07 / DESIGN
THE DESIGNED GARDEN COMPLETING THE PICTURE
PHOTOS FROM LEFT: M+R-C-GARDENERS COTTAGE, VAN MIERLO TUINEN - GLDA PICTURES05, M+R-C-ELM PARK RD
Mary Hackett recounts the recent and much talked about GLDA seminar
B
ehind every well designed garden there is a team of talented and dedicated professionals: the Landscape Architect or garden designer, the landscape contractor and the nurseryman who take a site and a client brief from inception to reality. Each has a unique and essential role to play. The GLDA’s 2017 seminar explored their individual roles and the teamwork involved in ‘Completing the Picture’.
Summary of Speakers ● ●
S ue and Bleddyn Wynn Jones, Crûg Farm Plants, Caernarfon, Wales W ebsite: crug-farm.co.uk
Our first speaker was Bleddyn Wynn Jones who, with his wife Sue is owner of Crûg Farm Plants. This Welsh nursery has introduced an extraordinary range of plants to cultivation. The title of Bleddyn’s talk was ‘Collecting seed
and plants in the mountains of northern Vietnam’. The Wynn Jones first went to the mountain known as Fansipan in 1999 and have returned multiple times since. Another journey, this time in association with the University of British Columbia, is planned for April 2017. Fansipan is located in Lào Cai Province in Northwest Vietnam. At 3,143 metres (10,312 ft), the mountain is called ‘the roof of Indochina’. Collecting specimens in upland areas increases the probability of winter hardiness in Wales, as Bleddyn pointed out. Y Ty, the second area addressed in this talk, like Fansipan is cloud covered for much of the year. The Red River, seen tumbling down a mountain gorge, showed how close the Chinese border is in this area. The presentation included both descriptions of the plant material illustrated and observations on hardiness and ease of propagation of the species. As he outlined the plant’s characteristics, Bleddyn added his own assessment of the garden worthiness of the specimens. We saw how deforestation for the purpose of farming ginger is radically changing the local ecosystem. There was a sense of urgency in the presentation – Bleddyn’s shot of virtually unexplored virgin forest, clinging to limestone slopes, underlined the challenge facing this fragile environment. Taking questions, Bleddyn noted that introducing new plants to cultivation is helped by shows such as Chelsea and also by working with both the National Trust in the UK (Mount Stewart trials many species) and with Botanical Gardens all over Europe.
Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED
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