Garden Design Journal / January/February 2022

www.sgd.org.uk

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2021/ISSUE 233/£6

THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF GARDEN DESIGNERS®

PROFESSOR DAVID STEVENS FSGD on horticulture, superstar designers, inspiration, and a concrete path

NEWS/GARDENS/DESIGNERS/PLANTING/SUSTAINABLE DESIGN/PEOPLE/PLACES/PRODUCTS THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF GARDEN DESIGNERS®

SGD AWARDS 2022 Why enter? We asked your peers to explain TRADITION AND MODERNITY 40 years of garden-making Drought-tolerant planting ‘Cotswolds’ in a cold climate

SILHOUETTES, SURFACES AND LINES Susan Young considers the importance of the edges of things

ISSN 1356-6458

JAN / FEB 2021 £6

LOOK AROUND

Image: Stonehenge © English Heritage

NOW A ND FORE V ER AROUND 5,000 YEARS AGO, a series of blue volcanic rocks were quarried in the Preseli Mountains of Wales before being transported 124 miles on sledges, by thousands of people, to Wiltshire, where they were used to build the first Stonehenge.

The story of why and how this ceremonial monument was planned and built, how it evolved over the first 1,500 years of its existence and survives to inspire us in so many different ways to this day, is extraordinary, even by 21st-century standards.

As Jennifer Wexler, project curator of The World of Stonehenge (British Museum, 17 February to 17 July 2022), writes in an introduction to the exhibition, the work, ‘required unprecedented co-operation, planning and patience…There were perilous and dramatic moments, and the looming fear of failure must have stalked the inspired and innovative builders.’

What they and the builders of other such sites around the world designed and constructed are ‘creative feats that remain compelling after millennia.’

In managing and cultivating the landscape today, we should dare to dream for the same.

British Museum, britishmuseum.org

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Upfront 03 Look around Design and build for longevity

Take a closer look at the edges of things

07 Newsprint Awards, new projects and events

Showcase 17 The SGD Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 We speak to Professor David Stevens FSGD

22 UK Design Semple Begg’s scheme for a sheltered courtyard in Scotland

28 Creative thinking Susan Young MSGD considers the impact of edges in garden design

31 The SGD Awards 2022 All you need to know to enter now

34 The SGD at 40 A snapshot of 40 years of garden history

38 International

CONTENTS ISSUE 233

A slice of English gardening style in the Russian countryside

Regulars

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2022

13 Member project Andy Sturgeon FSGD’s garden for residents of a retirement complex

15 Opinion Pre-registered member Carolyn Willetts on design trends for 2022

45 On the spot

22

Photo: Richard Bloom

Photo: Andrea Jones

Pre-registered member Stephane Lustig

47 Reviews Books, media and products

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Editor: Arabella St. John Parker Head of Design: Simon Goddard Senior Project Manager: Lizzie Hufton Publisher: James Houston Published by: James Pembroke Media, 90 Walcot Street, Bath BA1 5BG Tel: 01225 337777 gdj@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk Advertising: Hoby Abdel, Deputy Advertising Sales Manager Tel: 020 3859 7098 hoby.abdel@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk Subscriptions: Tel: +44 (0)330 333 0198 help@subscribe.gardendesignjournal.com Editorial Panel: Ciar Byrne, Marcus Foster, Patricia Fox, Amber Hine, Joe Perkins, Tabitha Rigden, Adam Robinson-Quick, Stephen Ryan, Christina Sullivan Society of Garden Designers 44/46 Wollaton Road, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 2NR Tel: 01159 683188 www.sgd.org.uk info@sgd.org.uk However for the SGD Awards, the contact remains AMS: Tel: 01989 567678; awards@assocmanagement.co.uk JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2022 ISSUE 233/£6 ISSN: 1356-6458 *Calls will cost 7p per minute plus your telephone company’s access charge.

Cover image: GAP Photos/John Glover – see Creative Thinking, pages 28–29; photos, clockwise from top left: GAP Photos/John Glover; John Glover; GAP Photos; John Glover; Richard Bloom; John Glover; Carole Drake; Jo Whitworth

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50 Point of interest A greened access route for a university campus in Australia

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Object of the month: the Classic bench

Image: Frizbee Film/Gavin Renz

Hello, With a fresh new year ahead of us, business development planning will surely be at the top of your list of things to do and, as previous winners have told us (see page 31), the very process of entering the SGD Awards can play an invaluable part. The entry deadlines for the 2022 Awards are fast approaching so now is the time to decide which projects you want to enter, and to submit the entry forms.

At the same time, why not earmark some recent but unpublished work for inclusion in Garden Design Journal? Or, if you have an industry-related opinion to share, some business news, a point of interest or recommendation – a place, an expertise, a book, a hero – that you would like to see covered, please do get in touch; my email address is on the right. An appearance in GDJ is an opportunity to share your design ideas, knowledge, and interests with your peers, as well as to raise your profile with clients.

SHARE YOUR Happy New Year and I hope to meet more of you NEWS AND soon, and to enjoy seeing your work in practice.

PROJECT UPDATES

email: gdj@ jamespembroke media.co.uk Arabella St. John Parker, Editor

JOIN US TODAY: BECOME A MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF GARDEN DESIGNERS The Garden Design Journal is the Journal of the Society of Garden Designers (SGD): the only professional association for garden designers in the UK. The Society has been championing excellence in garden design for 40 years and counts some of the UK’s leading garden and landscape designers among its growing membership. The SGD welcomes everyone working or studying in landscape and garden design to join the Society. It is committed to high standards of professional practice and actively encourages its members in their efforts to raise and maintain these standards.

Categories of Membership STUDENT MEMBER Open to students currently attending a suitable course – see website for details.

PRE-REGISTERED MEMBER Open to all professional garden designers who aspire to Registered Membership. Applicants need to

provide evidence of competence in garden design either by qualification or review, plus evidence of professional indemnity insurance. This category now includes submission for Ajudication as an inclusive fee – there are no additional charges.

REGISTERED MEMBER The status awarded to professional garden designers who have been assessed and approved by the SGD Adjudication Panel. MSGD (Member of the Society of Garden Designers) or FSGD (Fellow of the Society of Garden Designers) can be used after their name and they are profiled and promoted on the SGD website.

REGISTERED PRACTICE A category for Registered Members who would also like to advertise their practice alongside their MSGD/FSGD status.

• You can also join the Society as a Friend. To find out more, visit the SGD website: www.sgd.org.uk

Letter from Council Winter brings the harshness of light, the skeletal trees, and the crispness of lightly frozen soil underfoot. I love this time of year; it holds so much promise for the vibrancy of spring just around the corner. It is easy to overlook this time of year, yet for many of us it is a time to celebrate the simplicity of nature and to remember the importance of light and shade in our work.

How striking the silhouette of an ancient oak against the sharp blue January skies, the frozen dew dangling from the dormant buds and the shadows cast across the lawn. Under grey skies it is easy to forget about the wonder of dappled light, the way the sun can abstract the most complex forms onto the ground below. The Japanese even have a word for it – Komorebi – which roughly translates as ‘the scattered light when sunlight shines through trees’.

As spring shyly begins to emerge, light begins to highlight this time of growth and emergence, the verdant young leaves of that oak, statue-like during winter, are now lit by the spring sun as though someone has switched on the lights. The almost artificial light of the first yellow daffodil is just around the corner.

You can almost hear the ground start to stir as an acorn fires its roots south while northward, its innocent green shoot feels its way to the surface, ready to embrace a new year.

A very happy New Year from us all at the Society of Garden Designers.

Best wishes,

Andrew Duff MSGD Vice Chair, SGD

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Find out about sponsorship opportunities for the SGD Awards and conferences by contacting Hoby Abdel on 0203 859 7098 or hoby.abdel@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk

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NEWSPRINT Image: John Sturrock

What’s new in the world of garden design Compiled by Zia Allaway

Image: John Sturrock

LDA DESIGN WINS SGDSPONSORED LI AWARD CAROLYN WILLITTS MSGD was among the panel of Landscape Institute Award judges who selected LDA Design’s Sighthill Regeneration Masterplan as the winner of the SGD-sponsored Excellence in Landscape Construction award.

The plan (pictured below) is for a new neighbourhood on a former industrial site in Glasgow, with 850 new homes, parkland, and lochans, burns and wetlands to provide flood protection and boost biodiversity.

The Landscape Institute’s top prize, the President’s Award, was won by Guangzhou Urban Planning & Design Survey Research Institute for the Guangzhou Ecological Belt Masterplan and Implementation. The project restores the ecology of the waterfront in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, which was threatened by pollution. The design also won The Dame Sylvia Crowe International Award.

For a list of all LI award-winners, visit awards.landscapeinstitute.org

local residents and visitors. The Estate now comprises 26 acres of public realm, which includes a number of green spaces designed

by Dan Pearson MSGD in the squares and along Regent’s Canal.

Hanif Kara, representing the Aga Khan Development Network which, together with property developer Argent, commissioned the garden, commented: ‘Through the green spaces – six in the Aga Khan Centre, two in nearby Victoria Hall, the fountains in Lewis Cubitt Square, and now Jellicoe Gardens – visitors to King’s Cross can gain new insights about the diversity of Islamic landscape design originating from different geographic regions and see their contributions to garden design around the world.’

Tom Stuart-Smith worked in association with Townshend Landscape Architects, the masterplan landscape architects for King’s Cross, who delivered the paving and pathways within the garden and their integration with the wider public realm. kingscross.co.uk; tomstuartsmith.co.uk.

Image: Morgan Sindall

A NEW GARDEN that celebrates Persian landscape traditions and English garden-style planting has opened in the heart of London’s King’s Cross. Designed by landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith MSGD, the garden pays tribute to the late Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe (1900–96), founding member of the Landscape Institute, and was opened by his nephew, Michael Pares (pictured above right, with the garden designer).

