I had a year off last year, well from this blog but to be honest I missed it, the new blog is slightly more serious, well it is supposed to be! about latest trends in plants and design and things to see and do and of course design and designers, personal comment necessarily remain professional, no ranting or frustration expression there!
Like any good business plan, I suppose, one has to decide the purpose of a blog in the same way as one decides the purpose and goals of a business. Just blabbing onto the internet page without direction seems a bit messy and unsatisfying.
So I am aiming to come back to this resurrect this blog and talk about the process of building a business now that I am trained and a slightly 'battle hardened'. As always comment is most welcome as are offers of work, gainful or otherwise.
The website is up and running and can be found at
www.rosewarnegardens.com
I am also toying with the idea of a second site for the Iris but for now they reside at
http://miniaturetallbeardediris.wordpress.com/
and
http://beardedandblousey.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Knoll Gardens & Neil Lucas
Grass man Neil Lucas is a joy to listen to. Interesting and humorous and incredibly knowledgable about his topic...GRASSES of course.
About 20 'garden designers' and hangers on followed him and his assistant Luke around the glorious Knoll Garden this afternoon soaking up the knowledge and even asking one or two pertinent questions.
The gardens look spectacular at the moment and apparently will do so long in December. If you haven't been GO GO GO. The Euonymus make it worth while and that's before you set eyes on the sweeping grasses and trees.
Managed to escape with no more than 3 plants which is an achievement.
Panicum Heavy Metal, Molinia arundinacea 'Karl Foerster' and Miscanthus nepalensis with it's frothy bronze fronds...of course division will be taken from a friends hoard of 4 grasses, so in reality there are 7 new additions to be squeezed in come spring!
was inspired by the Paperbark Mulberry
and the pruning techniques
About 20 'garden designers' and hangers on followed him and his assistant Luke around the glorious Knoll Garden this afternoon soaking up the knowledge and even asking one or two pertinent questions.
The gardens look spectacular at the moment and apparently will do so long in December. If you haven't been GO GO GO. The Euonymus make it worth while and that's before you set eyes on the sweeping grasses and trees.
Managed to escape with no more than 3 plants which is an achievement.
Panicum Heavy Metal, Molinia arundinacea 'Karl Foerster' and Miscanthus nepalensis with it's frothy bronze fronds...of course division will be taken from a friends hoard of 4 grasses, so in reality there are 7 new additions to be squeezed in come spring!
was inspired by the Paperbark Mulberry
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
RAM's and Windows XP
Well as I discover more and more about hardware supporting software it all seems to get more complex. I discovered yesterday that although I upgraded the RAM on my lappy last year from 2gb to 4gb becasue I am running Windows XP as my OS (therefore 32bit) it cannot optimise the increased memory but can only use 3.something of it...darn no wonder it failed with renderworks, if only I'd known I could have simply upped the OS and the RAM instead of buying the Mac i5..........ok well thankfully I didn't know so got the joyous i5 as compensation for my own lack of research!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Well here I am .......employed!
I know a bit of a shock for me too dear reader.
One minute I was hot footing it down the self employed, starting my own business route and the next I have a job, well a 6 month full time contract with a possibility of a permanent role later. And yes as you ask, as a designer/project manager. Of course there is the usual trial period while we both suss out if it's a good fit but even so it has been a remarkably quick process and I find myself in a company where I will learn ALL about the build side of things, assuming the trial period is successful!
Exciting (read terrifying!) and a challenge to be sure.
One minute I was hot footing it down the self employed, starting my own business route and the next I have a job, well a 6 month full time contract with a possibility of a permanent role later. And yes as you ask, as a designer/project manager. Of course there is the usual trial period while we both suss out if it's a good fit but even so it has been a remarkably quick process and I find myself in a company where I will learn ALL about the build side of things, assuming the trial period is successful!
Exciting (read terrifying!) and a challenge to be sure.
Monday, October 11, 2010
DO you know which soil you are on?
Do you know which soil you re on? quite possibly but when it comes to being a Garden Designer soil-scapes can change pretty fast.
