The Garden Design Journal - November 2022

QUEEN ELIZABETH II 1926–2022

IN SEPTEMBER 1937, the young Princess Elizabeth planted an ash tree (pictured) in the Garden of Friendship at Elsick House, Kincardineshire. As The Queen, she planted more than 1,500 trees throughout the world, creating a unique ‘green’ trail that will be enjoyed for generations to come. Her Majesty understood and spoke about the importance of trees in the Earth’s future and in 2021, the then Prince of Wales launched the Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) as a way of marking with a living legacy her 70 years of service to her country and to her people. Between October of that year and March 2022, more than a million trees were planted and the QGC has dedicated a United Kingdomwide network of 70 Ancient Woodlands and 70 Ancient Trees.

Following her death on 8 September 2022, and the wishes of King Charles III, the initiative, which was due to conclude this December, has been extended to March 2023 so that people can plant more trees in memory of the late Queen, and further help enhance our environment. queensgreencanopy.org

Words: Arabella

St John Parker Photograph: Alamy/The Topical Press Agency Ltd.

CONTENTS

Hello,

Autumn has crept up on us gently and with the sad death of Queen Elizabeth II (see page 3), ‘A cold coming we had of it... this Birth was Hard and bitter’. However, unlike TS Eliot’s protagonist, ‘no longer at ease here’, this new season will, I hope, be positive and fruitful.

In a few days’ time, the winners of the 2022 SGD Awards will be announced and a full review of the occasion will appear in the December issue of this publication.

There will also be star turns by a host of Society members at Landscape 2022 in Birmingham, and at FutureScape 2022 in London.

And as John Wyer FSGD and pre-registered member Jackie Herald explain opposite, and on pages 7 and 41 of this issue, the subject of connectivity and ‘nature’s networks’ will be discussed in detail at the Society’s own Autumn Conference, at the Royal Geographical Society in November. I hope to see you there.

Letter from Council

While the pandemic made us wonder at how two years seemed to vanish, data and anecdotes accumulated to evidence the restorative effect of access to green space, ‘being in the moment’ and attuning to the natural world.

Proof of the physical, mental, and social benefits that well-designed gardens and landscapes can offer gives our profession – indeed, the whole horticultural industry – a golden opportunity for greater funding, recognition, and interdisciplinary research and development.

Arabella St John Parker, Editor

SHARE YOUR NEWS AND PROJECT UPDATES email: gdj@ jamespembroke media.co.uk

‘Connectivity’ was the keyword linking the lively round-table exchanges of ideas at the Society of Garden Designers (SGD)’s ‘Past, present, future’ Symposium, held at RHS Garden Wisley in June this year. Building on that positivity and enthusiasm, connectivity lies at the heart of the Society’s autumn conference, ‘Natural networks’.

Linkage works in many creative and holistic ways and as designers, we have the privilege and potential influence to make the planet a happier and healthier place for all life forms to inhabit. Indeed, the SGD’s Sustainability Group is leading the field in this. Connectivity is also core to the SGD’s manifesto, as Rachel Bailey MSGD explained in last month’s issue of this Journal

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

The SGD conferences aim to both inspire and inform, through insights into different designers’ thinking and problem solving, with sustainability at the heart of best practice. From their diverse projects, the speakers at this November’s conference will present ideas and strategies that can be applied to any site, on any scale.

The networking opportunities at the conference will go beyond the lecture room, into the reception areas where a sell-out show of exhibitors, 100 per cent plant-based sustenance, and a pop-up book stall that takes its cue from the conference theme.

John Wyer Jackie Herald

John Wyer FSGD Treasurer and Vice-Chair, Society of Garden Designers

Jackie Herald Pre-registered member Chair SGD Conference Committee

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Find out about sponsorship opportunities for the SGD Awards and conferences by contacting Andy Barringer at sponsorship@sgd.org.uk

Image:

NEWSPRINT

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

award-winning practice Urquhart & Hunt, who will discuss how they maximise biodiversity and minimise the carbon footprint of a site, with reference to their RHS Chelsea Flower Show Best in Show Rewilding Britain garden, and projects in Britain and Italy.

SGD AUTUMN 2022 CONFERENCE EXPLORES NETWORKS IN NATURE

THE SOCIETY OF GARDEN DESIGNERS (SGD)’s Autumn 2022 Conference returns to the Royal Geographical Society in London this November, with a cast of internationally acclaimed designers and horticultural experts, who will be exploring the natural networks that exist within garden and landscape design.

Building on ideas aired at the SGD Symposium this summer, on how to work more effectively with nature, speakers at the conference will look at creative collaborations in design. Their focus will be on how to support and create connections between people and the soil, flora and fauna, garden designer and client, past and present uses of a site, landscape memories and creative

imagination, transitions between buildings and nature, and children’s play spaces and their development through life.

The conference will be chaired by gardener and writer Val Bourne, with a panel of speakers who will each reveal their approach to designing green spaces, underpinned by the core principles of sustainability, a site’s characteristics and local ecology.

While some of the projects to be presented will be more extensive than the average residential garden, the design thinking and underlying values are directly transferrable to smaller spaces and budgets.

The speakers are preregistered SGD members Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt of

Helen Woolley, Professor of Landscape Architecture, Children’s Environments and Society at the University of Sheffield, will talk about different types of children’s play and what elements can be used to create designs that support children’s wellbeing and development.

Dusty Gedge is a recognised authority on green roofs and green infrastructure. A designer, consultant, wildlife conservationist and co-author of the website The DIY Guide to Small-Scale Green Roofs, Dusty will be offering tips on how to attract birds and beneficial insects to planting schemes.

Designer Ula Maria will explain how her gardens are inspired by the spirit of a place and its inhabitants, as well as aesthetic values. She grew up close to the Baltic coast and will discuss how she tries to distil the essence of that large landscape into her small urban designs.

Thomas Hoblyn MSGD will speak about creating accessible, sustainable and safe places where people can meet and children can play freely, while also considering climate change, sustainability and wildlife habitats. He will present schemes where naturalistic planting and water bodies connect seamlessly with the landscape.

Attendance at the conference is worth seven Continuing Professional Development hours and the deadline to buy an earlybird ticket is Friday 28 October 2022. For details on how to book, turn to page 19 and visit sgd.org. uk. See page 41 for more about Professor Woolley’s work in creating children‘s play areas.

GOLDEN MOMENTS FOR SGD MEMBERS AT APLD AWARDS

TWO PRACTICES run by SGD members have won a series of Gold medals at the 2022 Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) Awards.

McWilliam Studio won a Gold and the Best in Show award for its show garden Between Heaven and Earth. The design, created by studio lead Gavin McWilliam MSGD and Andrew Wilson FSGD for the Shenzhen Flower Show 2021, explores the interactions between woodland and water, and land and sky, and was described by the judges as having a ‘wonderful, stellar concept and implementation – an incredible show garden from within and above’.

McWilliam Studio also secured a Gold medal in the Residential Category for a West London Garden, which the judges described as ‘a great structured design with plantings that soften and engage the garden’.

Jo Thompson MSGD won a hat-trick of Gold medals, one of them – in the Details Category – being for a garden on the East Sussex coast (pictured) and two in the Planting and Residential categories, for a naturalistic garden in Biddenden, Kent. The judges described the coastal garden as ‘a space you want to be in and enjoy’. The garden in Kent was praised for its ‘beautiful composition of colour, texture and form’.

For details of all the winners, visit apld.org; mcwilliamstudio.com; jothompson-garden-design.co.uk.

TOP: semi-intensive green roof, by Dusty Gedge. ABOVE: conference speakers Professor Woolley (left) and Thomas Hoblyn MSGD.

Photograph, Rachel Warne

NEWS IN BRIEF

Boughton Loam joins SGD as Affiliated Business Partner

Boughton Loam (boughton. co.uk), supplier of high-quality growing media including compost, top soil and green roof substrates, has joined the SGD as an Affiliated Business Partner. To join via this scheme, visit sgd.org.uk and click on ‘Join the SGD’.

Freya Willetts joins Harris Bugg Studio

Harris Bugg Studio has welcomed two new members of staff to its team. Preregistered SGD member Freya Willetts joins as Graduate Landscape Designer, and Caroline Druon CMLI joins as Landscape Architect. Freya received a distinction from the London College of Garden Design and previously worked as garden designer at Lavender Green Gardens. Founded by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg in 2017, their eponymous studio now employs 12 people. harrisbugg.com

£9m for Levelling Up parks fund

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has announced the creation of a £9m fund to create or improve more than 100 parks across England, but with special focus on 85 neighbourhoods currently deprived of outdoor space.

A sum of £2m of the total investment will be used to fund the planting of trees in the parks, contributing to the Government’s target to treble woodland planting rates by March 2025. gov.uk

ANDY STURGEON FSGD COURTYARD DESIGN HIGHLY COMMENDED BY CIVIC TRUST

A MIXED-USE SCHEME by architects Brisac Gonzalez and Arquitectonica, with a public courtyard (pictured) designed by Andy Sturgeon FSGD, has been Highly Commended in the 2022 Civic Trust Awards, which recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment.

The courtyard, which is

open to the public during daylight hours, is designed to complement the architecture – a refurbished Grade II-listed John Nash building and new, contemporary brick buildings. It also provides a place that can be enjoyed by residents of the Hobhouse Court development, near Trafalgar Square, London, as well as by users and visitors to its offices, shops and art gallery.

Inspired by the flakes of old, peeling paint found in the vaults beneath the John Nash building, Andy has designed irregular-shaped beds that appear to rise up out of the ground at varying angles, challenging the geometry of the site and projecting a distinctive sense of movement into the space.

