Form and Function
A Finished Garden Design Project in Worsley, Lancashire revisited
2 part post, (Post 1 the Back Garden)
Client testimonial
"When I searched the internet to find a garden
designer for my new house, I came across David’s work for the local council and
saw the finished end product and I very much liked what I saw. However, it was
not just the garden but what the people wrote about the design process and the
project from the start to the end that made me contact him and ask if he would
be interested to do a project on a smaller scale. I am so glad he was
interested.
My new garden is exactly what I needed and this is
a result of David’s skills to listen to the client and then transform this into
a unique design. He was very clear about the design process, he is an excellent
communicator and remained very involved throughout the whole project. David has
chosen excellent allied professionals to work with him such as David the
designer of my front garden rails and the landscaping team led by Kris, a team
that will go the extra mile through storms and snow.
I am amazed every day now how the garden in
evolving, it is due to David’s vision and he continues to think about his
projects and how he can make them even more perfect and beautiful.
David is an excellent storyteller and continues to
be very curious about his clients and transforms all of this into your garden
project.
My garden is a story from start to finish that has
been beautifully designed, executed and is exactly what I wanted and needed to
enrich my daily living"
Ilse
As these are my first self designed green walls I have to say they transform and melded a lot quicker than i expected and is definitely a form i will play with again in the future. Its interesting to see a pattern i visualised as numbers on paper turn into a living pattern on on the green walls.
Mid terrace with seating and coffee table in background perfect place to sit enjoy the garden and unwind.
The rebate frames on the cedar panels were devised as a means to provide a soft lighting frame to the Acers
The green walls as seen across the garden.
Green walls are already full of colour, here Lamium maculatum 'Beacon Silver'
And the wonderful Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' (PBR) doing far better and bigger than i could have imagined, or hoped for, lending a somewhat exotic tropical feel to the green walls.
The paler silver greens are then contrasted with the darker leaves and flowers of
Heuchera ‘Plum Pudding’ whilst the sides are softened with the flowing falls of Vinca minor f. alba 'Gertrude Jekyll. In the background the wonderful form of an existing Cherry tree which influenced part of my approach to the project.
The wood store
Flower panicles Calamagrostis × acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'
The main cobble beds are planted with a variety of plants, here Eryngium giganteum 'Silver Ghost' contrasts wonderfully with the Scottish river cobble base.
This was one of the lucky finds as relayed in the Boulder Garden Story with complimentary silver grey whites and rusty browns adding to the overall balance of the scheme. It also makes a great seat offering a different set of perspectives on the garden.
Pruned timbers from the Cherry tree have been put to good use and enhance the colours and textures of the garden.
Sculptural Western Red Cedar screens allowed me to design in hidden planters for growing lettuce and other semi shade loving edibles without impinging on the gardens overall aesthetic when viewed from house and seating terraces.
These smaller Corten pots to the stepped area add another dimension and connection to the overall harmony and provided the perfect place for Ilse to grow tomatoes. The inclusion of the pots in this area were client Ilse's suggestion and work perfectly in the scheme.
Acer reflected in the warm rusty hues of one of the larger central Corten pot.
I chose these bronze grasses, Carex buchananii 'Red Rooster'to work with and compliment both the Corten pots and the colours in elements of the cobble.
A multitide of bamboo canes in the bug wall will hopefully provide habitat for a host of insects.
This is a garden of reflection and textures and i love the almost verdigris hue of this particular piece of stone. I visit an obscure and remote quarry in Wales where i am fortunate enough to be permitted to hand pick my feature stones.
The second of the smaller Corten pots on the step, this one planted up with strawberries Yum!
I love the statuesque and architectural upright form of this particular grass, Calamagrostis × acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' This will add another complimentary dimension as it changes to shades of vibrant bright greens to shades of buff.
And last but most certainly not least a tree which is now a firm favorite after i spotted a fine example in Sizergh Castle gardens in the lake district, Sambucus racemosa 'Sutherland Gold' To my mind more Acer like than elder.
Form And Function
A Garden in Worsley, Lancashire.
My initial musings Wedensday May 11th 2016
Question; how do I make a garden relevant? Relevant
to what and to whom? The garden owner’s needs, the changing environment, the
passing seasons, conservation, conversation? Then there is the question of
modernity within the context of the environment and traditionalism. Lawn, do
you want a lawn, is a lawn feasible, perhaps not, its high maintenance and
rarely ever trouble free. And expected planting beds? And what are the new
plants I will think to introduce for? Do you want to grow things just to look at,
or do you also grow for the table and the pot? Herbs, maybe some salad leaves?
Wood for the burner? Can we have habitat and blur the boundaries into soft
edges, a frame within a frame, that captures the trees beyond. How do you then
cram all this into a small suburban space and still make it functional. It
needs to be a picture, which is a picture whatever the weather and whatever the
season, but equally it needs to fill and flow with the seasons as perennials
lift their sleepy heads, break the surface of the soil in preparation for
spectacle. This week the Cherry tree creates a white umbrella, lending airiness
and purity whilst its trunk casts pleasant shadows on the fence behind. The
apple bud not far, heavy in white bud on the cusp of open blossom ready to
offer a yet to come harvest when the air will fill with the wondrous smell of
baking pastry, apple and cinnamon. The azalea not to be outdone
fills and will soon too shine. The fig in the corner not long planted but
already fruiting. The point of a garden is surely its connection to all the
senses. The answer, this garden which I call the eco contemporary garden. I
will not explain more, as there seems little need, it’s there in the pictures,
visible, connecting, answering a need by filling the frame of an eye. On a rare
day the sun shines and the air fills with birdsong as I wait for the bees and
the bugs to make this garden home.
A couple of before pictures
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