This little tool from Cranfield University is rather a godsend for these matters.
http://www.landis.org.uk/soilscapes/
This little tool from Cranfield University is rather a godsend for these matters.
http://www.landis.org.uk/soilscapes/
Sunday, October 10, 2010
OCGD going from strength to strength
Having completed the OCGD Post Grad Diploma in September, 'coming down' has been a bit more drawn out than I thought it would be!
Duncan (the college principal) has completely revamped the course and started the first online 'virtual reality' course which runs alongside the terrestrial 'real reality' version now located in the beautiful Maplethorpe building of Oxford's St Hughs college. No wonder they have DOUBLED the student numbers for this years courses!
Lucky for us, the OCGD alumni, that we have full access to this excellent set of material AND the forum that goes along side it AND all the masterclasses running this year, and of course, our ongoing and inspiring, Flickr group still loaded with new imagery. So my withdrawal symptoms from all the intense studies, practicals and academics can be soothed somewhat by a moderate amount of immersion in all things designer-y
Duncan (the college principal) has completely revamped the course and started the first online 'virtual reality' course which runs alongside the terrestrial 'real reality' version now located in the beautiful Maplethorpe building of Oxford's St Hughs college. No wonder they have DOUBLED the student numbers for this years courses!
Lucky for us, the OCGD alumni, that we have full access to this excellent set of material AND the forum that goes along side it AND all the masterclasses running this year, and of course, our ongoing and inspiring, Flickr group still loaded with new imagery. So my withdrawal symptoms from all the intense studies, practicals and academics can be soothed somewhat by a moderate amount of immersion in all things designer-y
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Coming soon
A new educator is about to hit the web, reportedly the end of this month. Backed by some serious design and horticultural clout, not to mention the web savvy marketeers, it should be worth the register and a follow: Find them at:
http://www.my-garden-school.com/
http://www.my-garden-school.com/
Friday, October 1, 2010
Have you seen the Garden Museum or Piet Oudolf?
No? Well neither have I but both will be remedied at a 'members only' lecture hosted by the Garden Museum in October entitled Going Dutch: Piet Oudolf - His Life and Work.
Am thrilled to now be described as a 'Country Friend', of the Garden Museum, which sounds so Jane Austen!
All the other lectures are sold out, unsurprisingly, due in part no doubt to a large editorial in the Telegraph on Saturday
Note to self: buy the telegraph on Saturday!
Am thrilled to now be described as a 'Country Friend', of the Garden Museum, which sounds so Jane Austen!
All the other lectures are sold out, unsurprisingly, due in part no doubt to a large editorial in the Telegraph on Saturday
Note to self: buy the telegraph on Saturday!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Are design competitions worth the time and effort?
I am just back from the post office more extortion as they extracted the cost of getting a competition entry submitted in time. OK so it's my own fault for leaving it until the last minute but really, £5.05? for delivering an A4 envelope, a light A4 envelope, to an address a mere two counties away?!
That said I am thrilled at the achievement of getting not one but two essays/articles written in the last few weeks. I'm not that hopeful about winning anything or even being placed but on a personal level I am proud of myself for knuckling down and writing first a Historical Review of a local National Trust garden, Wimpole Hall and secondly, perhaps even more surprisingly, for sitting down this morning at 7am and writing solidly for 5 hours to produce a creditable 2000 words on a garden visit I made in late summer, The Dorothy Clive Garden in Shropshire.
Am now wondering how it took me 4 weeks to write the first one which was only 1300 words longer! I am going to blame the research angle entirely, and yes the research took weeks :)
After the remains of today off, next week I am thinking about getting started on an entry for the Chris Beardshaw mentoring program.
Oh and once the results are out I'll publish both here, if of course they don't win awards and thereby publishing restrictions ;)
That said I am thrilled at the achievement of getting not one but two essays/articles written in the last few weeks. I'm not that hopeful about winning anything or even being placed but on a personal level I am proud of myself for knuckling down and writing first a Historical Review of a local National Trust garden, Wimpole Hall and secondly, perhaps even more surprisingly, for sitting down this morning at 7am and writing solidly for 5 hours to produce a creditable 2000 words on a garden visit I made in late summer, The Dorothy Clive Garden in Shropshire.