Restricted by the vaults from digging down into the ground, ‘building the beds with sloping sides allowed us to create a sense of the ground going up and down’, says Andy. ‘Groupings of small trees increase height, while greening the lower levels brings planting to the ground.’ Ferns and woodland perennials, grasses, mature Nothofagus antarctica, and a range of shrubs help to shape this restful green space, hidden from the busy streets and Trafalgar Square beyond. civictrustawards.org.uk; andysturgeon.com

CU BOULDER AIMING FOR LOW-CARBON CONCRETE

RESEARCHERS at the University of Colorado Boulder are working on technology to mass-produce algaegrown biogenic limestone so it can be used instead of quarried limestone in the making of portland cement, which is concrete’s most carbonintensive ingredient.

Led by Wil Srubar (pictured), Associate Professor of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, the CU Boulder engineers and colleagues from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have been selected by the US Department of Energy’s HESTIA programme to develop a technology that can utilise calcifying micro-algae,

which produce limestone, to create a carbon-neutral cement. They are also working on cement products that can slowly pull out and store carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

Concrete is durable, but its manufacture generates high volumes of polluting CO2. Using the biogenic limestone would be a net-carbonneutral process, say the researchers, because the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere when it is burned during the making of the cement is

CONSTRUCTION OF SALISBURY RIVER PARK BEGINS

WORK HAS BEGUN on the new Salisbury River Park, a £27m scheme designed to enhance biodiversity, create new wildlife corridors, and reduce the existing flood risk faced by more than 350 homes and businesses in the city.

The scheme includes five acres of riverside habitat that is to be enhanced for the benefit of wildlife; the removal of obstructions to allow fish migration; and the creation of 32 acres of public open space. The River Avon will also be widened to increase channel capacity and to reduce flooding (a visualisation is pictured above).

The project is a collaboration between the Environment Agency, Wiltshire Council, Salisbury City Council, and Swindon & Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership. It is anticipated that the main construction works will be completed in the spring of 2024. salisburyriverparkphase1.com

equal to that which the micro algae draws down from the atmosphere during its growth.

Meanwhile, building materials supplier Marshalls is the first company in Britain to adopt CarbonCure’s carbon mineralisation technology for the production of its concrete products. This process involves injecting CO2 directly into concrete as it is being mixed. The CO2 immediately reacts with cement in the mixture and mineralises, to create calcium carbonate (CaCO3).

Once mineralisation has taken place, the CO2 is permanently locked into the concrete for millennia, never to be released back into the atmosphere, even if the structure the material is used in is demolished. To begin with, Marshalls will apply CarbonCure at its Grove brick manufacturing site, using waste CO2 from the fertiliser industry. marshalls.co.uk

LANDSCAPES AND HISTORIC GARDENS FEEL THE HEAT

THIS SUMMER’S record-breaking temperatures and prolonged spell of dry weather have affected the nation’s cherished landscapes, gardens and wildlife, causing historic water features to dry up, sparking wildfires, and taking a toll on animals, according to the National Trust.

Several wildfires broke out on tinder-dry Trust land, including Zennor in Cornwall (pictured) and at Bolberry Down, Devon, where gorse continued to reignite for two months. In Northumberland, meanwhile, bats were found disorientated and dehydrated during daylight hours on the hottest days.

Keith Jones, National Climate Change Advisor for the National Trust, said: ‘At the Trust, we’re taking action to make sure our sites are ready for future [climate] changes, making our landscapes rich in nature, our rivers cooler and our gardens more resilient, but we must cut emissions too.

‘The UK still holds the COP presidency, and the next Prime Minister should put this at the top of their to-do list as COP27 approaches in November. This has to be a watershed moment, where we make a decisive shift from words to action.’ nationaltrust.org.uk

SINGAPORE WIN FOR TONY WOODS MSGD

DESIGNER Tony Woods MSGD of Garden Club London was awarded the 2022 Horticulture Excellence Award, along with a Silver medal, for his show garden Green Rise (pictured) at this year’s Singapore Garden Festival.

The garden represented the dichotomy between the urban environment and the natural world, a theme that is also perfectly embodied by the city of Singapore, where plants and the built environment come together in innovative ways.

Tony’s richly planted garden featured fruit trees referencing the ones that once lined Orchard Road, Singapore’s famous street of shops, together with bold architectural elements. A calming space by day, at night the garden was transformed by colourful lighting and dazzling reflections that echoed the city’s bustling streets. gardenclublondon.co.uk

CYCLISTS RAISE FUNDS FOR HORATIO’S GARDEN

FIVE CYCLISTS

have raised £80,000 by cycling 1,100 miles in 11 days for Horatio’s Garden, the charity founded and named for Horatio Chapple, who died in a tragic accident in Norway 11 years ago, and which creates beautiful outdoor

spaces for patients at spinal treatment centres around Britain.

The team, which included Horatio’s brother, Titus, began its journey at Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast, where the newest Horatio’s Garden, designed by Andy Sturgeon FSGD, is due to open in 2024.

Titus cycled with Toby Morgan-Grenville, a former patient at The Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre in Salisbury; and Horatio’s friends Robin Butler, Olivia Caplan and Mortimer McKechnie. Their route took them across Britain, via 11 spinal injury centres, with garden designer, TV presenter and SGD Friend Arit Anderson joining them for the final day of the challenge.

The money raised will help to fund further Horatio’s Gardens at spinal injury units and treatment centres across Britain. To make a donation, visit horatiosgarden.org.uk

ABOVE: Mortimer McKechnie, Titus Chapple, SGD Friend Arit Andersen, Olivia Caplan, Toby Morgan-Grenville, and Robin Butler at Longford Estate before embarking on the final leg of their fund-raising journey.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Landscape Institute updates guidance

As the Government invites views on the Defra Biodiversity Net Gain Metric, soon to become statutory in England, the Landscape Institute has updated its guidance for landscape practitioners, which includes information on net gain legislation in the devolved nations. landscapeinstitute.org

Rare peony wins national award

A rare peony has been crowned winner of the Threatened Plant of the Year 2022 competition by horticultural conservation charity Plant Heritage. The judging panel selected Roz Cooper’s peony, Paeonia lactiflora ‘Gleam of Light’, for its rarity, exquisite perfume, and beautiful appearance. An equally unusual aeonium, along with a rose named after Sir Winston Churchill, were joint winners of the People’s Choice award. plantheritage.org.uk

US makes landscape architecture a priority in search for climate change solutions

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Congress and shortly to become law, will provide an historic investment of $369bn in landscape architecture solutions such as recreational trails, naturebased water infrastructure, tree planting and ecosystem restoration. It will help improve energy security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enable communities to adapt to climate change. The new legislation represents America’s most comprehensive response to the growing climate crisis to date.

GARDEN IN THE RUINS UNVEILED AT NYMANS IN WEST SUSSEX

THE NATIONAL TRUST has unveiled a new garden created within the ruins of the Great Hall at the Messel family home, Nymans, which was destroyed in a fire 75 years ago.

The Garden in the Ruins (pictured) pays homage to Ludwig Messel and his son Leonard who, together, created the extensive gardens at the country estate. They sponsored plant-hunting expeditions and worked with their Head Gardeners, James and Harold Comber, to introduce many plant hybrids that remain popular today.

The new enclosed garden includes a number of these plants, such as Camellia ‘Leonard Messel’, Skimmia japonica ‘Nymans’ and Magnolia x loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’, and its theatrical layout is a nod to Leonard’s son, Oliver, who was celebrated for his sumptuous stage and screen sets and costumes. Plants are displayed in giant pots and planters and decorative, weathered steel screens are used to divide the space, just as flats would do on a stage. There are plans to add topiary and sculptures, in time, to help link the space with the wider garden. nationaltrust.org.uk

FUTURESCAPE RETURNS WITH AN EXTENDED TWO-DAY EVENT

AN EXTENDED and larger FutureScape will return to London’s ExCeL this November, with a two-day event and 50 per cent increase in capacity.

The show will feature more exhibitors than ever before, new live and interactive elements and seminar theatres featuring a cast of speakers, including SGD members Lee Bestall MSGD, John Wyer FSGD, Helen Elks-Smith FSGD, Mark Laurence MSGD, Lynne Marcus MSGD and Sarah Eberle FSGD.

BIRDS THRIVE AT WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

between Barratt Developments, Buckinghamshire Council and the RSPB.

AN RSPB SURVEY has revealed that wildlife-friendly measures for a major new housing development near Aylesbury have boosted numbers of key bird species, including house sparrows, breeding pairs of which have risen from two to 147 over a period of six years.

A range of cost-effective features – such as swift nest bricks integrated into house walls, fruit trees in gardens, and sustainable drainage-system ponds and wetlands – have been used in the Kingsbrook development, thanks to a collaboration

The RSPB conducted a survey a year before construction began in 2016 and again in 2021, after the first 600 houses were built. The recent findings show huge increases in the numbers of individual birds for many species including the starling (also on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern), up 96 per cent; the Amber-listed reed bunting, up 65 per cent; and the whitethroat, up 72 per cent.

Bee numbers have also more than doubled. With the British Government committed to building 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, and British wildlife in decline, the report is, said the RSPB, a blueprint for how to build homes for wildlife and people. rspb.org.uk

NEWS IN BRIEF

GCA Chief Executive resigns from role

The Garden Centre Association (GCA) Chief Executive, Iain Wylie, has resigned from his role to pursue other opportunities. The GCA has achieved its highest rate of growth to date during Iain’s nine-year tenure and he was instrumental in the campaign to reopen garden centres during the pandemic-induced lockdowns. The process of finding a new Chief Executive is now under way. gca.org.uk

University of Oxford launches new bioscience department

The Training, Education and Employment Village, sponsored by BALI, is another new addition to the event, aimed at those looking for career advice, training information and networking opportunities. The RHS Shows Garden Judging Panel will be present on Tuesday 15 November, offering guidance to prospective designers on how to secure a place at RHS Shows.

