06 / DESIGN
PHOTO BY: CLIVE NICHOLS
EBB AND FLOW
Patricia Tyrell, Chairperson of the Garden and Landscape Designers Association, reviews the hugely successful 20th anniversary design seminar
T
he GLDA’s 20th Anniversary Seminar ‘Ebb & Flow’ promised to be the unmissable event of the year and it did not disappoint. This is the 20th year of the GLDA seminar and very appropriately, one of the most successful and thought provoking seminars held to date. A rare opportunity to get an insight into the global flow of ideas and influences in landscape design, past, present and future. Many very interesting areas were covered from the historical and cultural role of the garden in India, the part played by Chinese porcelain in influencing garden and landscape ideas; the influence of the Dutch through plant hunting and introductions, and surprisingly, through their production of delf. More recently the influence of the ‘Dutch wave’ or ‘New Perennial Movement’, the spread of the English garden style and a fascinating insight into a new and emerging style coming from the east, inspired by the past, but very much of the future. Our first speaker was Cor van Gelderen from the Netherlands. The title of his talk ‘East travels West’ Cor is a fifth generation plantsman from Firma C. Esveld in Boskoop, Netherlands established in 1865 and one of the world’s great specialist nurseries, famous for its conifers, maples and other woody plants. Van Gelderen spoke in detail on a small number of species, yet his talk was fascinating, informative and most of all entertaining. He focused initially on Philipp Franz Von Sieboldt (1820-1865) and his introductions, brought from Japan in the 19th Century, specifically focusing on his introductions of Hydrangea and Camellia spps. Sieboldt’s first introduction was Hydrangea macrophylla
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‘Otaksa’ named after his Japanese mistress (his wife was not happy!). Cor has 750 hydrangeas in his collection and has written a book on the subject, but considers them a little boring as they are a bit plump! With an intimate knowledge of his subject van Gelderen brought us through his favourites and his ‘not so favourites’. And then on to a subject very dear to his heart Acers of which he has built up a collection of 1000 different varieties. Also a designer, his pictures suggested lovely combinations to take note of – Bamboo and Tetrapanax papyrifera for striking textural effect or a simple combination of Acers, Ferns and mosses. Some of his favourite maples were mentioned: A. ‘Beni-otome’, A. Inazuma and A. Westonbirt Red for its spectacular autumn colour. The second talk of the day was Xiaowei Ma and Xiao Ying Xie. Their titles – ‘Western Influences on Modern Chinese Landscape Design’ and ‘Heartprint’ respectively Both landscape architects have their own practices in China, Xiaowei in Shanghai where he founded the AGER Group in 2001 and Xiao Ying in Beijing. Her practice is called View Unlimited. Their work is included in a recently published book ‘30:30 Landscape Architecture’, as is that of Mrs Xiao Ying Xie. The book features some of the best-known and most established landscape architects in the world as well as the best and brightest of the next generation of designers. Xiaowei, very much on the theme of the seminar, commenced by taking us through a broad sweep of Chinese history and how the various shifts in dynasties and trade routes brought a strong Chinese influence to
HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2016