Am now wondering how it took me 4 weeks to write the first one which was only 1300 words longer! I am going to blame the research angle entirely, and yes the research took weeks :)
After the remains of today off, next week I am thinking about getting started on an entry for the Chris Beardshaw mentoring program.
Oh and once the results are out I'll publish both here, if of course they don't win awards and thereby publishing restrictions ;)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Noel Kingsbury
Should really have posted the day I got back so inspired was I, but life got the better of me and here I am 6 days later putting finger to keyboard ( pen to paper sounds so much nicer!).
Organised by an SGD member in Bishops Stortford some 50+ designers arrived at Writtle enthused about the lecture from Dr Noel Kingsbury.
Not quite sure what to expect I was surprised by how youthful he seemed - I am becoming increasingly ageist it would seem! His credentials seem to stretch forever and his comment that he began a nursery at the same time as Carol Klein started her Devon nursery, made me do a double take.
A fascinating and thought provoking lecture ensued as he covered succession, right plant right place and how to actually do that well. Asking us to consider the effects on maintenance (reduction!) and longevity (much longer) of our designed gardens should we take this approach.
As I am sure you know by now I am more plants than design (sorry Duncan!) and as the day went on I began to realise that a passion for plants can really enable a vision for design or maybe that should be a creative expression. Really understanding my media (the plants) and what makes them work well is going to unlock a whole world of possibilities. Because lets face it whilst many new varieties pop up at our yearly RHS shows, in the main, new genus and species do not get discovered every day and even if they did, the time to the typical gardening market is S L O W W W W.
We spent the morning in a darkened lecture theatre where I learnt that Dr K could do with some help on his powerpoint presentations though obviously not the content therein. In the afternoon we wandered through the rather fabulous gardens of the college, putting what we had learned in the morning into practice and trying, in our smaller groups, to identify the various types of plant matter and it's growing patterns.
Obviously the opportunity to ask as many questions as you like to someone as knowledgeable as Dr K was brilliant and I felt that spark of excitement when you know you've met a kindred spirit, an inspiring and gifted teacher and consequently someone you can learn a LOT from.
I now have all his books (slowing working my way through them!) and will be keeping an eagle eye out for further opportunities to take courses with him.
Organised by an SGD member in Bishops Stortford some 50+ designers arrived at Writtle enthused about the lecture from Dr Noel Kingsbury.
Not quite sure what to expect I was surprised by how youthful he seemed - I am becoming increasingly ageist it would seem! His credentials seem to stretch forever and his comment that he began a nursery at the same time as Carol Klein started her Devon nursery, made me do a double take.
A fascinating and thought provoking lecture ensued as he covered succession, right plant right place and how to actually do that well. Asking us to consider the effects on maintenance (reduction!) and longevity (much longer) of our designed gardens should we take this approach.
As I am sure you know by now I am more plants than design (sorry Duncan!) and as the day went on I began to realise that a passion for plants can really enable a vision for design or maybe that should be a creative expression. Really understanding my media (the plants) and what makes them work well is going to unlock a whole world of possibilities. Because lets face it whilst many new varieties pop up at our yearly RHS shows, in the main, new genus and species do not get discovered every day and even if they did, the time to the typical gardening market is S L O W W W W.
We spent the morning in a darkened lecture theatre where I learnt that Dr K could do with some help on his powerpoint presentations though obviously not the content therein. In the afternoon we wandered through the rather fabulous gardens of the college, putting what we had learned in the morning into practice and trying, in our smaller groups, to identify the various types of plant matter and it's growing patterns.
Obviously the opportunity to ask as many questions as you like to someone as knowledgeable as Dr K was brilliant and I felt that spark of excitement when you know you've met a kindred spirit, an inspiring and gifted teacher and consequently someone you can learn a LOT from.
I now have all his books (slowing working my way through them!) and will be keeping an eagle eye out for further opportunities to take courses with him.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Web Site Designer
Well I am officially working with a small local-ish company to design my corporate ID and if we work well together and the quote for web design is within budget we will do the website together too.