FutureScape runs from 15 to 16 November 2022. futurescapeevent.com

The University of Oxford has merged its former Departments of Zoology and Plant Sciences into the new Department of Biology. The move presents fresh opportunities that will further enhance Oxford’s educational and research strengths in bioscience, bringing together world-leading scientists who are tackling major global challenges, from pandemics to the impacts of climate change, threats to biodiversity and the securing of our food and natural resources. ox.ac.uk

URBAN FORESTS AND ART TO TRANSFORM CATHEDRAL GARDENS IN BELFAST

URBAN AND LANDSCAPE DESIGN practice Hassell has created a masterplan (CAD pictured) to transform a site next to Ulster University and the historic St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast into an eco-diverse urban forest and public park.

The design for Cathedral Gardens will tell the story of the city through artworks, water installations and landscape features, and will include a memorial to the Belfast Blitz of 1941. The ‘urban forest’ is intended to turn the area into a more natural seasonal space suitable for walks, to attract wildlife and to connect the city centre with its environs. Expansive lawns will provide space for visitors to rest and relax, and shady tree-lined event areas have been included to host food markets, flower shows and music festivals. The masterplan is currently offered for public consultation. hassellstudio.com

Photograph,

Cosham

WHAT’S ON WHAT’S ON

1 NOVEMBER

LCGD Autumn online webinar: New Iconic Gardens

As part of a series by leading designers, Ben Hoyle, founder of Blue Gecko Landscapes, will champion a garden he admires, explaining how it inspires him. lcgd.org.uk

1 AND 2 NOVEMBER

SGD CPD Digital: Cut through the noise, Part 2

A Zoom workshop, led by SGD Friend Denise Quinlan, for those who attended Cut through the noise, Part 1 and want to learn more about how to deliver the best customer experience. sgd.org.uk – ‘Events’

1 TO 3 NOVEMBER Greenbuild International Conference + Expo

This event in San Francisco celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. It will consider what it means to ‘build green’ by reimagining workplaces, leisure spaces and sustainable landscapes. informaconnect. com/greenbuild/

6 NOVEMBER

Living Medicine: Coughs, colds & allergies

Award-winning workshop by medical herbalist Alex Laird, at the Chelsea Physic Garden, including identifying healing plants and remedy making. chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk

11 NOVEMBER

SGD Core CPD Digital: Setting out plans & communicating the build

Principally for pre-registered members, this Zoom session, led by Matt Nichol MSGD, will cover communicating the build; setting out and construction plans; CDM and Health and Safety. sgd.org.uk – ‘Events’

CREATE HIGHWAYS FOR HEDGEHOGS

WILDLIFE CHARITIES People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) which, together, run Hedgehog Street, are appealing to garden designers and the public to link their outdoor spaces to ensure the survival of hedgehogs in Britain.

In a bid to boost numbers of this much-loved species across the country, the charities are encouraging garden owners and designers to make holes in walls and fences to create ‘Hedgehog Highways’ that will provide corridors for the animals to roam in search of food, mates and nesting materials.

The State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022 report, published by PTES and BHPS earlier this year, revealed that a third of Britain’s hedgehog population has been lost since the millennium. It also highlights the differences between urban and rural populations. In towns and cities, hedgehog numbers are stable and may even be recovering, but rural populations remain low.

To enable the charities to monitor changes to hedgehog populations following these interventions, they are asking people to map holes and any sightings at hedgehogstreet.org

11 TO 14 NOVEMBER

ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) heads to San Francisco with more than 120 courses, plus products from more than 300 manufacturers and suppliers. aslaconference.com

15 NOVEMBER Adjudication Design Advice Session (Adjudication Clinic)

This Zoom session by David Robinson MSGD will include a discussion on the adjudication process and what the SGD looks for in submitted work, followed by a review of your work. sgd.org.uk – ‘Events’

17 NOVEMBER

SGD Core CPD Digital: Planting plans and plant schedules

Sarah Morgan FSGD will lead this Zoom session for preregistered members, covering planting plans and presentation, plant schedules, suitable plant palettes, procurement and biosecurity, as well as management considerations. sgd.org.uk – ‘Events’

24 NOVEMBER LI 2022 Awards Ceremony

The Landscape Institute (LI) will celebrate projects that combat climate change, support wellbeing, promote biodiversity and ‘level up’ local spaces at its awards ceremony at Troxy in East London. landscapeinstitute.org

INTEREST IN PURSUING HORTICULTURAL CAREERS CONTINUES TO GROW

THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY (RHS) has seen a 25 per cent increase in applications to its two-year diploma in Horticultural Practice, representing nearly six times as many applicants as places, and providing a clear indication that more people want to work with nature. Horticultural Practice students undertake the

course at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey, attending lectures and masterclasses and rotating through 10 different departments as they train.

To be accepted, candidates must have worked in professional horticulture and have a minimum Level 2 Horticulture qualification. rhs.org.uk/education-learning

28 NOVEMBER

SGD CPD Digital: How to set professional design fees

In this online course, Paul Hensey FSGD will help you to calculate realistic fees, showing that a comprehensive, repeatable quotation system is critical in maintaining a healthy business. sgd.org.uk – ‘Events’

Photograph, Phillip Horwood

Photograph, RHS/Helen Yates

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON?

Emma Mazzullo FSGD and Libby Russell MSGD talk to us

about a highly technical design for a small garden they have made in west London

AWARD-WINNING LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS Emma Mazzullo FSGD and Libby Russell MSGD met while working for Arabella Lennox-Boyd MSGD, before setting up their own practice, Mazzullo + Russell Landscape Design, in 2014. The studio has since built up an enviable reputation for ‘bringing something special’ to gardens in Britain and Europe. The pair have been listed in House & Garden magazine’s Top 50 Garden Designers, and in Country Life’s 100 Best UK Designers and Emma sits on the Society of Garden Designers’ panel of adjudicators; she also acts as a mentor and provides training for members. Libby is a judge for the Royal Horticultural Society, and lectures widely on planting and garden design.

Tell us about the background to this project

The owners are clients for whom we have worked before, and when they decided to renovate a Georgian-style villa in

Kensington, they turned to us to transform the small, shady garden into an urban oasis. We were brought on board during the early stages of the project to work with the architect, Studio Indigo, and the interior designer, Todhunter Earle Interiors, to create a seamless flow from inside out.

What was your brief?

We were asked to design an intimate, elegant, low-maintenance garden that would have points of interest to look at throughout the year. It needed to complement the classical building, which has contemporary aspects, and to be suitably enticing when seen through the doors of the ground-floor kitchen-dining room. Privacy also had to be considered, as the garden is surrounded and overlooked by tall buildings.

What were the challenges of the site?

In basic terms, the garden is a 16-footdeep hole with an underground stream

Emma Mazzullo FSGD (left) and Libby Russell MSGD

A combination of shade-loving and scented planting softens and greens the formal town garden design. Raised beds were essential, to provide the pleached Quercus ilex and pair of Magnolia × loebneri ‘Merrill’ with enough soil depth and effective drainage.

running beneath it. In effect, it is a roof garden with a shallow depth of soil above a permeable flood prevention layer and in order that we could plant trees, we had to use raised planters to give them a sufficient soil depth and effective drainage. We also needed to allow for the basement foundations and the steps that connect the garden to the first floor of the house. The design was driven by these technical specifications but to create a calming, serene space, we needed to work closely with the architect to make sure cables, footings and drains could be disguised and the technical complications and stairs would not spoil the outlook.

Tell us about your design

We created a simple floor plan, with areas for seating and dining. To make it feel private, we topped the original walls with timber trellis and introduced pleached Quercus ilex at the back of the garden, to break up the high expanse of brick walling there. Two multi-stemmed Magnolia × loebneri ‘Merrill’ flank the oaks and perform a similar visual distraction while also providing seasonal interest. Climbers will eventually cover the other walls with flowers and foliage and together with the lush planting in beds that surround the paved cruciform-shaped area, they will be an evolving show of colour and texture throughout the year.

What about hard landscaping materials?

We used buff-coloured cut York stone that looks welcoming in summer and winter, and which is not easily stained. Lines of small Belgian bricks break up this expanse and from inside the house, they also help draw the eye from the kitchen to the garden seating and are a lovely decorative pattern that can be enjoyed from the upper storeys.

We painted the steps and the iron railings around the lightwell in a soft shade of green, so they merge with the planting, and used the same colour for the bench and in the kitchen, to create an overall harmonious look.

What influenced your planting choices?

Areas of the garden are quite shady so many of the plants, including the roses ‘Malvern Hills’ and ‘Claire Austin’, were chosen because they tolerate lower light conditions. To create year-round interest, we combined evergreen and deciduous species – dark green clipped yew complemented by silvery-leaved perennials such as Carex ‘Silver Sceptre’

‘IT NEEDED TO COMPLEMENT THE CLASSICAL BUILDING, WHICH HAS CONTEMPORARY ASPECTS, AND TO BE SUITABLY ENTICING WHEN SEEN THROUGH THE DOORS OF THE GROUND-FLOOR KITCHEN-DINING ROOM.’

and Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ –with spring bulbs, including Narcissus ‘Thalia’ and N. ‘Honeymoon’ and Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica. We also love camellias, which provide great value with their large spring flowers and glossy evergreen foliage. To avoid having to crane the trees over the house, we bought specimens that could be carried through the house; in our experience, younger trees also tend to suffer less stress and establish more quickly.

What kind of aftercare is needed?

We have a very reliable maintenance company that comes in once a week to monitor the irrigation and check on the plants’ health. We explain to our clients that planting a garden is just the start of the journey and a maintenance plan is essential if you want to see it grow and thrive.

mazzullorusselllandscapedesign.com

SGD AUTUMN CONFERENCE 2022

This is your final call to book tickets to the Society of Garden Designers’ ‘Natural networks’ conference in London this November

ON SATURDAY 26 NOVEMBER, at the Royal Geographical Society, opposite Hyde Park in central London, gardener and writer Val Bourne will chair proceedings at the SGD’s Autumn Conference for 2022, which will be centred around the theme of ‘Natural networks: connectivity in garden and landscape design’.

