Posts Tagged ‘Garden Design’

I met up with an old friend on mine in London on Monday.  We decided to go to the Thames Barrier Park which I’ve always wanted to see and never quite got around to.

In 1995 the London Docklands Development Corporation launched an international competition to create a new riverside park and the winning consortium was architect Patel Taylor in collaboration with Group Signers and engineers Ove Aarum.

I was a little disappointed that sunken area in the park was showing signs of neglect, but it may just have been the time of year as there was evidence that work had started to clip the sculptural yew hedging.

It was still inspiring however and I’m glad we went.  The Thames Barrier is strangely beautiful anyway so it would have been interesting enough just to see that!

The pavilion at the end I felt got in the way of the view of the barrier so I’m not sure if this was a later addition.

I liked the simplicity of the grassy slope at the barrier end of the park which led up to the river.  The sides are built with concrete with strips of what looked like black basalt.

The areas around the sunken part of the park were also really well balanced.  I loved the contrast between the wild flower areas and the sculptural formality of the rows of trees along the river’s edge.

Having recently been to a seminar about designing with maintenance in mind, I did think this felt like a public space that no longer received enough funding to keep it in good shape.  I really do think it’s such a shame, especially in a part of London that’s crying out for more green space.

But it was inspiring and worth the visit – perhaps if I went back in July it would have a different feel altogether!?

(Images: Lisa Cox)

I’ve recently been working with a client in Epsom Downs who wanted to design a potager area at the bottom of the garden to accommodate her new greenhouse, existing summerhouse and also to create an attractive space where they can sit and take in the evening sunshine. Read more

Last week I finally managed to get back to see the Leatherhead garden we completed and planted last summer.  I should really have been there in July when all the roses and perennials were looking at their best, but I still think the transformation is quite amazing in just one year and there’s still lots in flower and looking great. Read more

I missed a visit to Sussex Prairies a couple of weeks ago so as the weather was lovely at the weekend we decided to pay a visit.  I’ve been wanting to go for ages! Read more

Often when I’m working with clients they are concerned about turning too much of the garden over to planting.  This is especially the case when they want a low maintenance garden.  Although they often become interested, many of my clients don’t start off as very keen gardeners and the reason they want to work with a professional is because they don’t have the first clue about plants and what to do with them. Read more

Small gardens are often more challenging to design because generally people want to fit in the same list of things they’d want if their garden was half an acre. Read more

Planning a planting scheme takes time.  There’s so much to think about and consider to get it right.  As well as the constraints of the site (soil/aspect/drainage), you need to think about the aesthetic qualities of the plant (shape, form, foliage, colour) as well as how well and how long it performs for and of course how long you have to wait for it to become fully grown. Read more

We went over to Twickenham at the weekend for a BBQ with some friends, Rob and Sarah.  2 years ago I helped them to create their garden so it was great to see how it’s filled out and matured since it was planted. Read more

I popped in to see my East Horsley client last week.  It’s been a year since the garden was planted and wow, what a difference…it looked fabulous! Read more

I went back to see my Oxshott client, Lisa, last Friday and the garden was looking fabulous. Read more