Have to say it was a pleasure to meet two clearly clued up desinger-y types with a non nonsense, no fuss approach, a beautiful inspiring 'office' space and clearly an understanding that for a truly good design, being functional is vital - I hark back to a previous professional life where the founders company motto was heartwarmingly focused and simple:-
"Functional should be beautiful and beautiful must be affordable"
The process of finding SuttonCo was an interesting one that led me to scads of 'local' web designer sites which were hideous and not remotely fit for purpose not to mention ugly, ugly, ugly!
Reminding me AGAIN that good design, be it website, corporate, interior or garden is not as common nor easy to find as one might think it would be. But I do say thank heaven for the web otherwise I would not have found them nor been able to research them through blog and social media and more....so guys and gals social media marketing works!
In between times I have been back to some gardens for a second photogrpah, and look, Wisely and The Savil last week and Wimpole Hall yesterday. When I get 5 minutes I will post images
Have to say it was a pleasure to meet two clearly clued up desinger-y types with a non nonsense, no fuss approach, a beautiful inspiring 'office' space and clearly an understanding that for a truly good design, being functional is vital - I hark back to a previous professional life where the founders company motto was heartwarmingly focused and simple:-
"Functional should be beautiful and beautiful must be affordable"
The process of finding SuttonCo was an interesting one that led me to scads of 'local' web designer sites which were hideous and not remotely fit for purpose not to mention ugly, ugly, ugly!
Reminding me AGAIN that good design, be it website, corporate, interior or garden is not as common nor easy to find as one might think it would be. But I do say thank heaven for the web otherwise I would not have found them nor been able to research them through blog and social media and more....so guys and gals social media marketing works!
In between times I have been back to some gardens for a second photogrpah, and look, Wisely and The Savil last week and Wimpole Hall yesterday. When I get 5 minutes I will post images
Monday, September 13, 2010
Website Design
Moving into the next phase of the transition to Garden Designer has me researching not only web designers but websites and I am surprised by the number of eminently capable designers who do such a poor job of designing their own website.
It si as if they throw out all the principles they have leant and, well, and what?!
Today I came across a real classic, oh it's elegant the person is a top designer who has won awards and plenty of press BUT BUT BUT, their internet showcase fails to deliver anything but a suspicion that their web designer took them for a ride, an expensive one!.
Text banged up against a table edge on one side and miles away from the other - making it look mean and out of proportion, so much flash you give up after the first 3 pages, content text so small, text so similar in tone it is barely visible on the page and content so 'blah blah blah' you switch off before the flash even finishes :), headers the change from a readable font to an illegible one as you 'roll-over' it - probably the ' clients choice' but it remains a poor one.
Ok enough of annihilating this designer sites - and no I will not say who's it is...well unless you offer bribery then I might consider it.
It is not the first, nor the last to demonstrate such a clear ignorance about the medium in which they are marketing themselves. Web goers are a short attention spanned lot, and I include myself in this, we want it NOW, we want it CLEAR, we want it to scream WELL DESIGNED and we do not want pretension - unless it is of the uber cool variety!
Needless to say I am still hunting for my 'within budget' web designer......
It si as if they throw out all the principles they have leant and, well, and what?!
Today I came across a real classic, oh it's elegant the person is a top designer who has won awards and plenty of press BUT BUT BUT, their internet showcase fails to deliver anything but a suspicion that their web designer took them for a ride, an expensive one!.
Text banged up against a table edge on one side and miles away from the other - making it look mean and out of proportion, so much flash you give up after the first 3 pages, content text so small, text so similar in tone it is barely visible on the page and content so 'blah blah blah' you switch off before the flash even finishes :), headers the change from a readable font to an illegible one as you 'roll-over' it - probably the ' clients choice' but it remains a poor one.
Ok enough of annihilating this designer sites - and no I will not say who's it is...well unless you offer bribery then I might consider it.
It is not the first, nor the last to demonstrate such a clear ignorance about the medium in which they are marketing themselves. Web goers are a short attention spanned lot, and I include myself in this, we want it NOW, we want it CLEAR, we want it to scream WELL DESIGNED and we do not want pretension - unless it is of the uber cool variety!
Needless to say I am still hunting for my 'within budget' web designer......
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Can it really be done?
Well here I am done and dusted. Final project, the soft landscape portfolio, printed packed and posted. A sense of overwhelming relief followed that final piece of information landing in the right place but it wasn't until posting it that the real sense of 'it's done, finished' hit me.
