What's Your Fancy: Landscape Designer Neil Porter's Gardening Essentials

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It isn’t only athletes putting their skills on display this summer in Paris. Neil Porter, a partner in the British landscape architecture firm Gustafson Porter + Bowman, has been part of a team overhauling the green space around the Eiffel Tower. The estimated 30 million people who visit the landmark each year will be treated to a more accessible landscape, with less roads, more plants and trees, and revitalized public spaces.

The firm—which also has projects underway in Britain, Greece, Spain, and the U.S., where it has designed the grounds of The Perigon in Miami Beach—won a competition to put its touch on one of Paris’s best-known attractions and so far has completed landscaping on the Right Bank of the Siene, with the remainder of its project (including stepped terraces, raised lawns, and a green promenade) to be finished once the Olympics wrap up.

“Paris and its mayor are proactive in creating a more sustainable environment for its population,” Porter explains, “so there’s been a huge push to green the city, and we’re part of that.”

Below, Porter shares his essentials for top-tier gardening, whether you’re doing it in Paris or in your own backyard.

Surprising Low Armchair

"Fermob is one of the major outdoor furniture manufacturers in Europe, and they do a vast array of furniture including the iconic pieces you see in Paris parks. They’re quite a good design company and they do accessible, well-priced furniture that’s also quite comfortable. This would be quite nice in someone’s garden."

Sofa Augustin

"Christian Liaigre designed the Mercer Hotel in New York and he’s very well known in Europe. His furniture is classic, comfortable, and very beautiful. It’s something I lust after."

Cashmere Throw

"BeggxCo does an amazing array of colors, so there’s one of these throws for everybody. Bring it with you to stay warm."

Oregano Candle

"Loewe’s candles are so unorthodox: they smell like a countryside vegetable garden, and they’re just great. This is a new one, so I want to give it a go."

Premium Greenhouse

"This is utilitarian but authentic. It’s where you do grow your tomatoes, and while it’s simple you can also put it up yourself—supposedly. I’m doing one for my own garden now, and it isn’t quite as easy as you’d think."

Forked Hand Hoe

"The design here is clever. In Britain, our tool manufacturers don’t think of these things, but this Japanese brand makes them so that you’re not straining your elbow as you dig in the soil. The form is so useful, it makes gardening less of a struggle."

Sussex Trug

"Classic, old-fashioned, British craftsmanship. These are simple warped pieces of timbe put together like a fan to create this curved form to hold whatever you’re pulling from your garden."

Galvanized Watering Can

"A typical watering can, but you'll need it when things get dry. I think it would suit the character of that greenhouse nicely. It’s very functional."

Bede Wellington Boots

"These are important when you’re in the muddy world of gardening. Barbour does those amazing waterproof jackets and coats that have been going for at least a century in the same styles, and the boots go along with those."

Discus Planter

"Urbis makes a really unique series of sculptural planters on a big scale. You can plant a tree in one! And there are a lot of different finishes, so they can be made to fit the environment where they’ll be located. You see a lot of them around London and they’re very nice."

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