Entries Tagged as 'garden design'
Vectorworks CAD software is transforming the way garden designers can work with their clients. I have recently won a job working with a local hotel to review their existing gardens and grounds – around 15 acres in total so quite a sizeable project!
Following some initial meetings the first step is to determine what planting is already in the garden and to add them to a plan, creating a report to then use to discuss with the hotel manager how we want to go forward.
Now a few years ago this would have been a daunting task involving surveying the site and then determining the plants, back to the drawing board to carefully draw in each of the plants and log them in a spreadsheet to create a report.
Tags: Avon · Bath · Cotswolds · existing tree tool · garden design · money saving · Somerset · Vectorworks · Wiltshire · working with Architects
As we wait with latent expectation for those wonderful heralds of the spring garden to finally break cover and shower us with golden cheerfulness there are some plants that have been keeping a quiet watch over the winter months.
The Viburnum group is a remarkable collection of varied plants and I often wonder whether it would be possible to design a garden that only featured Viburnum in all of its assorted guises. Viburnum tinus ‘Eve Price’ is a popular choice of many schemes but is rather prone to Viburnum beetle which quickly reduce the leaves to a rather scrappy looking lace skeleton – a problem that is duplicated in others such as the V.opulus.
Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ isn’t affected but since it flowers before the leaves are present this somehow seems less of an issue!
Tags: Bath · Chippenham · enjoy · garden design · gardening · Wiltshire
In any walk of life training is now an accepted part of improving yourself and making progress in your chosen field. Garden Design and indeed gardening are two areas that, frankly, I don’t think you could ever have too much knowledge or experience. Every day throws us something new which is part of why I, along with many others, love gardens and garden design.
Tags: benefit · garden design · Garden Network · gardening · Inspiration · networking · opportunity
Luckily help is at hand for at least one of these programmes. Now in its third edition, ‘Residential Garden Design with Vectorworks Landmark’ by Tamsin Slatter, gives garden designers a clear, descriptive and illustrated guide to getting started with Vectorworks 2011.
Unlike the dreaded software manual, which covers every single aspect of Vectorworks whether you are a garden designer or landscape architect or an interior designer or architect, where some things will be relevant to you and others simply aren’t. Tamsin’s knowledge of both the market leading software and of garden design means that she is able to steer us towards the important, relevant aspects of the software and create a form of work-flow that can be referred to again and again.
Now we don’t need to be daunted by software manuals that are reminiscent of lengthy literary works. I would love to see this book shipping with the software so that everyone can benefit and would also welcome similar style books and accompanying exercises tackling more complex aspects of the software such as 3-D terrain modelling and perhaps some of the wonderful plug-ins that are now available for Vectorworks 2011.
Tags: 3D design · Bath · CAD · Chippenham · Computers Unlimited · garden design · Landmark · Nemetschek · Vectorworks · Wiltshire
Twitter has a lot to answer for. How else would you get 25 people from around the country to visit a garden on a glorious sunny , early September afternoon.
Meeting before going to the garden it was clear that all was not quite as it might have been! In order that the 25 recognise each other we were invited to wear a button hole in the true spirit of a blind date. All was going swimmingly with assorted flora being sported until one of our number arrived wearing a half eaten digestive biscuit secured with a badly mis-shapen paperclip!
Perhaps I should explain that this gathering was no ordinary outing but a meeting of gardening enthusiasts of various persuasions found loitering with intent on Twitter and the garden we were to visit was Highgrove, the garden of HRH Prince Charles. The biscuit arrived courtesy of James Alexander-Sinclair which somehow saw the topic of conversation move on to cakes.
Tags: blog · garden design · Garden Network · Garden Organic · gardening · networking · Plant · sunshine · sustainable · Twitter
This was my first visit on press day – with thanks to The Garden Network I was able to gain access and enjoy what is billed as the largest flower show in the world featuring the Best of British Horticulture.
As the billing suggests this is one mammoth show and so much to take in in one day – so much so that it will be difficult to do all the exhibitors justice – but I’ll make a start and add further thoughts later!
The show gardens normally define the show, but at Hampton Court they form only one of many varied garden themes and styles. So was there a strong theme that ran through the gardens? – well if there was I couldn’t detect it! Variety providing the spice of life. What was interesting however was that there were two notably different approaches to the show gardens.
Tags: garden design · Garden Network · gardening · striking display
The element of the Green Dock that I had particularly come to see however was the large rectangular formal garden with ribbons of topiarised Yew hedging trimmed in undulating waves running the entire length of the garden, crossed overhead with angled walkways.
Tags: development · garden design · gardening · imagination · Inspiration · sunshine · value
Every year the gardeners at Hidcote plant around 14,000 Tulips and as soon as they finish flowering they dig them all (well nearly all) of them out to make way for the summer planting. Why do they dig them out?
Everywhere you turn you can see how this Arts and Crafts garden of ‘rooms’ has been influencing gardens and garden designers ever since.
Tags: enjoy · garden design · gardening · imagination · Inspiration · Plant · striking display
One of my main reasons for visiting as a Garden Designer is to look at the Show Gardens. Malvern isn’t known as a hotbed for innovation particularly but it can provide some neat glimpses at how other designers approach a garden or planting and I particularly enjoyed chatting with Deb Bird about her garden The Nature of Nurture which particularly struck a chord as I learned much of my gardening from my parents and grandparents. Perhaps one of the most interesting ideas though came in the Schools Section, where two gardens featured greenhouses made from recycled plastic bottles.
Tags: blog · enjoy · garden design · Garden Organic · imagination · Inspiration · networking · One Pot Pledge · Plant · weather
When you meet an iconic person from your chosen field it is difficult to know what to expect. When that designer has won a prestigious RHS Gold Medal at Chelsea flower show for the stunning Champagne Laurent-Perrier Garden you have a real sense of anticipation. Joy then when Luciano smiles in a totally relaxed greeting. Here [...]
Tags: aspirational · garden design · imagination · Inspiration · lifestyle · opportunity