SEASONAL PLANTING:160 plants over 4 seasons
COLOUR THEME PLANTING:120 plants over 10 colourways
A certain gapping hole which of course will be filled in coming weeks with planning and progressing a new business, MY new business. But I have to say it has been a whale of a ride and a great deal more work than I imagined possible to cram into one year (well 11 months tbh) and a great deal more in terms of deliverables and learn than I also thought possible.
I've enjoyed the blogging and the sense of achievement at completing the course and now putting it into practice and making a success of my new business is the next stage.
New blog(s) to go with the new business.
SEASONAL PLANTING:160 plants over 4 seasons
A certain gapping hole which of course will be filled in coming weeks with planning and progressing a new business, MY new business. But I have to say it has been a whale of a ride and a great deal more work than I imagined possible to cram into one year (well 11 months tbh) and a great deal more in terms of deliverables and learn than I also thought possible.
I've enjoyed the blogging and the sense of achievement at completing the course and now putting it into practice and making a success of my new business is the next stage.
New blog(s) to go with the new business.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Which books get you enthused about plants?
In the middle of prepping 20 planting plans (!) and I am knee deep in fabulous books, spread open with sticky notes all over them identifying perfect combinations and possible plant choices. My current favourites are:
With Beth Chatto's wonderful planting schemes detailed
Predictable in places but mostly glorious ideas
Dreamy is indeed the word though the cottage garden features so heavily in UK examples one could be led to believe that's ALL we can do!
I'm in a Piet phase so though I gather things have moved on I am still lusting after these planting schemes ;)
Any other recommendations would be happily explored
Friday, August 13, 2010
Glorious Shropshire summer days
A short stint of house and chicken sitting for friends in sunny Shropshire allowed me ample time to pad round some glorious gardens (including The Dorothy Clive garden and Wollerton Old Hall) in the environs. The last one was Trentham Gardens a huge estate with some spectacular gardens. Think mature meets modern. I visited in the winter last year and was breath taken by Tom Stuart Smith's Italian Garden borders so felt a summer visit to see it all in it's full glory was both appropriate and frankly a must do whilst staying less than an hour away!
It was heaving with families and kids, HEAVING. I headed along the Trent beside the frothing grass paths and sculpture.
 |
| Sculpture and Grasses |
Coming upon the Piet Oudolf borders is a delight they tantalise along the river path inviting you to explore the wide paths and deep, blocky planting. Somehow there is something much more satisfying about big blocks of plants, not 3's, 5's 8's per Fibonacci but 34's, 55's and 89's (also Fibonacci's but bigger :) )
 |
| Piet Oudolf borders |
Swathes of Echinacea, White Swan and purpurea and probably several other so (no plant list :( ), Eupatorium purpureum, Solidago, Achillea, all colours and sizes, bluest Salvias, stands of Monada's, and pink/purple Liatris amongst them and then, of course with blocks of grasses to form backdrops and punctuations in the floriferous groups.
 |
| Birch copse with grasses |
Two smallish copses of birch (Betula utilis and nigra I think) underplanted with grasses promise of future season when they will join the mature canopy of trees that dot the gardens. Seeing the layering of the plantings against the well established shrubs and trees re-inforces the vital importance of seeing the planting scheme within the whole environment.
 |
| Stretching on forever |
This section of garden is maintained by 1 full time and 1 part time person plus volunteers which surprised me. It's pretty weedless and looked in excellent shape given the time of year and recent dry spell. I was lucky enough to speak at length with the gardener about her plants and the maintenance of this beautiful series of borders. Her enthusiasm for the plants and the development are infectious and lead one to imagine it will indeed develop over time and not remain static.
 |
| beautiful blooms |
Crossing the paths into the Italian Garden proved something of a disappointment though. They just didn't look great. The planting was bitty, or so it seemed, there were a lot of unfilled gaps, collapsed plants that were still flowering and shockingly weeds at eye height. OK I am not a weed snob and know it's impossible to maintain a completely weed free environment but 5'6" (eye height for me!) flowering dandelions? c'mon! that's just poor management!