The speakers will be led by preregistered SGD members Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt, landscape designers and experts in ecological restoration who will share their thoughts on designing naturalistic landscapes.

Nature conservationist and leading proponent of green roofs and living walls in urban areas, Dusty Gedge, will draw on his extensive experience of observing and working with wildlife and designing

green infrastructures, particularly in urban environments. He will also speak about supporting the natural networks that exist between flora and fauna.

Fellow speaker, garden designer and landscape architect Ula Maria will talk about finding ways to fill genuinely small gardens with as much nature as possible, in a practical and inspirational way, and Thomas Hoblyn MSGD will focus on designing with nature for larger scale public and private landscapes, while Professor Helen Woolley, head of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Sheffield, will look at the design of children’s outdoor environments (see also page 41 of this issue).

There is a choice of tickets available so book today.

SGD

Conference chair Val Bourne (below right) and speakers Ula Maria (bottom), Dusty Gedge (bottom left), and pre-registered members Lulu Urquhart (top left) and Adam Hunt (middle). Garden by Ula Maria.

DRAWN BY

THE LAND

When SGD-registered practice McWilliam Studio was asked to design a garden for a newly built villa within a golf resort in Faro, Portugal, the team drew inspiration from the natural landscape that lies beyond the irrigated lawns and palms nearby

WORDS: Zia Allaway PHOTOGRAPHS: Marcelo Lopes

PREVIOUS PAGE: horizontal planes in stone and architecture contrast with the wilder, rugged textures of the Mediterranean planting palette.

THESE PAGES: the design turns its back on water-thirsty lawns and gardens typical of the surrounding area in favour of naturalistic and native planting in a garrigue landscape of scrub and gravel, inspired by dry stream beds typical of the wider locale. Existing pines were retained where possible, and a significant number of new trees and shrubs added, to help increase the biodiversity of the area.

It takes a visionary design team and a leap of faith by the owner to deliver a garden that breaks with convention and sets the precedent for a more sustainable approach. For awardwinning designers Gavin McWilliam MSGD and Andrew Wilson FSGD, a commission to create the landscape for a new villa, in the affluent resort of Quinta do Lago in the Algarve, provided the perfect opportunity to design such a garden, while its owner was happy to embrace the innovative proposals.

‘We worked with the owner on Breaking Ground, our show garden for the 2017 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and had already established a great rapport with him. So, when Andrew and I suggested a more creative, sustainable solution that would be very different to the lush lawns and palms that surround his newly built home in Portugal, he fully supported our decision,’ explains Gavin.

The designers toured the countryside inland and along the coast, away from the main resorts, noting the rock formations, trees and plants that make up this beautiful landscape. ‘We’ve designed sustainable schemes for dry areas in Britain and wanted to bring this ethos to the garden in Portugal, using droughttolerant native plants and echoing the regional vernacular in the stonework and landscaping. The

McWilliam Studio

McWilliam Studio is one of Britain’s leading garden and landscape design practices.

Renowned for its creativity, the studio is led by Gavin McWilliam MSGD (above, left), in collaboration with Andrew Wilson FSGD and a team of talented associates, and has won more than 40 national and international awards, including Gold at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and Golds and Best in Shows at the Singapore Garden Festival and Shenzhen Flower Show.

owner had commissioned a new Modernist-inspired villa, and our brief was to create a place of sanctuary, a retreat where he and his family could work and entertain, with views of the surrounding landscape. Our design also had to be sympathetic to the architecture of the building.’

Natural responses

Gavin and Andrew conceived a garden of screening architectural walls, reflective water and simple terraces. A path, flanked by water and a stone-clad wall on one side, leads to the house and towards tall concrete walls that frame views of the planting beyond, encouraging further exploration of the landscape that flows around the building.

Inspired by the beds of dry streams often found in the Algarve countryside, a meandering ‘river’ of gravel and boulders provides continuity and a route from the house, through the garden, to a decked retreat at the bottom of the sloping site. The house itself features roof terraces alongside the swimming pool and a sunken courtyard. The designers have also used terracing to address the level changes and create areas for entertaining that have views out to the natural landscape beyond.

‘We worked with a local landscaping company, and we discussed with them the sort of boulders we wanted to use,’ says Gavin. ‘The team there told us that locally quarried, irregular-shaped stones were of no use as walling and so were abandoned in the fields nearby. It was a great example of using local knowledge and materials that had been overlooked.

The stones were perfect for our design, and we numbered each one so that the landscapers could install them in their allocated positions.

‘We used flattened stones for the steps, larger ones to clad retention walls, and those boulders with the most character as feature elements; some of these overlap the terraces, to blur the distinction between the natural landforms and manufactured materials.’

‘WE USED FLATTENED STONES FOR THE STEPS, LARGER ONES TO CLAD RETENTION WALLS, AND THOSE BOULDERS WITH THE MOST CHARACTER AS FEATURE ELEMENTS.’

THESE PAGES: the main route from the nearby road to the house was previously a drive surrounded by sloping lawns. Now, reflecting pools, stone-faced retaining and rendered, free-standing walls and dry gravel planting create privacy and frame views.

WHO’S WHO

Landscape design McWilliam Studio, mcwilliamstudio.com

Architect Vasco Vieira Arquitectos, vascovieiraarquitectos.com

Main contractor Iberia

Quality Master Builder, iberiaconstructions.com

Landscape contractor Bloom Landscaping, bloomlandscaping.pt

Trees and key shrubs

Deepdale Trees, deepdale-trees.co.uk

Perennials and grasses sourced by Bloom Landscaping, bloomlandscaping.pt

Lighting London Lightworks, londonlight.works

Random planting creates naturalistic compositions which, with the boulders, some used as steps, invite closer inspection and offer a choice of routes through the garden.

Plant fusion

The planting in the garden mirrors the local flora, albeit augmented with drought-tolerant flowering species to provide colourful highlights.

Existing pines were retained where possible and supplemented with new trees and shrubs, many native to the Algarve. A series of Cupressus sempervirens creates vertical accents throughout, while Quercus suber, Tamarix ramosissima , Arbutus unedo and Ziziphus jujuba all offer shade.

‘Grasses such as Stipa barbata , S. tenuissim a and S. calamagrostis deliver texture and movement,’ says Gavin, ‘while perennials and bulbs, including Gaura , Agapanthus ‘Loch Hope’, and Romneya coulteri , inject flower interest as well as supporting pollinators.’

The project was not without its challenges. Thanks to the pandemic, the installation and plant placement that the team normally does on site had to be carried out remotely. Gavin adds: ‘Planning regulations in Portugal are not straightforward, and sensitive negotiations and local expertise were needed to get approval.

‘Plant acquisition was also a challenge,’ he continues. ‘The native trees we wanted are not available in Portuguese nurseries because no one grows them in gardens there, so we turned to Deepdale Trees for help and the trees were sourced in Italy.

‘Between lockdowns, we managed to make a trip to Pistoia, to tag trees that we found at the town’s quirky little nurseries. Deepdale Trees then set up a brand-new supply chain from Italy to Portugal. It was a learning curve for everyone but, amazingly, it all worked out in the end, even though I only saw the completed garden for the first time in spring this year.’

Having the full support of the owner, the landscape contractor and the housebuilder played a large part in helping to lessen the pressure created by all these challenges. ‘Bloom Landscaping was brilliant and really embraced the new design ethos,’ says Gavin. ‘They sent hundreds of images during the installation, which we marked up there and then and returned within minutes. It extended the process, of course, but not by that much, and we pioneered a new way of working. Bloom Landscaping is also providing the aftercare for the garden.’

As for the owner, all the hard work put in by the team, at home and abroad, is clearly appreciated. ‘Our brief to McWilliam Studio was to create a Gold medal-winning garden in Quinta do Lago, which has been achieved with huge aplomb,’ he says. ‘There are spaces of pure tranquility and privacy that are true works of art.’

‘PLANNING REGULATIONS IN PORTUGAL ARE NOT STRAIGHTFORWARD, AND SENSITIVE NEGOTIATIONS AND LOCAL EXPERTISE WERE NEEDED TO GET APPROVAL.’

DESIGNER NOTES

The design challenges of McWilliam Studio’s Quinta do Lago garden can be applied to projects in Britain and elsewhere overseas, says Gavin McWilliam MSGD, and he offers the following advice:

• Look to the wider landscape, towns, villages and to the area’s past history for design inspiration;

• Use local expertise and knowledge to negotiate planning permissions;

• Employ a local landscaping company that can offer advice on sourcing plants and materials, and visit projects that it has already built;

• Use plants suited to the soil and site conditions. Irrigation should only be necessary until they are established;

• Be flexible: McWilliam Studio wanted almond trees for the garden featured on these pages, but when no Prunus dulcis were available, the designers used beautiful Tamarix ramosissima specimens instead; and

• Try to agree an aftercare schedule with the clients at the start of the project.

PRIVATE SANCTUARY

‘Architectural gardens create a union between the land and home, the indoors and outdoors, the natural and constructed,’ says landscape designer Mike Lucas, of California-based Lucas & Lucas. Here, he explains how the land and his observations of native plants have guided his design for this small garden in Sonoma, California.

