The Bosco itself suggests design. I look at the biggest trees, at how they take the light. I want to exploit their grandness. When I can allow myself to think that the woods is talking to me, I feel most confident making decisions about where to clear, when to plant, where to build.

There is in Scotland a famously original garden named Little Sparta. This was for me a powerful demonstration that a certain kind of garden could be made – a garden with words. I knew I couldn’t go there because the lure of Little Sparta was much too strong. Even today, I’ve never seen it.

Have I answered the question of how I got the idea for the Bosco della Ragnaia? No. I don’t know the answer. Like everybody else, I get ideas and I act on them. I don’t bother to ask where they come from.

Photo: Charles Hawes