Jellicoe was renowned for his waterthemed designs such as those at Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire and Shute House in Wiltshire, and his ideas and those featured in the 16th-century Bagh-e Fin, a traditional Persian garden in Iran, are a central feature of Tom’s design.

Situated between the Aga Khan Centre – itself home to six gardens, terraces and courtyards inspired by different parts of the Islamic world – and the residential developments Luma and Fenman House, the Jellicoe Gardens are a significant new public space within the northern part of the King’s Cross Estate and provide a tranquil oasis for

Image: Morgan Sindall

TOM STUART-SMITH’S JELLICOE GARDENS OPEN IN KING’S CROSS

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NEWSPRINT

Historic Houses Garden of the Year Award 2021

Congratulations to Adam Vetere and Anna Butterfield, both of whom have passed their first adjudication projects, and to Kate Poore and Lucy Conochie, who have both passed their second adjudication projects. sgd.org.uk

Directory of therapeutic horticulture launched

SGD members scoop top Pro Landscaper prizes

GDRN, led by pre-registered SGD member Paul Duffy, picked up the Supreme Winner and Design and Build Under £30,000 prizes at the Pro Landscaper Small Project Big Impact Awards 2021 for a garden filled with beautiful planting and detailing in northwest London. Pre-registered member Adam Vetere was also among the winners, scooping the Planting Design under £20,000 for his Ravine Garden. prolandscapermagazine.com

AN ONLINE DIRECTORY of Social and Therapeutic Horticulture in Britain has been set up by general practitioner and SGD Student member Dr Richard Claxton, to connect both prescribers and members of the public with their local Gardening4Health schemes.

Richard was keen to prescribe gardening therapies to his patients but says that while social prescribing, part of the NHS’s Universal Personalised Care programme, is actively encouraged by the government, he found a lack of co-ordination and publicity about the schemes available.

The Directory aims to solve this problem and currently lists just over 400 different therapeutic gardens and organisations. However, Richard would like help to increase that number so if you know of any schemes in your area, which are not already included in the directory, please contact him via gardening4health.co.uk.

Apprenticeship opportunities

Kew’s collections to go digital A £15m government investment to digitise the world’s largest collection of plant and fungal specimens, held at the Royal Botanic Garden Kew, will be a ‘game-changer’, allowing researchers to access it free of charge. Director of Kew Gardens, Richard Deverell, said that this valuable online resource will help scientists around the globe to tackle the twin threats of biodiversity loss and climate change. kew.org

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WINNER OF INAUGURAL OBERLANDER PRIZE ANNOUNCED Image: (Right) Charles A. Birnbaum / The Cultural Landscape Foundation

Hertfordshire-based business The Garden Company, led

by James Scott MSGD, has created apprenticeship opportunities for its new team members and team leaders.

‘The last 18 months have shown what a buoyant industry we work in, and it’s clear that we need to attract more people into landscaping and horticulture,’ says James. ‘I feel that the new Apprenticeship Standards training, introduced nationally last year, offers a great vehicle for this.’ thegardenco.co.uk

GORDON CASTLE WALLED Garden in Moray, Scotland (pictured below), has won the 2021 Historic Houses Garden of the Year Award, after a record-breaking number of votes. The Scottish garden received more than 3,000 votes, more than any other in the competition’s 37-year history, and it is the first Scottish garden ever to win the award, which is sponsored by Christie’s.

The garden saw off stiff competition from Harewood House in Yorkshire, Lowther Castle in Cumbria, and five other extraordinary British gardens. Its current owners, Angus and Zara Gordon Lennox, have spent the last seven years transforming the garden from a near abandoned grass field into a productive and beautiful space, showcasing the very best fruit, herbs, vegetables and cut flowers. historichouses.org

Julie Bargmann (below) and her reimagining of a former Navy Yard in Philadelphia, now headquarters of fashion retailer, Urban Outfitters.

WWW.SGD.ORG.UK

Images: (Top and left) Barrett Doherty / The Cultural Landscape Foundation

Adjudication update

Image: Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash]

NEWS IN BRIEF

THE INAUGURAL biennial Oberlander Prize has been won

by Julie Bargmann, Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia, and the founder of Dump It Right There (D.I.R.T.).

The prize is a named after the late celebrated landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander and includes a $100,000 award and two years of public engagement activities that focus on the laureate’s work, and landscape architecture more broadly. It is bestowed on a recipient who is ‘exceptionally talented, creative, courageous, and visionary’ and has ‘a significant body of built work that exemplifies the art of landscape architecture’.

Julie has been recognised for her work in bringing contaminated and post-industrial landscapes back to life.

The Oberlander Prize Jury Citation says of her: ‘Julie has been a provocateur, a critical practitioner, and a public intellectual. She embodies the kind of activism required of landscape architects in an era of severe environmental challenges and persistent social inequities.’ tclf.org; dirtstudio.com

NEWSPRINT

CEDRIC MORRIS’ HOME TO BECOME CENTRE FOR ART AND GARDENING

Image: Rob Leedell

BENTON END, THE former Suffolk home and garden of artist-gardener Sir Cedric Morris (1889–1982) and his partner, artist Arthur Lett Haines, is to be given a new life as a centre for gardening, art and creativity. The Pinchbeck Charitable Trust acquired Benton End in 2018 but has now generously transferred the ownership to the Garden Museum, with an only request that a consideration of £350,000 towards its value be paid to the Charitable Trust in 2024. The garden was as influential in its day as Sissinghurst, for the irises Morris bred there, and it became one of the first modern gardens to adopt a naturalistic design, showcasing many unusual plants that the artists grew and painted. The revived Benton End will similarly aim to support and inspire artists and gardeners, following the ethos of its previous owners. gardenmuseum.org.uk.

Environment Act becomes law

The Environment Act, which will protect and enhance our environment for future generations, has now passed into British law. It aims to halt the decline of species by 2030, requires new developments to improve or create habitats for nature, and tackles deforestation overseas. It will also encourage businesses to create sustainable packaging and prevent the export of polluting plastic waste to developing countries.

Community garden grants from NGS The National Garden Scheme (NGS) is awarding grants to fund amateur gardeners from community groups, to enable them to create a garden or similar project with a horticultural focus, such as an allotment, for the benefit of their local community or a charitable group. Successful applicants will need to show how they will bring a community together, sharing skills and knowledge to enable people to create a space that will inspire a love of gardening.

Applications are open until 28 February 2022. ngs.org.uk

Reprint for Bloom’s bestseller

Adrian Bloom has reprinted his classic book, Bloom’s Best Perennials and Grasses, offering designers and gardeners a valuable reference tool and the opportunity to dip into his vast knowledge of plants, gained from almost 60 years in horticulture. thebressinghamgardens.com

Image: Sarah Cook

NOTTINGHAM IS TO become home to a Miyawaki-style mini forest, one of only a handful of this new kind of forest to be planted in the UK – other locations include Edinburgh, Glasgow and Frome. The Nottingham planting is thanks to the environmental group Green Hustle, working in collaboration with the Sherwood People’s Forest Project, Nottingham Open Spaces Forum and Nottingham City Council Parks and Open Spaces team.

Miyawaki forests, based on the work of Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, offer the benefits of a larger woodland in small city spaces.

Covering an area about the size of a tennis court, the tiny forest will comprise young trees planted densely in enriched soil and kept watered and weed-free for two years. The trees form a biodiverse environment while helping to counter the effects of climate change. greenhustle.co.uk

Image: Lucy Skellorn

Miyawaki-style mini forest for Nottingham

NEWS IN BRIEF

New garden for Galeri arts centre THE OUTDOOR SPACE at Galeri, Caernarfon’s arts centre, is to be given a make-over with a design by pre-registered member Robert Hughes (concept pictured). His brief was to increase the soft landscaping and create a green setting for an alfresco café, as well as add interest to counterbalance the car park. Robert’s design, which is waiting for final planning approval and should be built this summer, increases the area in front of the centre by removing four of the parking spaces and adding seating and areas where local sculptors’ work can be exhibited. Planted raised beds will screen the café from the parked cars. roberthughesgardendesign.co.uk

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New president for Garden Museum

The Garden Museum has announced that gardener, broadcaster and writer Alan Titchmarsh MBE VMH DL will be its new President. Alan is only the second Garden Museum President and takes over the role from the Marchioness of Salisbury, who was in post until her death in 2016. gardenmuseum.org.uk

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WHAT’S ON 10 TO 11 JANUARY SGD CPD DIGITAL – CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, GET GREAT CLIENTS Business development expert Denise Quinlan will lead this virtual twoday course, helping you to review and improve your current business presence to attract new clients, and understand your motivations, values and purpose while exploring and bringing out your USPs. Visit sgd.org.uk and click on ‘Events’.

13 JANUARY SGD CPD DIGITAL – ROOF GARDENS WITH JOHN WYER John Wyer FSGD will explore the design elements and practical considerations that go into making a roof garden, including permits, planning, transporting goods to the roof, aspect, weather conditions and planting schemes that will tolerate wind and heat. Visit sgd.org.uk and click on ‘Events’.

20 JANUARY AND 17 FEBRUARY SGD ADJUDICATION DESIGN ADVICE SESSION The January session will be run via Zoom by Emma Mazzullo MSGD, and David Robinson MSGD will lead the course in February. These workshops provide you with an overview of the quality of your work, and tips on how to develop it to adjudication standard. Visit sgd.org.uk and click on ‘Events’.

27 JANUARY 2022 TO 3 MARCH 2022 CREATING A FRAGRANT GARDEN This course at Keyneston Mill Botanic Gardens in Dorset is for anyone wishing to design a garden that offers fragrance throughout the seasons. The course consists of six workshops on consecutive Thursday mornings, led by the Head Gardener. keynestonmill.com

SGD MEMBERS ARE PRINCIPAL PRIZE WINNERS AT BALI’S NATIONAL LANDSCAPE AWARDS Members of the SGD scooped BALI’s Principal Awards in three design categories at the National Landscape Awards ceremony in December. Andy Kirman MSGD’s small courtyard garden (pictured below) won the top award in the Design Excellence – Overall Scheme under £50k category, with the judges liking it for its ‘outdoor rooms leading from the [house that] deliver the utility required by the clients’, together with the restricted planting palette, which creates a sense of calm and serenity.

