouTube channel Joe Swift’s Country Garden.
For the aficionado, he relaid the path with Chelmer Valley pavers alongside crazy paving made from reclaimed limestone slabs and some sandstone ones from the old path. The result has divided his fans, with several expressing their approval.
One visitor to his website said: ‘Never in a million years would I have thought of mixing those two styles of paving together. It looks amazing.’
Mr Swift, 59, swapped his terraced house in Hackney, East London , for his new rural property late last year, and is charting his efforts at redesigning its two acres of land on his YouTube channel Joe Swift’s Country Garden
For the aficionado, he relaid the path with Chelmer Valley pavers alongside crazy paving made from reclaimed limestone slabs and some sandstone ones from the old path
Another posted: I love it. It’s like life. Sometimes it’s ordered and routine, then there are crazy chaos sections. Keeps life interesting.’ And a third said: ‘Thought I would hate the path but having seen it realised I completely love it.’
Mr Swift, who posted a video of the completed path after returning from his duties hosting coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show for the BBC, said: ‘I’m really happy with it, the materials I chose and how it was laid.’
He’s also hoping some plants will sprout in the cracks in the paving, saying: ‘I don’t want cement in the gaps. It just wouldn’t look right.’
Perhaps the creative solution should have been expected from someone with artistic parents. Swift’s mother is the novelist Margaret Drabble and his father the late Keeping Up Appearances actor Clive Swift.