WORDS: Thad Orr and Mike Lucas PHOTOGRAPHS: Caitlin Atkinson and Marion Brenner

When Mike Lucas was commissioned to develop the site plan and landscape for this home in Sonoma, California, the property, where an old pear orchard had once stood, was overgrown and dilapidated. Barbed wire fences were strewn throughout the site. Coyote brush, poison oak, and tall grasses choked off access to much of the six-acre property’s ephemeral streams, majestic oak trees, towering eucalyptus groves and seasonal ponds, along with the wildlife they attracted. ‘It had that abandoned ghost-town feel but I could tell that there were beautiful features hidden within,’ says Mike. Though the owners had already enlisted the services of an architect, the design process was in its infancy when Mike came on board, and he was able to collaborate with both before a plan for the house was developed. He incorporated all of the owners’ wishes – mainly, a relaxing space in which to dine and entertain outdoors – and addressed the site’s major challenges, including brutal winds, a nearby road, and well water with high levels of boron. Mike’s design team found inspiration in the local Mission San Francisco Solano, where courtyard walls provide refuge from the elements. The homeowners and designers also incorporated aspects of the mission’s spare aesthetic into the home’s design. Architectural elements such as the tower, courtyard walls and shade structure punctuate the otherwise

flat site. ‘These features create focal points for outdoor entryways and spaces in which to entertain,’ Mike explains. ‘Trees were the only vertical visual elements on the otherwise flat site.’

Among those mature trees are large groves of drought- and boron-tolerant Australian eucalyptus, which serve as a cornerstone of the planting plan outside the courtyard walls. ‘The trees bring scale and age to the land,’ says Mike. ‘They have a wonderful ambience with their beautiful shapes and the way they catch the light.’ The driveway gate is tucked into a stand of eucalyptus trees. ‘The trees set the tone for what’s to come,’ Mike adds. Along the approach to the mission-inspired home, most of the plants are also Australian and boron-tolerant: ‘Orange Cross’ kangaroo paw, lomandra, acacia, peppermint tree, bottlebrush, and coast rosemary.

Other selections were planted in clusters or as individual specimens strategically placed to obscure the road. They also hid the water tanks that store potable water, which is used in the house and for boron-sensitive plantings in the courtyard.

Outside the courtyard walls, Mike selected plants for their resilience and durability. Inside the courtyard, he created a green oasis. ‘My favourite moment in this garden is opening the courtyard door,’ he says. ‘When you step in from that arid landscape, you’re greeted by the sound of water spilling from a reflection pool. Plantings are lusher than those outside the walls and in richer shades of green. It’s quiet and tranquil.’

In addition to a flowing fountain and soft greenery, the courtyard also has a firepit that provides warmth, a pergola that offers shade, and strategically placed plants that give off fragrance. Simple gravel paths lead through verdant stands of agapanthus. Sweetsmelling groups of jasmine line walkways. Mock orange adds a citrus scent. A ‘Mission’ fig tucked into the corner of the courtyard produces ample fruit for the summer harvest. ‘The environment inside the courtyard delights the senses, and its simplicity is visually calming,’ Mike explains.

The development of the courtyard started with its walls. Mike opted for eight-foot-tall walls, rather than the six-foot standard, to block the wind, to minimise much of the noise from the nearby road, and to obscure less-than-ideal views. Since the property lacks views typically available on hillside properties, Mike decided to make his own. From inside the courtyard, glimpses of eucalyptus trees and distant hills catch the eye with no road or neighbours in sight. Mike often uses plants to accentuate a focal point. In the courtyard, he grew Boston ivy up the walls – layers of green – making it easier to focus on trees and hills beyond.

DELIGHTING THE SENSES

Fill the space with fragrance which, like the sound of water, can imbue a place with a sense of serenity. I try to incorporate fragrant plants into most gardens, and this courtyard was no exception. Osmanthus fragrans, Sarcococca ruscifolia, mock orange and roses fill the space – along paths and in the dining areas – with wonderful scents throughout the seasons.

The long water feature (pictured above) acts as a reflection pool, bringing the trees, sky, and sunlight into the courtyard. Creating connections between that space and the garden outside was a top design priority.

To reduce a potential sense of claustrophobia, he cut two roughly eight foot by four foot windows into the large walls. These windows frame stunning vista of the landscape beyond, highlighting hills and trees, flowers in bloom, or plants with particularly gorgeous forms, such as agaves. The windows were fitted with rolling shutters so that the owners can close them when desired.

The courtyard is divided into open-air rooms; some are elevated to the level of the house (about two feet above the ground), while others are at grade. Elevated patios surround the L-shaped house, from which the homeowners can easily access the kitchen and two

‘YOU CAN’T VISIT A PROPERTY ONCE, SIT DOWN AT THE DESK, AND COME UP WITH THIS TYPE OF DESIGN,’ SAYS MIKE. ‘THE LANDSCAPE HAS TO EVOLVE WITH THE BUILDING. THAT’S THE TRUE MAGIC.’

THINKING ABOUT WALL COVERINGS

of the bedrooms. These patios are raised a few feet above the courtyard, creating slight but impactful topographical changes within it. Intimate outdoor spaces – such as the dining area that sits beneath a pergola, and the firepit with built-in seating – lie in the far corner and act as principal gathering spots.

Mike uses plants and landscape elements to draw people out of the house and into the landscape. Visible through a breezeway towards the back of the house is a linear walkway lined with ornamental pear trees and jasmine ground cover, which leads to a large bowl-shaped fountain. ‘It was important to get people to the “back forty”, as the owners call it,’ says Mike. ‘It’s so magical back there, where the old pear orchard once stood, with the hawks flying overhead, the sun streaming through the oaks, quail scurrying across the ground, and seasonal streams, ponds, and frogs.’

Beyond the allée of pear trees and fountain is a 12-foot-wide, mulch-covered pathway that leads through oaks and groups of eucalyptus trees. ‘Nearly every weekend throughout the construction process,

MIKE LUCAS ON CREATING LANDSCAPE WINDOWS

Due to regular afternoon winds and the noise of a nearby road, the owner wanted an enclosed space for dining, mingling, and cooking outdoors. To maintain a visual connection between the courtyard space and the landscape, windows and doors were punched through the walls to frame the view, which incorporates a Weber agave surrounded by orangeflowering kniphofias and purple-flowering Salvia ‘Mesa Azure’. Old-fashioned rolling shutters are deployed when the winds get too intense. The doors align with walkways that cross the courtyard and extend views into the greater landscape.

the owners were out there clearing the path by hand,’ says Mike. It is now a walking trail that the owners use regularly (the wood chips were generated from their clearing efforts). They can observe wildlife while they stroll, and there are also a few places to sit and relax: an enormous bench made from a fallen eucalyptus tree and large stone slabs that surround a firepit.

Mike believes that the best designs come from thoroughly exploring the land as a team –the homeowner, architect, and landscape architect. He enjoys figuring out the important concepts together: how will the home fit on the property? Where will those special moments take place? What is the most exhilarating way to drive onto the property or approach the front door? What are the best views?

‘You can’t visit a property once, sit down at the desk, and come up with this type of design,’ says Mike. ‘The landscape has to evolve with the building. That’s the true magic.’

To allow for large windows, the wall height was set at eight feet, which provided enough space around the window for structural support. During the design process, the owners, as well as their friends and family, were sceptical about the height. We had regular discussions during which I explained my intent of avoiding the experience of a six-foot fence, which would be too easy to see over and would not block wind or noise well.

We mocked up the size of the wall with string, to provide a visual. After some discussion, the owners, although still unsure, decided to trust me and go with the eight-foot walls and large windows. They have been a hit ever since.

lucas-lucas.com

Taken from: Architectural Gardens: Inside the Landscapes of Lucas & Lucas by Thad Orr and Mike Lucas, with photographs by Caitlin Atkinson and Marion Brenner (PA Press, £40).

Soften walls with lush vines to connect structures to the garden. The interior walls of the courtyard are covered in Boston ivy to minimise the visual impact of their eight-foot height while ensuring that they blend into the landscape. Conversely, the courtyard’s exterior walls (pictured opposite) are covered with white plaster to match the exterior of the house. This creates a juxtaposition between the tough exterior of the home with the soft interior of the courtyard.

Applications for apartments within this eco-apartment building – named Flores and designed by Klunder Architecten, with an artwork by MVRDV, Arttenders and artist Alex Verhaest – are already hugely oversubscribed by hopefuls wishing to purchase a home overlooking the trees and planting at the Floriade site and the inland lake. The cable car gave visitors an eagle’s-eye view of the expo.

FLORIADE’S FINEST

The world’s largest horticultural expo closed its doors this October, bringing to an end a dazzling six-month show featuring eco-friendly garden designs, horticultural innovations and sustainable building materials and techniques. Gardening writer Zia Allaway and photographer Brian North pick out some favourite features

FROM TOP: Inspired by Van Gogh’s paintings and made from recycled steel, this seat with integrated plant boxes provided a place on which to rest in the Treeport Zundert show garden.

In this pavilion, designed by Arc2 architecten for the Shades of Nature show garden, walls made from jars filled with textile dyes created a stained-glass effect.

The textured, odourless wall surrounding this lavatory was made with processed human waste.

This year, Floriade was in Almere, the Netherlands’ newest city, which sits 10 feet below sea level, on a glittering inland lake that lies about 19 miles east of Amsterdam. The theme was Growing Green Cities and the masterplan, by architect MVRDV, promised to do just that; now that the show’s doors have closed, the area will be transformed into a green, car-free residential area known as Hortus, and the goal is to make it a pioneering energy- and food-producing city district.

Covering 148 acres, Floriade gave the Dutch and international horticulture industries a platform on which to showcase their plants and new technologies. At the entrance to this year’s show, a vast greenhouse inspired by the design of Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace in London was packed with unusual houseplants, stylish room sets showing visitors how to display them, and an exhibition of Netherland’s latest crop cultivation techniques.

Around the site

Outside, the showground was arranged around an arboretum, designed by Winy Maas, landscape architect, co-founder and principal architect at MRVDV, with trees set out in a grid system of small streets. During Floriade, the streets were lined with gardens and sustainable building exhibits but in time, these will be replaced by eco-homes.