Rosemary Coldstream MSGD secured the Principal Award in the Design Excellence – Overall Scheme between £50k– £100k category, for her Buddha’s Garden in London. The judges applauded both the outstanding design and Rosemary’s ‘technical expertise and ability to create outstanding plans’, which ensured a first-class build. The Principal Award for Design Excellence – Overall Scheme over £100k was scooped by Gavin McWilliam MSGD, for a garden in west London, designed in collaboration with Andrew Wilson FSGD, Hannah Quarmby and Catherine Wright, all of McWilliam Studio. The judges said the ‘superb design…handles the complex levels beautifully’, ensuring the garden flows seamlessly ‘while retaining the elegance that the imposing Listed Building deserves’.

Garden Club London, headed by Tony Woods MSGD, picked up the Principal Prize for Employer Excellence – Turnover under £2.5m; the judges commented that ‘there is a genuine feeling that one person’s success is everyone’s success, and this is resulting in the entire company working together to be the best it can be.’

Graduate Gardeners was awarded the highest accolade, taking home the prestigious Grand Award, as well as the Principal Award for Domestic Garden Construction – over £250m, and a Special Award for Best Design and Build, for the studio’s stunning private garden in Cheltenham.

For a list of all the principal award winners, visit baliawards.co.uk

8 FEBRUARY SGD CORE CPD – CLIENT BRIEF AND DESIGNER CONTRACT DOCUMENTATION Emma Mazzullo MSGD will run this course for pre-registered members, which will cover the client brief, designer contract documentation, design contracts and fee proposals, and terms of engagement. Visit sgd.org.uk and click on ‘Events’.

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Image: Tim Jones Photography

NEWSPRINT

One of the six bridges that link up the NBGW’s Regency parkland walk routes.

National Botanic Garden of Wales gets people’s vote THE NATIONAL BOTANIC Garden of Wales Regency Restoration Project has scooped the Institution of Civil Engineers’ (ICE) People’s Choice Award for 2021. The award recognises civil engineering projects across the globe that have had a positive impact on their local communities. Having taken five years to complete, at a cost of more than £7 million, the Regency Restoration Project was the largest of its kind undertaken in Wales and includes two new lakes, as well as bridges, dams, cascades, a waterfall and an extensive network of paths, all set in 300 acres of wooded parkland. The successful project involved members of the community across Carmarthenshire, the council, schools and local organisations, together with consultant ecologists, designers and engineers. botanicgarden.wales

Student Lou Carberry (left) and pre-registered member Lynn Hill (right).

Pre-reg Lynn Hill consults for BBC Beechgrove A SPECIAL EDITION of the popular TV garden series Beechgrove, which aired last autumn, was made possible with the help of designer and pre-registered SGD member Lynn Hill.

Lynn was appointed by BBC Scotland as the design consultant for the ‘Mucking in’ special, which focuses on the transformation of the 2.8-acre Wimpy Park Community Garden in Alloa, Scotland. She supported young student Lou Carberry as she designed the new garden and the programme follows them through this process and, together with the other contributors and presenter Calum Clunie, the intensive one-week build.

The programme is available to view on iPlayer. lynnhillgardendesign.co.uk

NEWSPRINT

Image: Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

WHAT’S ON 15 AND 17 FEBRUARY SGD CPD DIGITAL – DESIGNING HEALING AND THERAPEUTIC GARDENS AND LOW-ALLERGEN PLANTING DESIGN Pre-registered member Olivia Kirk will cover designing healing and therapeutic gardens on day one and on day two, explain why allergies are on the increase and how to counter their effects. Visit sgd.org.uk and click on ‘Events’.

CHARITY SEEKS FUNDING FOR CARE HOME SENSORY GARDEN

PAVING OCEAN PLASTIC WASTE

A SENSORY GARDEN that will provide natural stimuli for the elderly and those living with dementia has been designed by pre-registered SGD member Freya Willetts, of Lavender Green Gardens, for the London-based charity, The Central & Cecil Housing Trust.

The simple design (concept pictured) for the charity’s north London site makes cost-effective changes to the existing garden, including repurposing the paving to create a gardening activity area furnished with raised planters that will enable residents to grow edible plants and herbs.

The designer has also included colourful, scented and textured plants to new and existing beds.

To raise the £25,000 needed to install this garden and three others at sites across London, the Trust has started a series of ‘Move for Care’ step-anddance-a-thon challenges that will keep residents, staff, and other supporters active while raising funds for the gardens. The challenges will take place during January and February; to support their efforts, visit ccht.org.uk and follow the links to care homes and ‘Move For Care’. lavendergreen.co.uk

PLASTIC WASTE COLLECTED from the south-west seas and estuaries around Britain is finding its way into patios and driveways in the form of a sustainable new product called Recycle Base, thanks to Odyssey Innovation and Plymouth University’s Indigo Project.

Low-grade ocean plastics, and plastic from kerbside bin collections that were previously impossible or very hard to recycle are now being ground into tiny pieces at Exeter City Council’s Materials Reclamation Facility before being sent to resin driveway company Oltco, where they are mixed with stones to make the ground reinforcement system.

The council’s shredder and granulator were recently purchased thanks to part-funding from Odyssey Innovation and Plymouth University’s bid to help reduce the volume of plastic waste going to landfill.

Oltco’s Recycle Bound – made with recycled plastic drink bottles, food packaging, and straws – can then be laid on top of Recycle Base to create a smooth, hardwearing finish, ideal for driveways, patios, footpaths, terraces, and courtyards. Both Recycle Bound and Recycle Base can be recycled at the end of their life. oltco.co.uk

Perennial launches free physiotherapy service GARDENING CHARITY PERENNIAL has launched a free physiotherapy service for people working in horticulture. Gardeners are often prone to injuries and for many who have built their careers in horticulture, the risk is even greater. The Perennial team will help people access the physiotherapy service provided by its partner and leading community services healthcare provider, Connect Health. Once referred, patients will receive a free 30-minute initial consultation by telephone or video, with a qualified physiotherapist who will then create a treatment plan for further treatment, if needed. perennial.org.uk

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2022

7 FEBRUARY CIRIA TRAINING COURSE DESIGNING SUDS This training programme, delivered via four three-hour Zoom sessions, will enable practitioners to plan, design, construct and manage SuDS schemes, and will cover national planning regulations and Local Authority guidance. ciria.org.

7 FEBRUARY KMIS LECTURE: NEW GARDEN AND LANDSCAPE PLANTS – INDULGENCE OR NECESSITY IN AN ERA OF CLIMATE CHANGE? Dr James Hitchmough will talk about garden and landscape plants in the age of climate change at this lecture held at Kew Gardens. Also available online. kew.org 10 FEBRUARY SNOWDROP AND BULB WALK AT OXFORD BOTANIC GARDEN Join Oxford Botanic Garden’s horticulturists on a stroll among swathes of unusual and rare snowdrop species and other winter and spring bulbs. obga.ox.ac.uk 21 TO 22 FEBRUARY 2ND WORLD PLANT AND SOIL SCIENCE CONGRESS, PARIS Covering, among other subjects, plant science research and biochemistry, disease resistance, epigenetics, medicinal and aromatic plant science. plantsciencebiology.agriconferences.com

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MEMBER PROJECT

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON?

the river, to connect the garden with its location. The paths provide opportunities for friendly interaction, while trees and shrubs enclose more private areas. We wanted to avoid using a lot of hard structures and when you look across the garden, it reads as a very green space. At its heart is the herb garden with planting designs by Jekka.

LATE GROWTH Andy Sturgeon FSGD and Jekka McVicar VMH on how their garden for retired residents is designed for participation as well as enjoyment INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED GARDEN and landscape designer Andy Sturgeon FSGD set up his studio in 1988.

His many awards include eight Chelsea Gold medals and three Best in Shows. Here, we talk to him about a community garden at a Fulham development by Riverstone, specialist in retirement living, which he has created alongside renowned herb expert and horticulturist, Jekka McVicar VMH. Tell us about the Riverstone project The Fulham garden is one of two projects that Jekka and I are creating for Riverstone and both share the same ethos, to enable residents to live life to the full, whatever their age or ability. Riverstone was keen to include

horticulturally-rich and seasonal landscapes for the residents to enjoy and interact with.

What was your brief?

To maximise the potential of the urban site, with spaces for social gatherings, as well as areas where residents can enjoy privacy. The clients are aware of the biophilic benefits of being in a garden and of being able to participate in gardening and wanted the gardens to have planting that would show the passing of the seasons. They also asked for a herb garden that residents can work in.

What type of planting have you used?

It includes many flowering pollinator plants, such as Phlomis russeliana, Veronicastrum virginicum, Salvia × sylvestris ‘Mainacht’, and Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’. For yearround colour, I have included a backbone of evergreen shrubs such as Mahonia eurybracteata subsp. ganpinensis ‘Soft Caress’, hebes, and one of my favourites, Baccharis halimifolia, which flowers in autumn. Trees, including Betula utilis subsp. albosinensis ‘Pink Champagne’ and Carpinus betulus ‘Frans Fontaine’, have been chosen for their notable barks and structure. And, of course, we have herbs chosen by Jekka.

Were there any major challenges?

This is a podium garden, installed above a swimming pool and gym, so we had to work around sky lights, hide vents, and calculate the soil volumes needed to sustain the trees and other plants. But solving these problems is the part of the process that I really enjoy. andysturgeon.com; riverstoneliving.com

How have you responded?