 |
| 5'6" Taraxacum officinale - DANDELION! |
At the time I thought the whole area looked unkempt - hardly appropriate for the formality of the space - but looking back at shots it doesn't strike me as so uninspiring. Maybe it felt worse in comparison to the boldness and striking planting of the Oudolf borders, maybe it was simply a hard year for the plants in that area. But uninspiring it was.
 |
| Italian Gardens |
 |
| Italian Gardens |
 |
| scale of planting in Italian Garden |
and can I just say Trentham what on earth possessed you to plant this up in the upper (Italian) gardens? talk about poor juxtaposition!
 |
| hideous bedding in upper Italian gardens |
The 100 ideas gardens on the whole were not worth photographing, which is a mean thing to say but they were so badly looked after - think dying plants, weeds, gaps, dead plants, broken fences, that I was shocked they were clearly starting to hard landscape for new ones. This was such a change from my December 09 visit when they were all looking full of promise and good structure.
WHICH just goes to show one season does not a good garden make!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Seasonal portfolio in the print
After a moment of blind panic yesterday at the printers todays news came a s a delightful surprise. Not only was the quality of the print out fantastic and not in the least bit line-y (as we were worried it might be yesterday) but the first few pages look completely amazing, and the cost is about half what I had anticipated.
I'm really excited about seeing it finished and am onto part two though it is still more challenging due to having to limit my plant selections to 6 per colourway!
I'm really excited about seeing it finished and am onto part two though it is still more challenging due to having to limit my plant selections to 6 per colourway!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Do you know what this is?
An alternate title could be ' It's not enough to know the Genus!'
I am mid way through the Seasonal portfolio and struggling to identify some of the flower images. It is of course great exercise in plant identification but sometimes one needs outside help. Time as ever is against me so I am asking for help.
Tweeters have been brilliant with speedy replies and suggestions so I am hoping that blog readers will be able to help to.
These are my current challenges.
??
I am mid way through the Seasonal portfolio and struggling to identify some of the flower images. It is of course great exercise in plant identification but sometimes one needs outside help. Time as ever is against me so I am asking for help.
Tweeters have been brilliant with speedy replies and suggestions so I am hoping that blog readers will be able to help to.
These are my current challenges.
Geraniaum himalayense? perhaps? perhaps not?
???? some sort or rudbeckia? or helianthus?
Veronica spicata?
all help gratefully received :)
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Going cross eyed with photographs and plant details
The final project of the PG Dip Residential Landscape Architecture course is a soft landscape portfolio (SLP). What is this? Well it forms two parts, the first part is a seasonal portfolio showing 4 'spectacular' borders for each season. Along with this is a detail page with 5 plants, from the border, detailed in terms of height, spread, water, soil type, hardiness, pH level and origin of genus oh and light levels, then a selection of 5 alternative plants. So that 4 borders and 40 plants per season plus a key and some fancy graphics!
SLP part two is much harder, which is why part 1 is being done first, this consists of colour themed planting plans. 10 sets of colour ways, 5 plants per plan (that's tough!) and one plan for shade one plan for full sun. Same plant detailing and same set of alternatives. So 20 planting plans and 200 plants to detail yes 200!!!!!!!
I should mention that we are expected to have photographed all the images ourselves - hahahaha
Happily I am more than 2/3rd of the way through part 1 just detailing plants and dreading the slog of part two. It's a great way to learn my plants and to understand them better but GODS it is a LOT of 'virtual cutting and sticking'
Portfolios are ordered and a schedule for printing is set. It is going to cost a fortune to print professionally but they will certainly be exciting things to show to clients. In fact I already have extra sets of borders to include. 16 simply isn't enough!!!
I am resisting showing an example because I hope mine will be individual, here is an example of the enclosed plant images
I should mention that we are expected to have photographed all the images ourselves - hahahaha
Happily I am more than 2/3rd of the way through part 1 just detailing plants and dreading the slog of part two. It's a great way to learn my plants and to understand them better but GODS it is a LOT of 'virtual cutting and sticking'
Portfolios are ordered and a schedule for printing is set. It is going to cost a fortune to print professionally but they will certainly be exciting things to show to clients. In fact I already have extra sets of borders to include. 16 simply isn't enough!!!
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