The site was divided into four main areas. In the Urban District, visitors could learn about new building methods and materials and view internationally designed gardens. Hortus Avenue, meanwhile, was flanked by colourful flower displays and show gardens, while Green Island was where visitors could enjoy more show gardens, craft stalls and a woodland walk. Last, but not least, there was Utopia Island, which featured exhibits that explored sustainable farming methods such as agro-forestry, which sees trees and shrubs grown alongside crops.

Once every 10 years, the Dutch horticultural industry – together with an international cast of landscape and garden designers, architects, inventors and innovators – gathers to present

Floriade, the world’s largest horticultural expo.

Cities in the Netherlands compete to host the six-month event, eager to reap the rewards, which include a bonanza of tourism and cultural opportunities as people arrive from all over Europe and beyond, to soak up the spectacle.

Long-term goals

The legacy of each Floriade is woven into a longerterm plan, too, offering the host city a new naturebased recreational facility, as well as eco-homes and infrastructure to support the local community.

Broad range of thought The international exhibits were eclectic in nature, ranging from Germany’s solutions for green cities of the future in ‘Biotopia – Growing Community’, to Qatar’s ‘Desert Nest’, which explored groundbreaking research into edible plants that will grow in the UEA’s salt-laden waters. A Chinese garden showcased the versatility of bamboo, and a pavilion and garden revealed the rich plant life and agriculture of Surinam.

The buildings and structures on display also offered a wealth of inspiration for architects and garden designers. The modular Dutch Innovation Experience building, for instance, was created from 95 per cent bio-based materials, including timber, straw, reeds, rubber, Typha (bulrushes), paprika stems and mycelium, with leather made from the pulp of discarded mangoes and box-floor tiles containing vegetables. Other sustainable features included walls made from human waste in the Exploded View Beyond Building, a bridge built with flax and bio-resin (see Round Up, in the October 2022 issue of Garden Design Journal), and the new generation of solar

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP:

An intricately woven bamboo pergola welcomed visitors to the Chinese flower garden.

The new university building on the Floriade site was insulated with a green wall and topped with state-of-the-art solar panels.

The Wonderful World of Water and Trees offered a calming, leafy retreat on Green Island.

A mobile flowerbed with a seat, made of Corten steel and designed by Streetlife, created a focal point in Boot & Dart Group and Partners’ show garden.

The multi-functional, modular timber Dutch Innovation Experience building showcased leather made from mangoes and floor tiles containing vegetables.

panels and a green wall covering the surfaces of the Aeres University of Applied Sciences, nicknamed The Green Lung.

Elsewhere, the sensual, curved Shades of Nature pavilion highlighted the need for a more sustainable textile industry. Clad with rolls of recycled fabrics to create an ‘eye’ motif on one side, its other wall was made from glass bottles filled with natural dyes that produced a striking stained-glass window effect. The sculptural seating at Treeport Zundert, inspired by Van Gogh’s paintings, also drew in the crowds with its panels of colourful recycled steel. The garden showcased sustainable building solutions such as heat storage in the soil, green roofs and water conservation.

Designer gardens

Show garden highlights included a design in Hortus Avenue for Europarcs by Stefano Marinaz MSGD. His leafy glade (featured in the March 2022 issue of Garden Design Journal), with its colourful flower borders, portrayed present and future visions for holiday parks, with pines, birches, Zelkova and Gymnocladus dioicus trees offering a cool escape from the blistering summer heat. The Boot & Dart Group and Partners’ garden, which was also in Hortus Avenue, showcased drought-tolerant flowering perennials and shrubs, and a stylish mobile planter in Corten steel, with a bench made from recycled plastic and clothing textiles, designed by Streetlife.

The Wonderful World of Water and Trees, a naturalistic garden by Boomkwekerij Ebben & VIC Landscapes featuring wildflowers, willows and a stream, was among the best designs on Green Island, but some of the other gardens were disappointing, let down by pedestrian design and swathes of uniform planting that had just one flowering season and looked tired and neglected on a visit in August. Much of the planting at the show had suffered to some degree in the record-breaking temperatures, of course, but where shade-lovers had been set out in full sun, their scorched leaves could have been predicted.

Delivering a show garden that looks good from April to October is a challenge for any designer, but as Stefano pointed out, it is just the same as creating a permanent garden requiring year-round interest.

Look ahead now

Overall, this year’s edition of Floriade had much to inspire visitors, especially with regard to sustainable architecture and new plant-based materials. The colourful bedding schemes along Hortus Avenue and eight gardens in the Classics & Future Moments by Dutch designers, showcased some clever planting ideas too but aside from the design by Stefano and a handful of others, many lacked the ‘wow’ factor. Where, too, was the British contingent, renowned for its world-class garden and landscape design? Having also visited the two shows prior to this one, a British design presence has been notable by its absence each time, a hole that perhaps more members of the Society of Garden Designers could help to remedy at the next edition, in 2032. floriade.com

Judith, by Adrian Gray, in a small garden setting. Adrian’s unique stone-balanced pieces range from £750 to £4,500; stonebalancing.com.

FOCUS ON SCULPTURE FOR SMALL GARDENS

Expert advice on selecting, positioning and installing the right pieces in diminutive plots, for maximum impact

‘ WANDER ROUND THE GARDEN ALONE . Let the sculptures look at you and they’ll speak to you,’ artist Barbara Hepworth used to say to her guests as they stepped into her garden-studio in St Ives, Cornwall. She understood the unique and powerful draw of sculpture, especially in the intimate setting of a domestic garden.

Suffolk-based garden designer Sue Townsend MSGD agrees: ‘The benefits of sculpture for the small garden are immense. They can act as a focal point

or be an unexpected hidden treat tucked away in a corner, waiting to be discovered. In the winter, when many plants are dormant, they can bring interest – and they can also be subtly lit up at night to add another dimension.’

Sculptural allure Sculpture can serve many purposes, from enhancing the planting and diverting the attention from lessattractive features, to adding depth, reflection, light, shadow-play and

night-time appeal. Kinetic pieces even add movement.

For Adrian Gray, pioneer of stonebalancing art pieces: ‘A sculpture is a talking point. It can be an expression of the owner’s personality, a thing chosen and loved. It can be a continuation or a counterpoint to a garden’s character or mood. It sets up dialogue with the landscape and the planting. A sculpture can also be used to commemorate an important event and to trigger happy memories.’

Photograph, Adrian Gray

WORDS: Claire Masset

THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Quill (left) and Bite (right) by David Harber within schemes by Sarah Naybour SGD Friend. Prices for Quill start at £7,453, and £20,113 for Bite; davidharber.co.uk.

Flora, by Steel Sculptures, nestling in loose planting in a garden designed by Sue Townsend MSGD; gardensteelsculptures.uk; suetownsendgardendesign.co.uk.

Sarah Naybour’s design for this small garden in Oxford was created with the garden owner’s existing pieces of sculpture very much in mind; sarahnaybour.co.uk.

Location, location

Clearly, there are many advantages to introducing sculpture into a garden, but are there any drawbacks to doing this?

James Scott MSGD, of The Garden Company, says: ‘Common pitfalls relate to a piece’s style, location, size and scale.’ He recommends trying out different shapes and sizes in the proposed location(s), by using a template of similar dimensions to the desired sculpture(s).

‘When choosing the site,’ he continues, ‘it’s important to recognise the difference

between placing the sculpture in a dominant position, or one where it harmonises and blends with the flow of the garden. Either of these can work. Consider whether there needs to be an all-round view of the piece, or from the front only. To avoid costly mistakes, check how the sculpture looks from different viewpoints before deciding on a final position.’

Think of the height of the piece, too, and whether a pedestal might be needed to set it at eye level. Also important are

material and colour. How will the sculpture be offset by the planting, hard landscaping or house? Some sculptures look better with a plain backdrop, such as a hedge or wall, where the light can cast shadows. Others might be better seen among loose planting, or dramatically set against sculptural plants.

Making the right choice

The range of options when it comes to sculpture varies considerably, both in style – whether abstract or representational, solid or see-through – and materials, ranging from wood, stone, bronze, copper, wire, steel (including reflective pieces in mirror-polished steel such as those by David Harber) and even glass.

For the less expensive options, off-the-shelf (such as Chilstone and A Place in the Garden) or salvaged pieces (Lassco, Three Pigeons, Holloways) are often the most obvious route, but some

Photographs above, Sarah Naybour

Photograph: Sue Townsend

clients prefer to pay a bit extra for a unique work of art to grace their plot.

Oxford-based designer and SGD Friend Sarah Naybour says: ‘Garden sculpture can be expensive – the best examples are –but I would always encourage a client to invest if they can. The biennial ‘On Form’ exhibition (onformsculpture.co.uk) at Asthall Manor in West Oxfordshire is great for stone and wood pieces. They vary in size and price – about £2,000 and upwards – and are thoughtfully placed in the garden and wider landscape at Asthall, which gives clients a chance to visualise how they could be used in their own garden.’

Increasingly, clients are keen to ensure that what they acquire is environmentally sound. ‘We avoid materials with a high carbon footprint,’ says James. Instead, ‘We rely largely on recycled steel and natural stone, and we also make sure our stone suppliers source their stone ethically. When designing bespoke sculptures, we do so with vernacular

Bespoke sculpture and planting by James Scott MSGD, of The Garden Company, thegardenco.co.uk.

materials in mind. This enables us to “take advantage” of local resources where possible, which are relatively energy efficient and sustainable.’

Installation and upkeep Sculptures can be heavy and delicate. You may be able to install smaller pieces by hand, but larger ones are likely to require equipment and specialist help. ‘My small garden sculptures are installed by hand using just a sack truck,’ says Adrian. ‘The bases are discreetly hidden under turf or earth so they seem natural when in situ.’