I created a geometric design to reflect the architecture and with glimpses through to

DO YOU HAVE A PROJECT FOR GDJ? Email: gdj@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk

Words: Zia Allaway

IN THE HERB GARDEN, WITH JEKKA MCVICAR Celebrated herb expert and horticulturist Jekka McVicar VMH is Vice President of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and has been awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour in Horticulture by the RHS, won 62 RHS Gold medals for her herb exhibits, and written eight books, including the best-selling Jekka’s Complete Herb Book.

She says of the project: ‘Riverstone has a really progressive attitude towards its clients and asked me to design a herb

garden that would encourage them to remain active by tending the plants and harvesting them for use in their homes.

‘We were keen to get the residents involved in the actual planning of the plot; many will have had – and maybe built – their own gardens before moving here so I have created the planting for three of the raised beds, and the residents will choose the herbs for the fourth one. I will also be giving talks and

workshops to show the benefits of herbs, such as how rosemary improves memory, and the calming effects of lemon balm, and we hope the residents will enjoy the whole process and perhaps take on some of the maintenance of the beds in the future.

The herbs also increase the biodiversity of the garden and bring in a huge number of pollinators when they flower.’

Jekkas.com

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OPINION

DESIGNS FOR LIFE Carolyn Willitts, founder and director of design-led landscape architecture studio CW Studio, looks ahead to the issues that should be top priorities for garden designers during 2022 and beyond

THERE IS LITTLE doubt that planting for climate The growth in community actions, such as seed change will be taken much more seriously from and plant swapping with neighbours, was one of now on. We will see greater weather extremes, not the positive side effects of the pandemic-induced just warmer temperatures, and every garden designer lockdowns. Many people focused on their own back needs to take this into account from gardens during our periods of the design stage. confinement, and we all saw how While we already look to native we could use our outdoor space for ‘GARDEN DESIGN planting in our schemes, we will see positive mental health and better an increased shift towards planting well-being. Local and independent IS IN A GREAT drought-tolerant trees and shrubs, garden centres saw a real boost, and POSITION TO SUPPORT this will continue. as well as plants that can tolerate heavier, more sustained rainfall.

It is also nice to see commercial SUSTAINABILITY AND offices Consequently, I believe we looking to the design of their will see many more rain gardens own gardens and making them LOCAL ECOLOGY’ incorporated into both public and places for their staff’s wellbeing. private garden design schemes.

Garden designers want to see They are a far more sustainable way of absorbing more wildlife in their gardens, and planting that excess rainwater than letting it flood our drainage provides food for birds and insects, and trees, shrubs systems. They also look wonderful and are an effective and flowers that create a more diverse ecosystem. way of introducing biodiversity to an environment.

This will be supported by a determination to The autumn colours we saw at last year’s unique use more reclaimed, recycled and locally-sourced September RHS Chelsea were fantastic. It has materials for hard landscaping and decorative encouraged a greater focus on autumnal planting, and features. We will also see more unusual or distinctive I think we will see more client demand for autumn surface treatments being used, such as Shou Sugi Ban, colour in our planting plans. a Japanese technique that chars timber, making it I also hope there will be more meadow planting with waterproof and last longer. annuals next year. The area can be small; I planted a It goes without saying that we should all be using three by four-metre wild-flower meadow in my own peat-free compost and considering the net carbon garden last year and it gave so much joy and brought impact of all the materials we specify within schemes; so much more wildlife to the garden. reducing material waste and reusing instead of We should also extend ‘No Mow May’, the campaign replacing is the way forward and I think garden design set up by Plantlife. The idea that mowing the lawn is in a great position to support sustainability and is an essential weekly task throughout the summer local ecology. seems to be fading as homeowners begin to realise the ecological benefits of letting their lawn grow out a little but we need to be more active in encouraging DO YOU HAVE A GARDEN DESIGN-RELATED OPINION our clients to do this and to enjoy watching what TO SHARE? Email: gdj@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk happens instead.

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CAROLYN WILLITTS CW Studio Ltd was launched in 2012 by pre-registered SGD member and landscape architect Carolyn Willitts. Now with a base in Manchester’s city centre and a team of six, the studio focuses on creating bold, beautiful and thoughtful landscapes. Carolyn trained as a theatre set designer before moving into landscape and garden design, so brings her unique creativity and passion to every project. She won the Institute of Directors 2020 Innovation Director of the Year award, as well as winning a Society of Garden Designers Award for a garden in Hale in 2017. CW Studio was also a finalist in the 2019 Society of Garden Designers Awards, for its landscape design for the Moneypenny Headquarters, Wrexham. cwstudio.co.uk

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INTERVIEW

‘THE BEST IS STILL TO COME’ Recipient of the SGD’s 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award, David Stevens FSGD, 11-times RHS Chelsea Gold medal-winning designer, author, educator and broadcaster, talks to Arabella St.John Parker about design heroes, crazy paving, and the garden that got away

A ABOVE: the B&Q garden, in conjunction with The Princes’ Youth Business Trust, Gold Medal winner and winner of the Wilkinson Sword Trophy Best in Show at RHS Chelsea in 1990. BELOW: acclaimed modernist garden for Citroën at RHS Hampton Court in 1998.

few weeks before the SGD Awards ceremony in London last year, I travelled down to Bristol to meet Professor David Stevens FSGD FCI Hort., to talk to him about his career in garden design. As we sat in a garden that he had recently reworked and extended for a cherished client, I began by asking him about his early memories of gardening.

Image: GAP Photos/Clive Nichols

It seems like a long time ago but I am a Cornishman and we lived on the coast so I remember being on the beach and as I walked back to our house, I would see plants such as Euonymus and Valerian, although I had no idea what they were then, and everywhere, marigolds – what a lovely colour they are. Dad was a keen vegetable grower and Mum liked pottering in the garden, but they were not gardeners, and I never had a

revelation that I was going to be a gardener or garden designer.

In which case, what career path did you think you might take?

People never really talked about career choices at that time, and certainly no one talked about gardens or landscaping. My first job was in marine underwriting followed by a brief spell in the police force before working as a technical rep for a gold leaf supplier.

What brought you into landscape design?

I eventually joined a landscape gardening practice when the owner, who I played squash with, asked if I could do some design drawings for him. When the practice went bust, I set up on my own in 1972, building gardens, doing crazy paving, laying turf, and it was then that I knew that I wanted to design.

David Stevens Professor David Stevens FSGD FCI Hort, recipient of the Society of Garden Designer’s 2021 Lifetime Achievement of the Year Award. david-stevens.co.uk

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INTERVIEW

What was the state of landscape design in Britain at that point?

It was still very much in its infancy. Unlike America and on the Continent, we had no modern movement to speak of and although there was plenty of post-war town development work around, it was the landscape architects who did all the big stuff; Brenda Colvin, Geoffrey Jellicoe, Dame Sylvia Crowe…they were our superstars. I was fortunate to work with a number of them and was thrilled to bits when Susan Jellicoe, plantswoman, writer and editor of Landscape Design, and Geoffrey’s wife, asked if she could include some of my designs in one of her books.

What inspires your work?

It comes from any and everywhere, and it changes all the time – I always say to students, never stop looking.

For me it began with art, architects and architecture, and more recently, writing; meeting authors gives you a whole new spin on the perspective of life.

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Who are your design heroes?

Heroes are always important; you need someone to look up to, to gain experience from. Mine were landscape architects such as Daniel Kiley, Garrett Eckbo, Thomas Church, and Christopher Tunnard, a Canadian landscape architect who wrote a remarkable book called Gardens in the Modern Landscape. Church’s statement that ‘Gardens are for people’, is as true now as it was then.

I also admired Frank Lloyd Wright hugely. An organic architect and a total designer, his houses were built to rise up out of, and were sited in relation to, the landscape.

On my own drawings, I only ever put ‘designer’ because that is what I think you should be.

What should a welldesigned garden be?

It should suit the client; it is their garden, not yours, and it should fit them like a glove. You should never superimpose your will on their garden. We need to respect, guide and embrace both the client and the site, blending their needs into one to create a garden that, whatever its size, is personal and sensitive, and links with the house and the landscape beyond. We also need to remember that architecture is inseparable from garden design: house, garden and landscape are meshed tightly together. Architects do not always understand that; they create a stunning steel and glass building and then design something to sit around it that they call a garden but of course, it is not. Garden design is a skilled, professional art form that cannot be separated from the landscape or from the architecture.

Which projects make you most proud?

You should be proud of all of your work; if not, then there is something wrong. Obviously, over the years though, there will be gardens that are particularly

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ABOVE: South African Airway Garden, Gold Medal winner at the Cape Town Flower Show in 2006. BELOW: florist’s beads used as ground cover/lawn, show garden for Citröen at RHS Hampton Court in 1998.

Image: GAP Photos/Clive Nichols

I joined a five-year, day-release course at Thames Polytechnic and in my first year, architects and landscape architects all studied together; I found the landscape architecture much more interesting so decided to take that route. I met some good friends there – Arabella Lennox-Boyd was on the same course, as was John Moreland – and we had some wonderful tutors, including Preben Jakobsen, a Danish landscape architect of serious merit and one of the best plantsmen in Europe at that time.

After graduating, I joined John Brookes as a landscape designer for three years at Syon Park. That was wonderful; it was the National Gardening Centre and everybody in the trade would gather there. It was a fantastic introduction to the world of horticulture and also to celebrities, actors, and pop groups, who used Syon for filming.

‘GARDEN DESIGN IS A SKILLED PROFESSIONAL ART FORM THAT CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM THE LANDSCAPE OR ARCHITECTURE.’

INTERVIEW

special to you. One that stands out in my mind is my design for a commemorative garden for the Princess of Wales, to be sited at the Royal National Rose Society Gardens in St Albans, with funding from America. That unfortunately dried up after 9/11 but as with every design, I put everything into it, and I walked that garden in my mind a thousand times because that is what a designer does.

Image: GAP Photos/Anna Omiotek-Tott

As a member of the SGD from the start, in 1981, what were your hopes and expectations for the Society?

TOP: ‘the one that got away’, David’s design for a commemorative garden for the Princess of Wales. ABOVE AND BELOW: ‘The Anniversary Garden: A Brief History of Modern Gardens’, for BBC Gardener’s World Live 2017.

