Immersive Gardens for Sensory Connection | Speciality Trees

Immersive Gardens for Sensory Connection

LEE-ANN OFFICER, SPECIALITY TREES

Every year we are thrilled to be able to supply trees into the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. The time and effort put into show gardens is amazing and the commentary provided by the designers themselves at all levels is both insightful and inspiring.

One garden, in particular, summed up the exhibition experience and why growers like ourselves are so passionate about what we supply. Matt York described his garden as “a story, a celebration, and a refuge from the overwhelming nature of public events”.

His collaborative show garden with Budling Design titled ‘Through the Lens’ aimed to create an immersive experience, encouraging people to delve into green in an exploratory and sensory way via form, texture, colour and scent.

We love the idea of creating gardens to live in, not just to view. To live in a garden means that there is an element of interaction; this could mean effective lighting to enhance spaces and form such as the large limbs of trees in early evening enhancing outdoor dining or planting a grove of fastigiate trees in odd numbers to create a bushland effect for children to play in. Or it could mean planting trees and shrubs with distinctive foliage be it colourful, furry or scented encouraging touch and smell, like that of Lemon Scented Gum after rain. Imagine a life without green? It would be like living without connection. Shows like the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show allow designers and installers to explore what’s possible, in turn inspiring us to challenge the norm and acknowledge what we like. Immersive gardens are packed with visual interest that works to keep us in our gardens for longer. By mixing species with different texture and form - tall with bushy, old with new, or mainstay favourites with architectural succulents, we create a connection to the trees and shrubs we plant.

So be adventurous and not restricted to only what’s currently trending. Tired of Ornamental Pear, Evergreen Magnolia and landscape designs with minimal variety? There is no need to restrict the creative designer in you when there are many trees to choose from.

Connection is individual and personal. What is most needed is a good understanding of what you are trying to achieve, keeping an open mind, and cultivating a keen eye for visual contrast.

Of course, not everything will grow where you may want it to, so the right advice from your supplier can assist you greatly.

Arbutus unedo - Rounded form, stringy-bark with bell flowers and edible fruits that ripen to bright red. A delight of colour and touch. Growing to 7m tall, Arbutus unedo is one of a very few flowering small evergreen trees available aside from evergreen Magnolia

Eucalyptus pulverulenta ‘Baby Blue’- Tree or shrub form available each with strikingly round, silver-grey foliage. Colour and lateral branching break-up solid colours and forms making this tree highly visual in the landscape.

Catalpa bignonioides - A large tree to 15m with a broad dome-shaped canopy and large, long-stalked leaves. Fascinating non-edible long seed pods that look like green beans develop and hang from the tree in late summer.