‘It’s important to consider security and safety measures,’ adds James. ‘Sculptures may be provided with welded security rings or sub-frames and base plates, which can be buried or bolted in.’

So long as it has been made for outdoor use, maintenance, he adds, is not usually a big factor. A stone sculpture will simply require regular spraying or rinsing with water, so that dirt or debris does not build up on any surfaces. Metal sculptures may require cleaning with soap and water, but not too often.

Photograph, James Scott

BRINGING NATURE INTO PLAY

Ahead of the Society of Garden Designers’ Autumn Conference, with its theme of ‘natural networks’, Jackie Herald MSGD talks to one of the speakers, Professor Helen Woolley , about her research into creating playscapes for children

‘ AFFORDANCE THEORY ’, the concept of using space for a purpose other than that for which it was originally designed, underpins much of Professor Helen Woolley’s research into people’s use of urban open spaces, and into children’s activities and perceptions of city centres in particular.

Her work is inspired in no small way, she says, by her own childhood experience of growing up among the tree-lined roads and with access to open play spaces in Bournville, the model village built in Birmingham in 1879 by George Cadbury and George H Gadd for employees of the Cadbury factory and their families. She has since practised as a landscape architect in both the private and public sectors, and today she leads the University of Sheffield’s Department of Landscape Architecture.

Children have a natural gift for repurposing space to fit their own uses, says Helen. Skateboarders, for instance, adopt found spaces as challenging playgrounds and places where they can socialise with like-minded souls.

As well as considering the possibilities of creativity and adventure that such found sites afford, Helen also analyses the shortcomings and restrictions of these spaces.

The desire to control behaviour in public open spaces, to impose boundaries on what children can or should not do, is often an adult impulse,

HELEN WOOLLEY is Professor of Landscape Architecture, Children’s Environments and Society at the University of Sheffield. Her interests lie in people and their everyday use of green and open spaces, and in issues around designing, planning and managing these areas at different scales. Most recently, Helen has studied the effects of Japan’s Triple Disaster (earthquake, tsunami and economic meltdown in 2011) on children’s outdoor play spaces, and the constructed and found spaces of play in a refugee camp in Jordan. She also has a group of PhD students studying ‘Growing Up in China’ in the context of rapid urbanisation during the last 50 years.

Helen says. Many parents today, she continues, morally panicked and fearful of strangers, drugs, bullying, dogs and traffic, underestimate children’s ability to manage their own safety.

Kit, fence and carpet

There are also other factors which appear to be influencing children’s use of open spaces: the preponderance of television and computer games, and an increase in the development of what Helen calls ‘the kit, fence and carpet’ approach to playgrounds; it is an approach that is increasingly used in ‘stay and play’ centres, in theme parks, in pubs with annexes for soft play and, unfortunately, in many public parks, children’s nurseries and school playgrounds too.

Of course, says Helen, as well as addressing safety in terms of Health and Safety, making it possible for parents and carers to keep an eye on children of all ages and abilities as they play and interact with each other must also be considered, and designs should include plenty of seating for both adults and children. However, Helen bemoans the depressing quality of commercial, one-stop-shop, flat, unnaturally coloured, rubber-crumbed surfaces that are peppered with over-prescribed play structures, and not a plant in sight.

Playgrounds such as these leave little room for the imagination, and they score

FIRST PRINCIPLES FOR SUCCESSFUL PLAY SPACE DESIGN

• Be playful. There is no end to children’s imagination. The most effective designs incorporate open-ended and various sensory structures and features that are adaptable to different individuals and groups;

• work with the natural and existing features of the site – the landscape, vegetation, natural elements and loose parts – and use designated playground equipment within that context;

• focus on ability and possibility. Instead of defining play spaces by age, first consider children’s various physical, emotional, and social needs. This will result in spaces that everyone can enjoy;

• make sure there is space for running, jumping and moving around freely, as individuals or in groups, alongside some fixed equipment or features;

• the best sites include a range of vegetation and materials that are visually stimulating, and which encourage exploration, play and discovery;

• published guidance on effective landscape design for play focuses on public spaces, be they streets, recreation grounds, community gardens or parks. The principles of good practice, however, can easily be adapted to work in other environments such as small family gardens and school playgrounds.

poorly on her assessment criteria for good play space design, criteria that Helen and one of her postgraduate students, Alison Lowe, developed in 2013 following a detailed exploration of the link between the design approach and the play value of outdoor play spaces in their paper, ‘Exploring the relationship between design approach and play value of outdoor play spaces’.

The evaluation tool is practical and can be applied to almost any garden or landscape project. It enables users to identify different types of play –constructive, functional, fantasy, social, or games with rules? – and with the help of the Site Observation Sheet, to assess the area in question: is it enticing, stimulating, challenging, or inclusive, and does it offer learning opportunities?

‘IT MUST BE INCLUSIVE TOO. A SLIDE IS A GOOD EXAMPLE; ON A FUNCTIONAL LEVEL, IT HELPS TO DEVELOP A CHILD’S MOTOR SKILLS BUT MAKE SURE IT’S A DOUBLE SLIDE.’

THIS PAGE FROM TOP: Bournville village

green, part of Helen’s daily walk to school.

A typical ‘Kit, fence carpet’ playground.

OPPOSITE: A ‘Living with Nature’ play space.

Photographs, Helen Woolley

Designers can also record the available range of materials and surfaces and gauge which are fully engaging, and which can be manipulated; referring to the classic play feature, a sandpit used for making mud pies and castles, Helen draws attention to the fact that water and sand used to be categorised together. In the evaluation tool, they are classified separately, and a play space ranked as ‘Excellent’ value will have access to water, and to sand in several

forms and locations, and be suitable for different play purposes and effects.

The evaluation tool is not perfect, says Helen. However, she continues, it has been adopted by designers around the world. ‘I get the impression that some playground companies think I’m antiequipment,’ she adds, ‘but that’s not the case. The tool specifies that a play space deemed to offer excellent play value should have a range of fixed play structures and more open spaces with a variety of vegetation.

‘It must be inclusive too. A slide is a good example; on a functional level, it helps to develop a child’s motor skills but make sure it’s a double slide,’ says Helen. ‘That will allow a younger child, or a child with an impairment, to use it at the same time and with the support and encouragement of a sibling or best friend.’

Professor Woolley is a key speaker at the Society of Garden Designers’ Autumn Conference on Saturday 26 November. For more details and how to book tickets, turn to page 19.

USEFUL RESOURCES

The following guides to designing outdoor spaces for children were published in 2008 but are still valid and recommended by Helen Woolley:

Design for play: a guide to creating successful play spaces, Play England (2008), bl.uk/collectionitems/design-for-play-a-guide-tocreating-successful-play-spaces; links to play-related organisations and other publications

Exploring the relationship between design approach and play value of outdoor play spaces, H. Woolley and A. Lowe, 2013, tandfonline.com

Managing risk in play provision (2nd edition 2012), Play Safety Forum, playsafetyforum. wordpress.com/resources/; includes the Play Safety Forum’s Risk Benefit Assessment form

ON THE SPOT

Ross Allan MSGD shares his thoughts and experiences of garden design with pre-registered member Tabitha Rigden

QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS

Favourite self-created design detail?

Fence posts constructed from a box section steel skeleton clad in timber; it has saved countless boundary fences from the inevitable degradation that results in replacement every 10 to 15 years.

Go-to planting combination?

Erigeron karvinskianus, Teucrium lucidrys, Myrrhis odorata, Anemanthele lessoniana, Euphorbia stygiana, and climbers Rosa

An Arts and Crafts-inspired garden that Ross Allan (pictured) designed for a house in Effingham in Surrey. The section shown was designed in 2016, in memory of the garden owner’s wife.

Why garden design?

My childhood was spent with progressivethinking parents who would gather seeds while on day trips to arboretums, and who made me aware of the delicate nature of our existence on this planet and of our obligation to leave it in a better condition than we found it.

Most challenging career aspect so far?

Managing outside influences. The essence of my designs can sometimes be diluted or lost altogether when clients allow themselves to be distracted by the opinions of hobby-gardening friends, or by over-zealous and ill-considered input from professionals in other industries.

Recent inspiration?

Charles Dowding’s ‘No Dig’ advocacy.

After 22 years spent battling invasive weed species, with seasonal, backbreaking spurts of activity to stay on top of our family allotment, Dowding has cleared the mist for me.

Does your work have a specific theme?

If there is one constant, it would be advocating the implementation of underground rainwater-harvesting tanks to collect grey water from bathrooms, terraces and roofs, for irrigating in times of peak demand.

Industry issues of concern?

The acute lack of skilled labour within the garden aftercare sector. It seems more

people are becoming garden designers, but there is a dire shortage of bright and energetic minds being trained in the longer-term stewardship of gardens, so they can be taken forward with the same objectives as the designer intended. Training should be treated like a traditional apprenticeship, with coursework, evaluations and a system of accreditation that is universally recognised and appropriately renumerated.

Top tips for new designers?

Work in a nursery or with a garden maintenance company for 12 months, to understand the ‘coal-face’ of the horticultural industry.

ROSS ALLAN

MSGD grew up in New Zealand and studied agriculture at Lincoln University in Lincoln, NZ, with the intention of taking over his family’s farm there. A change of heart and a decision to follow career opportunities in horticulture instead led him to the Americas, Africa and the Middle East before he settled in London and set up his own garden design practice in Barnes, south-west London, in 1992. rossallandesigns.com

‘The Generous Gardener’ and Clematis ‘Perle d’Azur’. This border combination offers perfume, leaf and colour contrast with compatible and easyto-manage, year-round interest.

Go-to design book? Dreamscapes, by Claire Takacs.

Must-see garden?

Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage in Dungeness, Kent.

Most successful networking tip? Ask engaging questions and listen like your life depends on it.

Top SGD membership benefit?