I am not sure any of us really knew but the number of garden designers was starting to grow and there was no cohesion.

There was no formal way of gaining knowledge or education, or somewhere we could come together to discuss and share ideas and experience, but Robin Williams (1935–2018) had the foresight to see the need for an organisation that would bind all those things together and create an adjudicated path for us all.

Image: GAP Photos/Anna Omiotek-Tott

What about key moments in garden design during the last 40 years?

When I started, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show was the main event really and the members of the plant and flower societies created the displays, but they knew very little about design. The SGD has helped the RHS to bring in the people who understand design, and also to introduce assessment of design and as a result, shows have been an enormous driver in the development of the Society and how gardens are built.

Books about gardening have

also changed hugely; John Brooke’s book, Room Outside, was the first real design book and its effect on gardening and publishing has been dramatic; I have written 22 of them myself!

Styles and planting, and the way we use materials have all changed, as has the way we look at gardens, helped by designers appearing on radio and television – shows such as the BBC’s Gardeners’ World and my Gardenwise and Gardens by Design series.

How do you feel about garden design at the moment?

We are at an exciting crossroads and the future is bright. The environment is driving us and encouraging us to put less emphasis on expensive products and surfaces that are hard, shiny and slippery, and more on plants and natural and recycled materials that make us feel comfortable living outside.

We need to be aware of climate change and of the importance of gardens for drainage and using planting to attract wildlife into the garden. I also think we need to look at hard landscaping products and their effect on our gardens. I will not use porcelain paving, for instance; it is a product that requires high-energy manufacture and shipping. Why not use locally sourced natural stone, or locally manmade stone?

I am making a new garden for my 1930s home at the moment and years ago, I would have ripped half of it out and put it into the skip but today, a wonderful old concrete serpentine path is staying as part of the design, and the buried stone will become paving and walling.

What advice would you give to young designers?

Be inspired, but never copy. And remember that the gardens are not yours – they belong to your customer; you are the facilitator.

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UK DESIGN

The dry climate and free-draining soil determined the Mediterraneanstyle plants while the gravel mulch and boulders reference the seashore nearby.

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UK DESIGN

CLOSE QUARTERS

Pre-registered members Susan Begg and Nicola Semple of Semple Begg created this oasis of drought-tolerant plants and flowers in a sheltered courtyard on the east coast of Scotland WORDS: Zia Allaway PHOTOGRAPHS: Andrea Jones

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The existing timber deck was recut and relaid as a boardwalk-seating platform around the garden. A small terrace (opposite, top left) made from Yorkshire Witton Fell sandstone is positioned so the owners can make the most of the evening light.

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UK DESIGN

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Semple Begg Pre-registered members Susan Begg (top) and Nicola Semple (above) set up their eponymous landscape and garden design practice in 2014, and now have studios in their respective homelands of Scotland and Switzerland. Their imaginative and soulful gardens are built using plants and materials that are made, quarried or grown sustainably, and the choice is guided by site conditions and the climate.

lose to the windswept coast of the North Sea, about an hour’s drive east of Edinburgh, lies a 17th-century fortified laird’s house and a collection of 19th-century farm buildings. The outbuildings were sensitively restored and converted into four homes 12 years ago and following an approach by the owners of one of these, pre-registered SGD members Nicola Begg and Susan Semple were invited to design a plant-rich garden to complement the house and to enable the wife to fulfill her love of gardening.

Susan explains: ‘Our clients found us online and told us they were drawn to our naturalistic planting style and sustainable approach. The wife has great taste but lacked the confidence to develop the internal courtyard garden in the way that she wanted, so she asked us to come up with a design that would link the interior and exterior spaces. The brief also included a wish for lots of plants that she could tend, a water feature, an east-facing deck that’s perfect for drinking coffee in the mornings and a west-facing terrace so they can sit and make the most of the evening sunshine.’

Points of view

The courtyard, which is enclosed by the walls of the house on three sides, proved to be quite a challenge for the designers. Not only is it small, measuring 12 by 8.5 metres, it had an east-facing raised deck and large, glazed doors set into all three of the surrounding house walls, meaning the garden is highly visible and has several entry points. The only solid wall is on

the fourth side of the courtyard, a boundary wall that separates the garden from the one next door.

‘The garden needed to be easily accessible for the husband, who has mobility issues,’ Nicola explains. ‘We also had to consider the planting carefully as while this part of Scotland is very sunny – not what most people associate with this area – it also receives about half of Britain’s average annual rainfall. The greatest challenge, though, was to create a scheme that looks unified, and to fill it with plants appropriate for the very different light levels within the courtyard.’

The solution, they decided, was an informal design in the style of a Mediterranean gravel garden, with irregularly shaped stepping-stones to cross through it. ‘We always try to be sustainable, and the owners were happy for us to keep the east-facing raised deck as a morning terrace and for us to recut and reuse the remaining boards to create a walkway around the other sides of the house.

‘The deck is interrupted in places to allow the planting to go right up to the house, with one of those areas framed by windows that, from inside the house, offer a glimpse into the garden as you walk through the front door,’ Susan explains. ‘The level change and veil of planting enhance the sense of entering a more intimate

‘THE GREATEST CHALLENGE WAS TO FILL THE GARDEN WITH PLANTS APPROPRIATE FOR THE DIFFERENT LIGHT LEVELS IN THE COURTYARD’

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UK DESIGN

The owner’s ferns have been given a shady home in a new, raised bed, with her potted acer and Continus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’ nearby.

WHO’S WHO Design: Semple Begg, semplebegg.com Contractors: Kibble Landscaping, kibblelandscaping.com Clay Pavers: CED Stone, cedstone.co.uk Witton Fell buff sandstone with pink intrusions: Dunedin Stone, dunedinstone.co.uk Plants: Macplants, macplants.co.uk, and R&B Nursery, rbnursery.co.uk Lighting: Mark Samson, 07535 760836 Sculptural metal poles: Petalostia by Andrea Geile, andreageile.co.uk GRP Water Bowl: Living Green Design, livingreendesign.com Furniture: Fermob, fermob.com/en

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space, and the diagonally placed stepping-stones serve to elongate the perspective.’

The stones and a new evening terrace are made from Witton Fell sandstone, while a timber raised bed along the boundary wall ties in with the wood cladding on the house. ‘The building is faced with stone, render and timber, with traditional red clay tiles on the roof,’ says Susan, ‘so the tones in the garden need to be quiet and harmonious to complement these various hard materials, with the plants providing a gentle drift of colour.’

Mediterranean mix

The site also played a strong part in the planting design, as Nicola explains. ‘Rather than bringing in topsoil, we prefer to work with what we have on site and here, the dry climate and free-draining soil determined the Mediterranean-style plants while the client’s favourite colours influenced the palette of soft blues, greens, dark reds and purples. The gravel mulch and boulders are references to the seashore, which is a couple of miles away.’

As Susan points out, planting into gravel means there are no definite border lines, an effect that has helped to soften the courtyard’s hard rectilinear shape.

‘Every part of the garden is on show every day of the year so the plants have to offer an extended flowering period, or, if more ephemeral, take up very little space,’ she adds. The long-flowering plants include Salvia ‘Nachtvlinder’, Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’, Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’, Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Fascination’, and the ground-hugging Cotula hispida, with its yellow pompom

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PLANTING INTO GRAVEL MEANS THERE ARE NO DEFINITE BORDER LINES, WHICH HELPS SOFTEN THE GARDEN’S RECTILINEAR SHAPE. flowers over silver foliage. ‘We’ve also used the agaveleaved sea holly, Eryngium agavifolium, for its year-round structure, and grasses such as Sesleria nitida, with its blue-green leaves and white summer flowers, and Stipa gigantea ‘Goldilocks’ to add movement to the scheme – both grasses have evergreen skirts that add interest over winter, too.

‘Shrubs include the dark purple Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’, which mirrors a potted acer that the owner had already bought, and we were also able to put some of her ferns into the raised bed and the cooler, shadier areas, alongside geraniums, Hakonechloa macra and Brunnera.’

‘The season begins with spring bulbs,’ continues Nicola, ‘varieties such as the pretty apricot species tulip, T. linifolia (Batalinii Group) ‘Bright Gem’ and the perennial Pulsatilla vulgaris, followed by alliums, anemones, and Gladiolus communis subsp. byzantinus, which appear later in the season. We also tucked a small reflective water bowl into the planting, adding a little pond dye to help keep the water clear.’

A bench seat, garden chairs and a small bistro table from Fermob, together with the owners’ original wooden bench seat, add the final touches, while small spotlights pick out key plants after dark.

Look at the silhouettes of tree skeletons against the winter sky, and at shadows on the turf. A dominance of line contributes to the atmosphere in a garden – it can be graphic and urban, or country.

Spaces between edges suggest simplicity versus complexity. Those spaces can be proportions.

The written word on signs, and lines in sculpture help to determine culture and antiquity, a sense of place.

Just look around – edges are everywhere. Sharp, smooth, curved for safety or style, and with contrasts between textures.

They can be absorbent or shed liquid, they can be smooth or infinitely unsmooth.

Edges are lines where two surfaces meet.

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Ecologically speaking, edges can be blurred – consider the habitat changes between a hedge, a tree canopy or a pond.

Then there are edges at angles. They can protrude as part of a feature. They could be a hazard in certain situations. The reverse of a protrusion is a recess.

CREATIVE THINKING

THE EDGES OF THINGS As designers we work in creative 3D, which is usually drawn in line but lines change.

Surfaces are planes of lines with edges that vary, depending on where you are as you look at them. Edges of colours can harmonise or contrast, in plants, on hard landscaping materials, and with garden furniture.