The forums, awards ceremonies and conferences allow us to immerse ourselves in the group collective.

SGD Awards?

I am the greatest procrastinator and keep delaying, but I will be submitting a garden within the next 12 to 18 months.

How often do you update your website?

I review the format every five to eight years, and the content every three to five years.

Photographs, Ross Allan

TECHNICAL TOOLS UPDATE

With Vectorworks Landmark 2023 software about to go live, product planner Katarina Ollikainen takes us on a whistlestop tour of its headline new features

Iam always excited when a new version of Vectorworks Landmark is launched but this year, it feels particularly special. Indeed, the latest version of the software, launched this November, has so many new features, it is quite difficult to know where to begin when talking about them.

Hedges

I will start with the new softscape tools. We now have one called Hedgerow, which allows you to add mixed and/or single species hedges to your design. The tool is incredibly easy to use; you can specify the hedge in plants per linear metre, which means you can draw in your hedging at mature width and height without the quantities being changed. If you add the hedge to a site model, it will automatically be translated into the site model surface and the single 3D block hedgerow will appear as an illustration. The feature will also enable you to measure the

biodiversity value of the hedging as a single object; this can be represented in a BIM environment, making the IFC export file very clean and easy to work with.

Editing the hedgerow line is also extremely easy, with a reshape tool that can adjust the centre line or change the Vertex modes.

Plants

Another new softscape feature is Laubwerk Plants. Software design studio Laubwerk creates high-quality 3D mesh plant models and it is now possible to use the studio’s Plants Kit extension in Vectorworks. Better still, you can add the plants to your existing ‘plant styles’.

We have also added a huge library of trees, which is free to access with your Landmark version of Vectorworks.

The trees come in several levels of detail, as well as seasons, so you can now work with a proxy version of the trees until it is time to mark up the final illustrations.

At that point, you would switch to high-level detail using a single global command, although I prefer to use the proxy plants for almost everything. You can also render them in hidden line, which is perfect for sections and elevations.

Modes and Commands

The site model and site modifer tools are not new to Landmark, but for the 2023 version they have been reworked so that saving updates is now much faster, which will vastly improve your workflow. There are also many new opportunities:

Site modifers

• The site modifiers are now best friends; they can touch without conflicting with each other and they can also overlap, so you can manipulate the surface in different ways;

• You can place one grade limit – or zone – inside another, which is incredibly useful when you need to protect areas

Site modifiers can now sit next to each other, and grade limits placed one inside another.

BELOW: a geo-location can now be set up using cartesian co-ordinates.

of the site from elevation changes –the protection zone around trees, for example;

• There are also two new modes for the site modifiers: Pathway and Aligned. The former has two separate modes, but both function in the same way when drawn. If you create a path, for example, you can adjust its longitudinal and transverse profiles as you wish. The Aligned mode does as its name indicates: it allows you to create site modifiers that automatically align to the elevations of other site modifiers, for a smooth transition. The Hardscape tool has the same mode; and

• You also now have a new way to control contours. You can isolate an area on the site model and then go in and specify precisely how the contours should be placed, which is especially useful for tricky areas.

Site modelling

• The ‘Send to Surface’ command within the site modelling feature has been improved. Now, not only can you apply multiple objects to the surface of the site model, they can also be added to the surface of Hardscape and Landscape areas. This may sound like a small detail, but it makes the exact placing of objects such as light fittings a doddle to do – no more adjusting for paving thickness by hand.

The final thing I want to bring to your attention is the improved set up for geo-referencing. It is, of course, vital for a designer to be able to work as closely as possible to any CAD software’s internal point of origin. This can be a bit complicated to set up, especially if you are working with both cartesian coordinates (X and Y) and geo-location

(latitude and longitude). In Landmark 2023, we have introduced a simpler way to specify the internal origin with either EPSG, WGS-84, or cartesian co-ordinates that link to the geographic information system (GIS) stake (which is a marker that links to the co-ordinates of the spot on which it is placed).

Future features

We have recently begun a deep review of all of Vectorwork’s existing features, to streamline them more closely with the needs of the landscape and garden design industry. If you have any ideas or suggestions which you would like to see included, be they entirely new features or improved versions of existing ones, please visit our public roadmap: vectorworks.net/en-US/public-roadmap. vectorworks.net/en-GB

ABOVE: hedgerows can now be shown with a mature width and height, without affecting plant quantities.

Landscapes can be illustrated using the newly integrated Laubwerk Plants feature.

The Hedgerow tool adapts to fit the site model automatically.

ROUND UP

GARDENING IN A CHANGING WORLD: PLANTS, PEOPLE AND THE CLIMATE CRISIS

THE PREMISE of this book is simple. To avert further climate crisis and biodiversity loss, we need to rethink our relationship with plants. Taking a multi-disciplinary approach, awardwinning garden, landscape designer and pre-registered member of the Society of Garden Designers Darryl Moore explains how our current state of disconnection from nature is symptomatic of the era known as The Anthropocene. We live at a remove from the natural world and are now facing the consequences.

Sadly, this Anthropocentric attitude is reflected in the history of garden design. We have been guilty of looking at plants primarily from an aesthetic perspective, using them to create beautiful pictures for our own visual delectation or – worse still – as mere props within outdoor spaces.

In his book, Darryl considers the broad sweep of garden history and

shows how a shift in our approach has thankfully been gathering pace. He cites ecological examples from America, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Britain, and goes on to examine how recent plant-based research is uncovering exciting new possibilities for garden design.

Gardening in a Changing World covers many complex topics, but it does so in short, digestible chapters and in a lucid style. While it does not provide a one-size-fits-all solution to our current predicament (and neither should it), it offers up a wealth of exciting plant-centric possibilities. And it really does make you think about and see plants, gardens, and the wider natural world in a new way. In doing so, it will alter the way in which you garden.

BY: Darryl Moore

BY: Pimpernel Press

HUSBANDRY: MAKING GARDENS WITH MR B

JULIAN AND ISABEL

BANNERMAN are a design partnership well known for creating romantic, flamboyant, imaginative gardens. They have worked together since 1983, responding to each site with both drama and sensitivity. Alongside their commissions – often for famous clients – they have created private spaces together, and those at Hanham Court in Bristol, The Ivy in Chippenham and Tremanton Castle in Cornwall are included in the couple’s book, Landscape of Dreams Isabel’s new book, Husbandry: Making Gardens with Mr B , is a more intimate piece of writing with just two small sections of photographs, and useful maps on the endpapers. This means there are fewer distractions from Isabel’s thoughts about what it

means to make a garden. The structure is loosely centred on her and Mr B’s ‘last principal private escapade’, the creation since 2019 of a new garden around Ashington Manor, their Elizabethan farmhouse in Somerset, but as she writes, Isabel meanders around many other gardens and landscapes.

Taking on a house that had stood largely empty for 10 years, she thought it interesting to ‘capture our hopes and fears at the start of this adventure here at Ashington’. What she has written though goes far deeper than that, being a thoughtful evocation of the art of garden making.

The text is richly textured with references to art, churches, books and architecture and ‘the bigness of character that is Mr B’. It is a love affair with a house, a

garden and with a man. This is a book full of opinions. Isabel has views on planting styles, garden buildings, gravel, qualities of stone or wood, curving or straight borders, the horticultural trade; whether you agree with them or not, they will make you think. I agreed with all and found much of it moving as well.

The writing is fresh and inventive, and Isabel can evoke a whole mood or thought in a few words. There is a beguiling mix of the down to earth and the romantic in this highly personal book about what it means to make a garden, to share and to live in. It is a gem to read, and to re-read, with pleasure.

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

BY: Isabel Bannerman

PUBLISHED BY: Pimpernel Press

PRICE: £14.99 hardcover ISBN: 978-1914902949

RHS GARDEN BRIDGEWATER: THE MAKING OF A GARDEN

IT IS NOW a year and a half since the opening of Bridgewater, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)’s fifth public garden, on the outskirts of Manchester and one of the largest horticultural renovation and redesign projects in Europe this century.

The 156-acre Worsley New Hall estate in Salford originally encompassed the eponymous Hall itself, an imposing statement of wealth in the 19th century designed by architect Edward Blore and built between 1840 and 1845 for the 1st Earl of Ellesmere. Its landscaped gardens by William Andrews Nesfield, included a lake, 35 acres of woodland, parkland and an 11-acre walled garden.

By 1949, the Hall was no more, and the grounds were being used for a variety of purposes. They were given a new future when the RHS took ownership of the site and development began in 2015, with landscape designer

Tom Stuart-Smith FSGD formulating the master plan.

In RHS Garden Bridgewater: The Making of a Garden , Phil McCann tells the story of the Hall and of its subsequent neglect and demolition and, more recently, of how its overgrown gardens have undergone restoration in the hands of the RHS. The semiurban location makes it very accessible to local communities and people from further afield, and ‘health and wellbeing’, as well as ‘sustainability’, are key themes of the RHS project.

Each area of the revitalised garden is described in guidebook fashion, with details of some of the key plants in each section included. Also sprinkled among the text are standalone pages offering topics of interest, such as the history of using arsenic in gardens, and the cultivation of the dye plant woad. The stories and memories of people who know Bridgewater well are

featured throughout; from recollections of playing in the derelict woodlands and growing up in the garden bothy, to tales of working as a volunteer guide, and of novices learning to tend plants in the Community Grow Garden. The impact that the grounds here have had on the local community is very clear.

This is a handsome book, illustrated with glowing photography that includes visionary drone pictures of the immense walled garden taken at dawn. Garden designers might want to learn more about how the transformation has been achieved or wish for a rather more in-depth look at techniques, but this attractive book would perhaps make a good present for their clients, who would find it useful and enjoyable.

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

BY: Phil McCann

PUBLISHED BY: Frances Lincoln

PRICE: £32 hardcover ISBN: 978-0711274334