Edges of beds, lawns, paving and plants shape our work as designers, says preregistered member Susan Young. She encourages us to take a look at where elements in the garden begin and end

I

have always enjoyed the art of line, particularly in sketching the human form and the edges of leaves, but I became more acutely aware of the edges of things after seeing a series of installations and live projects that had been brought together under that very title, The Edges of Things, by artists Neville Gabie and Joan Gabie, at Blickling Hall in Norfolk, in May 2019.

It awakened me to the part played by the edges of things not only in life, but in garden design in particular. If you analyse it, it is the edges of paving, of lawns, even tree canopies, that delineate our work.

Andrew Wilson’s Core CPD session, held in January 2021, was the next lightning moment. During the course of that class, Andrew revealed the importance of edges in the process of adjudicating garden designs. It left me thinking that more could be made of the subject in our design education and encouraged me to create the mood board of words and pictures shown here, on these pages.

Pre-registered member Susan Young trained in horticulture and design at Writtle College, Shuttleworth, and combines landscape gardening and garden restoration with garden design. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture and in 2020, she and her team won Bronze for Overall Design and Build, and Silver for Hard Landscaping for Garden Builds under £20k in the Association of Professional Landscapers Awards. susanyoungdesign.co.uk For all image credits, please go to page 4

AT

Edges and their relationships create patterns, and edges can define a texture which can be a regular or irregular pattern.

THE EDGES OF THINGS.

Susan Young

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Garden by Gavin McWilliam MSGD and Andrew Wilson FSGD, winner of the Large Residential Landscapes and Gardens award in 2021.

DATES TO REMEMBER 12 January 2022 Early bird fee and entry form deadline MAIN AWARDS 2 February 2022 Standard fee and entry form deadline MAIN AWARDS 16 February 2022 Submission deadline MAIN AWARDS

Photo: Marianne Majerus

6 April 2022 Early bird fee and entry form deadline STUDENT AWARDS

COULD YOU BE AN AWARD WINNER IN 2022?

With the SGD Awards 2022 already open for entries, now is the time to choose your project, assess your photography, and pull your submission together

W

hether you are a sole trader or a partnership, and whatever your Society membership status, so long as you are an active SGD garden designer, there is an award category to suit every one. Which you enter is up to you, of course, but to be in with a chance of winning this year, you need to make your choices now.

There are 18 award categories in total across the main and student awards (see full list on page 32), with opportunities offered to all levels of SGD membership and open to any size and style of garden.

With a growing number of members telling us that more and more of their commissions specify sustainability and the environment, we have launched two new award categories so you can showcase these designs in particular: in the main awards, there is the Roof, Podium and Raised Courtyard Gardens Award, and in

the student awards, there is now an Urban Sustainability category, which is open exclusively to qualifying members and Friends aged 30 or under.

Whichever award or awards you choose to enter, ‘Don’t be afraid to have a go,’ says Lynne Marcus MSGD, SGD Chair. ‘As our past winners will testify, there are so many personal and professional benefits to entering the SGD Awards. Success is not only a huge confidence boost and the opportunity to raise the profile of your business in a growing industry, it’s the chance to step back and rigorously assess your work; a wonderfully constructive process that can only advance your company. For anyone who thinks the SGD Awards is not for them, I would urge them to reconsider; take the time to enter and reap the many rewards that the Awards have to offer.’

20 April 2022 Standard fee and entry form deadline STUDENT AWARDS 6 May 2022 Submission deadline STUDENT AWARDS 20 June 2022 Shortlists announced 23 September 2022 SGD Awards Ceremony

‘GREAT DESIGN WILL BE RECOGNISED’ ‘I was thrilled to win both the Design for the Environment and the prestigious Judges’ Award for Sedlescombe Primary School Sensory Garden. When I entered, I was unsure whether it would be taken seriously by the judges as the garden cost just £5,000 and was built almost entirely by volunteers, with no design fees. The SGD Awards are the most respected in the industry and standards are very high, so to win two awards with the cheapest garden in the room was astounding and shows that great design can be achieved on a shoestring and will be recognised regardless of budget.’

Kristina Clode, pictured left, winner of the Design for the Environment award and The Judges’ Award in 2021.

TO ENTER, VISIT sgd.org.uk/events/awards

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THE CATEGORIES FOR 2022 MAIN AWARDS 1. International Residential Landscapes and Gardens 2. I nternational Commercial or Community Landscapes and Gardens 3. UK Commercial or Community Landscapes and Gardens 4. U K Roof, Podium and Raised Courtyard Gardens NEW 5. Large Residential Landscapes and Gardens 6. Medium Residential Landscapes and Gardens Photo: Marianne Majerus

7. S mall Residential Landscapes and Gardens 8. Garden Jewel 9. Big Ideas, Small Budget Borough City Garden by Tony Woods MSGD, Garden Club London, winner of the Small Residential Landscapes and Gardens award in 2021.

WHAT THE WINNERS SAY

Thinking of entering the SGD Awards 2022… wondering what the benefits might be? Read what some previous winners have to say: ‘We’re relatively new garden designers so it was great to receive a nod to our designs. We have very happy clients, and we enjoy our work, but it adds an extra something, to have that recognition from the industry. Entering the awards gave us an opportunity to look back at the gardens we’d created, and to pause and reflect on our work. The awards are a building block, bringing us recognition within the industry and beyond.’

ALICE FERGUSON MSGD and JAMIE INNES, Artisan Landscapes, winners of the Big Ideas, Small Budget, Garden Jewel and People’s Choice Awards 2021

‘I was so delighted that my garden was shortlisted in the SGD Awards and really chuffed to actually win. As a relative newcomer to the industry, success at the SGD Awards has already had such a positive impact on my studio.

Recognition from the SGD and the judging panel of garden design professionals I greatly admire is a huge confidence boost, and it definitely helps to build a fledgling business profile. Potential clients, contractors, craftsmen and suppliers feel confident in your abilities, and existing clients feel they made the right decision in choosing you in the first place.’

SHEILA JACK, winner of the Fresh Designer Award 2021

‘It’s an incredible feeling, winning an SGD Award.

To gain recognition from your peers in this way counts for a great deal; it also reinforces to clients past, present and future the value you bring to a job. Any award submission takes time and effort, but it’s worth it when you have a project you believe in. Attending the awards ceremony with so many high-profile designers is a special thing in itself, but to be named a winner…just, wow!’

TABITHA RIGDEN, co-winner with HELEN SAUNDERS of the Paper Landscapes Award 2021

‘Success at the SGD Awards has undoubtedly had a positive impact on our practice. It’s given us the confidence to be more ambitious in our designs, and braver when presenting these ideas to clients and architects. The judging panel is made up of designers and standard bearers I greatly admire, so I believe to receive their recognition is the highest honour a garden designer can achieve.’

10. Design for the Environment Open to Student members and Friends 11. H ealing or Learning Landscapes and Gardens Open to Student members 12. Fresh Designer Landscapes and Gardens 13. Planting Design 14. Hardscape Design 15. Paper Landscape Design STUDENT AWARDS 16. Student Design – Domestic 17. Student Design – Commercial 18. Student Design – Urban Sustainability NEW HONORARY AWARDS 19. The Lifetime Achievement Award 20. The People’s Choice Award 21. The Judges’ Award 22. The Grand Award

ADOLFO HARRISON MSGD, winner of the Garden Jewel and Judges’ Award 2020

‘Winning the SGD Grand Award in 2019 was a great accolade for my studio and wider team. It has brought increased recognition for my design approach and a lot of interest in the way we do things. The SGD Awards are a great way of having a project assessed for technical quality. I would recommend them for the rigorous process required as well as the potential luck of being shortlisted or even winning.’

MARIAN BOSWALL MSGD, Grand Award winner 2019 Alice Ferguson MSGD and Jamie Innes (above right), Artisan Landscapes, winners of the Big Ideas, Small Budget, Garden Jewel and People’s Choice Awards 2021.

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GARDEN HISTORY

LOOK BACK, THINK FORWARD

HISTORICISM

Garden design in the 1980s was in thrall to historicism. How-to books on ‘Period Gardens’ cemented the trend inspired by Roy Strong’s commissioned exhibition, The Garden: A Celebration of a Thousand Years of British Gardening, at the V&A Museum in 1979, lamenting the destruction of our historic gardens. Tudorbethan formality and ‘heritage’ plants were the rage, ranging from the grand schemes of Lady Salisbury at Hatfield House to individual elements such as knot gardens.

Accuracy was not the goal, though serious

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scholarship informed subsequent major restoration schemes. Historicism continues to please and provide period notes in many gardens today.

SMART GARDENS

Historicism was the mother of a style which gardening writer Tim Richardson dubbed ‘smart gardens’. Still popular and evolving today, it was based on an Arts & Crafts template but brushed with a tonal colour scheme, often set against a framework of green, white and silver. Box-edged beds, topiary, lollipop standards, formal pools, herringbone paths, painted trellis, obelisks and stone balls, a perfect mown lawn with an informal orchard on the side and a potager, are all recognisable stalwarts. Nostalgia, serenity and bounty – this is a style that has never gone out of fashion, epitomising the much-admired English Country look. If there is to be a competition from the last 40 years for longevity and popularity, I think I would place my bet here.

ROOM OUTSIDE

The integration of interior and exterior in our urban gardens has been a major thread of the period. In his seminal book, Room Outside (published in 1969), designer John Brookes spoke to a broad demographic, demonstrating how garden design, based on modern

Image: GAP Photos/Jerry Harpur

G

arden history is a slow old business, but a lot has happened since the Society of Garden Designers was formed in 1981, making its 40th anniversary a great moment to stop and review the period.

The over-riding theme has been the tension between tradition and modernity; a post-war leitmotif which continues to inform our cultural life. Many designers will have created a personal idiom combining different motifs, which they continue to develop. The following brief survey is inevitably reductive but it will, I hope, highlight that garden history brings another dimension to the pleasures of a garden and can contribute to the future through a reading of the past.

Angelica is a garden historian, writer and designer who is fascinated by gardens as cultural artefacts. She is the author of Gardens of Marrakesh (Frances Lincoln) and has recently collaborated with the Society of Garden Designers to produce A brief history of British garden design, an illustrated poster that outlines 2,000 years of our rich garden culture.

Image: GAP Photo/Neil Holmes

The Society of Garden Designers has turned 40 years old, and British garden design has evolved and developed over that period, from styles that paid tribute to the past to distinctly forwardthinking ideas. Here, garden historian Angelica Gray tracks the past four decades of progress

ANGELICA GRAY

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Old Palace Garden at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire; Italian-style sunken garden, by Thomas Hoblyn MSGD for RHS Chelsea 2012; Modernist-inspired garden by Amir Schlezinger, MyLandscapes; garden room by Tony Woods MSGD, Garden Club London; water feature at Tintinhull, Somerset,

by Penelope Hobhouse.

Image: GAP Photos/Joanna Kossak

Image: GAP Photos/Jerry Harpur

Image: GAP Photos/J S Sira

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GARDEN HISTORY

principles, could transform a small garden into another family room for dining and leisure.

This gained currency in the 1980s and 1990s, going into overdrive with the arrival of TV ‘makeover’ series such as Ground Force (1997– 2005). By 2010 an outdoor kitchen, firepit, lounge-style furniture and ‘architectural’ plants had become must-haves for many.

and over time, a more practical, hybrid look seems to have evolved. This incorporates an appreciation of the faded splendour of the late season and the positives of less tidying up.

ECOLOGY

Ecological responsibility has been a growing theme since the 1980s. Pioneer Beth Chatto led the way with her mantra, ‘right plant, right place’. The fashion for wild gardens, meadows, native plants, organic gardening and landscape as inspiration have all been in response to our environmental crisis. The carbon footprint of hard landscaping has come under scrutiny, along with the deleterious use of plastics. All of these concerns are affecting design today, but the ‘wild-is-best’ orthodoxy is not going unchallenged. Fergus Garrett has demonstrated in an audit at Great Dixter, that the traditional British horticultural approach with mixed borders and natural hard landscaping, if gardened organically and gently, can support an astonishing diversity of life.

MODERNISM AND MINIMALISM

Contemporary design is not without heritage either; its roots go back at least a century, to an architectural idiom which, rejecting historicism, represented a more democratic way of living. Modern Movement buildings are rare in Britain but the clean-lined and abstract garden style they inspired became the height of cool for urbanites from the late 1980s. Terrence Conran was a celebrity fan: his book, The Essential Garden Book (ipublished in 1998), co-authored by the young Dan Pearson, showed how it was done. Minimalism distilled the aesthetic, embodying a kind of cerebral spirituality associated with Zen Buddhism.

Modernism continues to evolve but the incorporation of naturalistic planting ideas has marked the contemporary style of the past 10 years and given it a broader appeal which continues to develop today.

Our anthropocentric approach to the world is being rocked by science as we begin to really understand the intricacy of species interdependence. Climate change will bring huge horticultural challenges, and opportunities: the next 40 years will certainly be seen as a pivotal era. Designers make history every day and, together with clients, leave a legacy which tells a story. It is a responsibility and an investment in our shared future – which has never been more important.

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Image (left): GAP Photos/Richard Bloom Image (right): GAP Photos/John Glover

Image: GAP Photos/Richard Bloom

THE NEXT BIG THING?

NATURALISTIC

The concept of ‘natural’ has changed throughout history. In gardening, today we think of it as mixed perennials and ornamental grasses, planted in communities to give a meadow-like, soft and romantic effect. The trend began in the 1980s, inspired by the flora of the Great Plains of America, but it was not until 1996 and the publication of Noel Kingsbury’s book, The New Perennial Garden, in which he illustrated the work of Piet Oudolf and the Dutch New Wave, that it began filtering into the British gardening world. The idiom is not easy to manage but it is visually appealing

BELOW: Oudolf Field garden by Piet Oudolf, at Hauser & Wirth, Somerset. BOTTOM LEFT: mixed borders at Cogshall Grange, by Tom Stuart-Smith MSGD. BOTTOM RIGHT: the Peacock Garden at Great Dixter.

INTERNATIONAL: RUSSIA

THE HOUSE IN THE WOODS At a new Russian rural retreat, MOX Landscape Architects have given their client the magical English-style garden she dreamed of, with a mixture of decorative flowering and woodland plants that bloom and grow green in this haven hidden amid the forest gloom WORDS: Jodie Jones PHOTOGRAPHS: Richard Bloom

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INTERNATIONAL: RUSSIA

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INTERNATIONAL: RUSSIA

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here are two great and contrasting garden traditions in Russia: classic 18th-century landscapes on an Imperial scale, and the intimate pleasures of the rural dachas which have always been prized by the country’s elite.

Of these two, the dacha is the more enduring ideal, still offering a slice of the good life to the fortunate few – these days, more likely to be in business or entertainment than the aristocracy – who escape periodically to potter around and enjoy their kitchen gardens, flower beds and orchards.

Often, such gardens will be situated in the middle of a forest, usually of conifers or birches, which is allowed to encroach right into the ornamental areas close to the house. In style, the dacha garden is typically inspired by traditional English garden design that incorporates roses, greenhouses and potagers, leavened with a very Russian passion for colour born from the long hard winters in this part of the world. Think Cotswolds in a cold climate.

Some 50 miles north-west of St Petersburg is a particularly fine, contemporary interpretation of this traditional idiom, created by Yuri Fomenko and Dmitry Golubev of MOX Landscape Architects. ‘In truth, we actually recreated it,’ explains Dmitry. ‘The house was built only 15 years ago and a garden was laid out at the same time, but it was not well done.

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There was a poor selection of plants, which had been badly maintained, and some landscaping materials that were not well chosen. We retained the layout, reused what we could, and elevated the quality of the rest.’

Enchanting forest

Their client is a high-profile individual who had a particular fondness for her hideaway house in the woods, and a vision of how it could be improved.

‘She is in love with decorative flowering plants and the English garden style,’ Dmitry explains.

‘She wanted flower beds filled with hydrangeas and roses that had decorative impact from early spring until late autumn. But she also wanted to preserve the forest as much as possible.’

Although there are neighbouring houses tucked away in the wider forest, the hectare of garden and woodland has a fairytale atmosphere that Dmitry and Yuri were keen to enhance. ‘Originally, nothing really grew in the pine needles that carpet parts of the forest, but there was a wonderful feeling of being totally immersed in nature. We used resilient plants that would give the effect of a heightened natural forest floor – carpeting plants such as Vinca minor, Galium odoratum, Tiarella, Waldsteinia and Pachysandra,’ says Yuri.

The huge pines come very close to the house, which must have presented significant

OPPOSITE, TOP LEFT: new, sympathetic planting of Iris sibirica, Butomus umbellatus, Sagittaria and shadeloving Astilbe ‘Superba’ (right) have turned the woodland pool into a treasured spot for the garden owner.

ABOVE AND BELOW LEFT AND OPPOSITE BELOW: Hydrangea anomala susp. petiolaris links the garden with the woodland, where it is encouraged to scale the tree trunks. BELOW RIGHT: resilient plants such as Vinca minor, Tiarella and Waldsteinia now grow through the carpets of pine needles.

INTERNATIONAL: RUSSIA

challenges when the building was being constructed, but now they contribute to the other-worldly atmosphere. ‘We tried to make the forest and the ornamental garden merge,’ says Yuri. Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris is grown near the house and also out in the woods, where it is encouraged to scramble up the tree trunks. Carpets of Calluna vulgaris, Stephanandra incisa ‘Crispa’ and Viola odorata, among other things, fringe the forest and flow onto a formal lawn next to the house.

Connecting with nature

‘The lawn was an explicit request from our client,’ says Dmitry. ‘It can’t really survive in this environment, so the turf is replaced every spring, but she feels it is important to have this English touch.’

The client also has a passion for rhododendrons, and the more colourful the better. Her favourites include R. ‘Catawbiense Grandiflorum’ and R. ‘Roseum Elegans’ but in Russia, these are too tender to survive the winter.

‘She likes everything to look perfect all year round so we made wooden tent frames which we cover with spruce branches and set over each rhododendron in winter. The structures look very charming and thanks to this winter protection, her rhododendrons grow at least six and a half feet, which is a tremendous size in this climate,’ says Dmitry.

The extreme temperatures, which can fall to -30°C, have influenced every aspect of the design, including the choice of landscaping materials. ‘Russian winters are harsh. We use a lot of tough, local Karelian granite for the paths, but the base layer has to be extremely solid as well, which makes construction expensive,’ says Dmitry.

These paths wind away from the house on various trails through the woods, leading to a small vegetable garden, gymnasium, sauna, pavilion and naturalistic pond.

‘The pond originally looked very artificial, edged with highly ornamental cultivated plants which jarred with the woodland setting,’ says Dmitry. ‘We changed its size, shape and planting – everything except the location.’

Now, Picea abies, Juniperus communis ‘Repanda’ and Juniperus communis ‘Green Carpet’ have been threaded through the native trees and the pool, with its soft lines, gentle waterfall and sympathetic planting of Iris sibirica, Butomus umbellatus, Juncus and Sagittaria, is a favourite year-round destination for their client.

‘She will come and sit here, even in the snow,’ says Dmitry. ‘In Russia, the dacha is a place to escape the city and connect with nature, to restore spirit and health,’ he adds. ‘I think this is what we have given her.’

ABOVE: tough, local Karelian granite laid on a solid base layer is used for the paths, some of which lead through the trees, past plantings of Calluna vulgaris, Stephanandra incisa and Viola odorata that help blur the boundary between garden and forest.

MOX Landscape Architects, mox.ru

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ON THE SPOT

MEMBER Q&A

A garden in north Norfolk, by Stephane Lustig (below), stephanelustig.com

STEPHANE LUSTIG Pre-registered member Stephane Lustig set up his Norwich studio in 2012 after training at Capel Manor College and the Inchbald School of Design.

He recently passed his first adjudication project for the SGD. How would you describe your design style?

I try to create something original and cool; spaces that draw people together.

What are you currently working on?

A riverside garden for an 18th-century, Grade II-listed house in north Norfolk, and a garden on a crazily steep slope in east London that was previously used as a dumping ground by developers.

Interview: Tabitha Rigden

Why garden design?

The work allows me the freedom to transform landscapes. The first garden that I made and was really proud of was on the balcony of my flat in south London. It was the first time I had owned an outdoor space and the eclectic pots and plants gave me such pleasure, not to mention the furniture, the painted floor and the trellises I managed to pack in.

Greatest challenge, to date?

It is easy to get carried away designing the perfect garden, but the client’s pockets are not always deep enough to cover the cost.

Your current bugbear?

Non-recyclable plant pots.

Your proudest moment thus far?

A recently finished garden in Wimbledon.

The client was amazing as she rarely said no to an idea and we were able to transform the garden from a lawn bordered with overgrown shrubs into three distinct spaces on three different levels, including a dining area for 10 people, and an outdoor gym.

What sight particularly inspires you?

I am obsessed with Australian gardens at the moment, and by those on the Instagram feeds of @nathanburkett.nbla, @ecooutdoor and @itamar_landscape_architecture in particular.

The big issue?

There is no getting away from the nightmare that is Brexit. We need an easier importing and exporting process, without masses of complication and cost. We are an island, but we need to trade with the continent to thrive.

Your top tip?

Get to grips with Vectorworks; it makes you much more attractive to an employer.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE YOUR WORK STORY? Are you a member of the SGD and want to talk about your career and work, or share one of your recent projects with the magazine? Get in touch.

Email: gdj@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk

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QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS Favourite material?

Limestone.

Software?

Vectorworks.

Social media?

Instagram – @stephanelustig Go-to design book?

Garden Design: A book of ideas, by Heidi Howcroft and Marianne Majerus.

Design idol?

Debbie Roberts and Ian Smith of Acres Wild (acreswild.co.uk).

Object of desire?

Stone-balanced sculptures by Adrian Gray (stonebalancing.com).

Must-see landscape?

Les Jardins de Marqueyssac in the Dordogne, France.

Best thing about the SGD? Membership gives our clients the confidence that the quality of our work will be of a high standard.

Biggest surprise?

Planting is not the single most important element of a garden.

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REVIEWS New design and horticulture books, topical online media and practical products

Image: Cat Lane

Image: Jack Orton

MEDIA OF THE MONTH

JANE PERRONE’S ON THE LEDGE PODCAST YOU NEED SPEND ONLY a few minutes on any of your social media news feeds to see that it is a houseplant jungle out there. The unofficial queen of this land of indoor greenery is Jane Perrone, who started her podcast, On the Ledge, in 2017, just as the current craze began.

The former gardening editor of The Guardian, now a freelance journalist, had already tried her hand at podcasting as host of The Guardian’s Sow Grow Repeat podcast with gardener and fellow Guardian columnist, Alys Fowler.

When that came to an end, Jane knew she wanted to start a podcast of her own. She decided to focus on houseplants because they had always been a passion of hers and at the time, there was very little media coverage of indoor gardening; Jane wanted to fill that gap with information about how to grow the plants she loves.

Her enthusiasm for the topic, combined with a determination to speak to experts and to deliver sound advice to listeners, ensured quick success for On the Ledge.

There are now more than 200 episodes to listen to, covering everything from bonsai to terrariums, and orchids to succulents and for those wishing to delve more deeply into the subject, there is a series of episodes on leaf botany. Other topics covered include houseplants and mental health, plants for different parts of the house, and aqua-scaping (landscaping for aquariums).

If you are new to the podcast and are not sure where to begin, Jane provides a handy guide on her website in which she suggests episodes such as ‘Ten Commandments for Houseplant Care’ and ‘How not to kill your houseplants’.

‘Unfortunately, now there is a lot of houseplant advice online, but a lot of it is really poor quality,’ Jane says. ‘My aim

is to educate and entertain listeners and find the best possible experts to talk to about particular plant groups.’

Sustainability is an issue about which she is passionate and which she believes has largely been ignored by the houseplant industry. ‘That’s something I’ve put front and centre in the show, emphasising that houseplants don’t need peat to do well, highlighting plastic waste in the industry, and championing sustainable growers.’

Now working on a houseplant book, Legends of the Leaf, Jane adds: ‘In the last five years, the show has created a global community of houseplant enthusiasts who range from absolute beginners to professionals, and that’s the thing I am most proud of when I look back at the development of On the Ledge.’

Janeperrone.com/on-the-ledge

Reviewed by pre-registered member Ciar Byrne

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REVIEWS

OBJECT OF THE MONTH

CLASSIC BENCH

BY: Norfolk Garden Furniture PRICE: from £1,395 for a 2.5 seater DIMENSIONS: 1,292mm (2.5 seater); 1,528mm (three-seater); and 1,828mm (four-seater) AVAILABLE FROM: norfolkgardenfurniture.com

THE SIMPLE, GRACEFULLY curved lines of wrought iron benches made by blacksmiths and decorative workers for the great English gardens of the 18th century are the inspiration for Annabel Payne’s new Classic bench. The piece is the photographer and architectural stylist’s latest design for Norfolk Garden Furniture, the company she set up during the lockdowns of 2020 and debuted at RHS Chelsea in September 2021.

The benches are entirely Britishmade, by a hand-picked group of small firms and artisan workshops across East Anglia, and local galvanising and coating plants. The materials are high-quality galvanised steel and architectural-grade powder coating, put through state-of-the-art machinery and quality riveting to produce a very durable, well-made product suitable for all weathers.

The benches are available in a

range of traditional colours and the Classic bench can also be powdercoated in bright orange (pictured), buttercup yellow or a vibrant teal blue, to give it a contemporary twist.

New designs are already in the pipeline, including a range of dining tables and coffee tables planned for release early in 2022.

Reviewed by pre-registered member Adam Robinson-Quick

BOOK OF THE MONTH THIRTEEN WAYS TO SMELL A TREE

BY David George Haskell PUBLISHED BY Octopus Publishing Group PRICE £12.99 ISBN 13: 9781856754903

This book of 13 essays is a journey through forests and cities, spanning time and continents, describing the aromatic signatures of different tree species, sometimes even individual trees.

Wide-ranging and informative, David George Haskell’s book draws on memory and childhood in this, ‘the most ignored and suppressed of the senses’. He describes our emotional responses to trees as easily as their chemistry, biology and history. It is information told lightly through thoughtful, evocative writing, with each essay a focus on a tree or theme: Ginkgo, Bay Laurel, woodsmoke, the aroma of books, or the ingredients that make up a gin and tonic.

This is lively, fresh writing, as eloquent in explaining how aromas connect to the brain as in mourning the loss of ash

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trees to pests and disease. He writes of the sensual delights of olive oil, the devastation of forest fires, the chemicals breathed in from the aroma-tree hanging in a taxi. It is a fascinating integration of science and literature to make us more aware of the many smells, pleasant, unpleasant, restorative and harmful, that constantly surround us.

The unusual approach of this book is extended by music that can be listened to on Soundcloud. Composed by violinist Katherine Lehmann in response to the writing, there are 13 short pieces to accompany each chapter. A creative accompaniment to a beautifully written book.

Reviewed by gardens columnist, RHS-listed speaker, and photographer, Susie White

POINT OF INTEREST

COLLEGE GREENING

T

CL was engaged by Queensland University of Technology, in Brisbane, Australia, to transform a service road in a deeply shaded and steeply graded area on its Gardens Point campus. The brief was to create a walk that runs between and into the buildings, and which incorporates planting and water features with no apparent boundaries between the interior and exterior gardens. ‘We had to provide access for services, create outdoor social-learning spaces and to green the campus spine across three levels of interconnected terraces,’ says TCL director, Damian Schultz.

‘The design was a realisation of beauty, form and function.’

BIOPHILIC DESIGN

A desire to use nature to create a calming and restorative environment was a key factor in the design. ‘The brief was for substantial green elements to be incorporated within the fabric of the building,’ says Damian, although he adds that integrating long-term plantings in an air-conditioned space ‘is, by nature, a difficult proposition’.

TCL collaborated with Wilson Architects, experts in subtropical plant design and the design of interior gardens, and Danish firm, Henning Larsen Architects, specialists in sustainable design, to ensure adequate natural light levels within the space, and the moderation of air exchange and temperature controls.

Full-height curtain walls of glass at each end of the atrium and substantial skylights were specified to allow sufficient daylight to penetrate the six-storey building, and light studies were conducted to determine the correct choice of plant species.

INDIGENOUS FEATURES

‘WE ARE FASCINATED

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SUSTAINABLY SMART

The project was informed by a sustainable approach to campus planning, water-sensitive urban design, consolidation of services, the improvement of micro-climates and a reduction in vehicle access to the grounds without compromising maintenance work. The site is steeply sloped so consideration had to be given to the level and location of services and access covers. Pavements were designed to integrate smart-service infrastructure, including common service trenches for cabling and the use of smart technology for consolidating lighting, CCTV, water, power and wifi.

Service boxes were positioned within retaining walls and seating terraces, to maximise planting opportunities, reduce visual clutter and maintain clearways for service vehicle access.

TCL, tcl.net.au

Words: Jodie Jones Images: Christopher Frederick Jones

Consultation with indigenous communities is a standard part of the design process in Australia, Damian says. ‘We aim to nurture relationships with them, to better understand the ancient knowledge systems of Australia, and we are fascinated by how these perspectives influence spatial design and urban ecologies.’

Working with the university’s Oodgeroo Unit, ‘An outdoor area was provided as a mark of respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people who welcome visitors to their land,’ says Damian. ‘It includes a “yarning circle”, for sharing stories and knowledge, a fire pit for smoking ceremonies, and Oodgeroo gardens planted with traditional bush food and medicinal plants.’