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 ;)

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.

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

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......

Are we done with the moral high ground in this country?

Flipping through the Society of Garden Designers magazine, Garden Design Journal August 2010, last night I began to read Tim Richardson's piece at the front. He always amuses me and it felt like the right tone to set before drifting off to sleep. NOT SO this time.

I was shocked and admit still am to discover the depths to which the RHS and associated bodies have dropped. I am talking about show garden judging. Yes the old chestnut that raised it's head publicly at last years Hampton Court flower show.

- Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2009 - sparks fly in The Daily Telegraph Gardening Theatre


- Chief Assessor for Show Gardens for the RHS, responds to Tim Richardson's criticisms of the RHS judging process.

Not only has nothing been done to raise the morale and ethical tone of the situation, indeed it appears to have worsened!

The chief assessor and show garden judge, yes he can sit in both camps!, who also happens to be head of a new garden design school - no potential conflict of interest there then - is, and I quote "putting himself forward as a designer for next year's Chelsea". One assumes he will relinquish head assessors role then but there is nothing confirmed in the article to say this.

ARE YOU KIDDING??????

I hear you ask. Well apparently NOT.

I am obviously not the only person who can see the blatant conflict of interest not to mention appropriateness in this example but it is only one example of a repeated pattern. Be a show judge and then drop out for  a year and design a garden for the show. A model apparently followed by a number of award winning designers it would seem.

If we Brits used to pride ourselves on our ethics and the moral high ground we followed and demonstrated to the the world, then what in heavens name has happened here in one of our most trusted and loved national bodies? Have they lost sight of basic common sense. Do they not see how difficult it is for the judges to remain impartial and even if they do manage this task, how it will be perceived by a wider, public audience. Have they not noticed the recent political scandals around expenses and conflict of interest?

Of course the wider public is probably blissfully unaware of this conflict of interest. The BBC production on the big RHS shows does not even touch this aspect of the show scene, no real mention is made of either the process of assessing and then judging or of the individuals who judge/assess yet it lauds the winners again and again. Which given the current situation is probably understandable because frankly, it seems pretty hard to defend.

Sadly for me all winners could be tainted with this brush until there is a clear stated and observed line between entrants and assessors/judges, the judges are from a wider variety of associated industries and have a more international flavor. Oh and conflict of interest is both CLEARLY stated and dealt with.

I find later in the magazine that the French are doing it FAR BETTER than us, non c'est vrai, in the form of Chaumont. Exhibitors cannot return for 3 years, to allow new talent to have a chance and assessors are taken from a wide range of expertise including the arts, horticulture and medicine. This year 4 landscape architects, a neuroscientist, an author and a psychiatrist. Now that's what I call diverse!

A career limiting blog post? will I be blackballed by the RHS? perhaps. But one has to ask why this is allowed to continue almost unchallenged.

Do you dear reader find it acceptable?

Do you like me want to have full disclosure and visibility?

Final postings

Well I must say it has been kind of fun posting some of the ups and downs through the PG Dip course as part of the 'projects' we were meant to complete.

And as the course is now all but over, one project left to complete, postings and the blog will be coming to an end, probably one or two more entries for completion!

A new blog will be rising through my new website - www.rosewarengardens.com - once it is up and running and I hope some of you will join me there. It will be focusing on topics and tips for the month including a top garden to visit and monthly garden tasks that you might want to consider, plus some good finds on the supplier front and maybe the odd anecdote on the project front.

Thank you for your comments and feedback and for reading thus far.

down to Dixter

I must admit that two gardens in one day is a bit much and after the frustrations and disappointments of Sissinghurst I had high hopes for Great Dixter home of the late Christopher Lloyd with unconventional and supposedly spectacular gardens.

It was easier to find and MUCH less hectic than Sissinghurst and if the gardens are the comparison point there is no earthly reason why. Dixter is by far the more impressive place. The mock tudor Lutyens house sits within its surroundings perfectly, conjuring up images of the rural idyll that it may or may not have been in it's origins.

From Great Dixter

The sunk garden was by far my favorite spot and my first port of call it is striking all at once. The colours. The level changes. the buildings surrounding it. The views through it. The planting. The colour. I will admit to be a bit taken aback by the chaotic-ness of it all plants seemingly jumbled in together in ones, twos and maybe mores, colours clashing and offsetting and fabulous contrast of form and shape. I was making photographs and this makes me look more carefully, but there is a point where I simply had to stop shooting and just revel in the gloriousness of the plantings - I am a plantaholic, no apologies there - I walked around it three times in different directions, sat in the barn-ish building to one side and breathed it in. I suspect this is not the plan for this upper pathway as it is narrowish and one needs to navigate flopping plants with one's footsteps but nevertheless it was enthralling.

From Great Dixter

Stepping through the walled gateway into a courtyard of rather garish pots was a contrast and not necessarily welcome yet the paving here was intricate and to be marvelled at - and photographed of course. Down on into the back gardens and more contrast and rule breaking to be seen. The last 3rd was right up against the 2nd and 1st thirds (if you are a designer you will know this rule of thirds, if not...well you only have to ask!)

From Great Dixter

I should have followed a map but wandering took me through a tropical garden sheeted in shade cloth to protect the plants from the scorching heat into more meadows and across a brick path back up to the long borders. FIlled with colour and vibrant flowerings the wide borders show off the Great Dixter style in a truly unforgettable way they lead up to a bench which was occupied on both my meanderings so I didn't get to sit and just admire but I did stand a stare for a long time, camera in hand.

Walking up through yew hedges (Taxus baccata) on impossibly decorative and yet functional steps into the orchard continues the magical feel of the place, tiny pathways - yay plants rule! - leading behind borders and around borders and through borders.

From Great Dixter

Swathes of floriferous herbaceous and shrubby perennials making their sumptuous summer statement.

From Great Dixter

The high garden was too chaotic for me, undoubtedly plantings of note but chaotic and rather hysterical, if planting can be hysterical. There seems no rhythm here, structure but a bit more of a conglomeration without the story. perhaps I needed longer to understand it.


My second favorite part is the bench facing the topiary garden between house and nursery. An Alice in Wonderland-esque spot with towering topiary yews and meadows scrambling at their feet. The cat and I, for they have a cat or two here, sat and watched the world go by. Cat was watching for ice cream laden punters, to sweet talk into a mouthful or two of creaminess I was hiding from the heat of the day and reading the Dixter booklet.

From Great Dixter

This was my favourite garden of the day though even here not one plant tempted me.

Work experience

I was lucky enough to have two days with Charlotte Rowe and her assistant last week. Full days with site visits, clients, 3d modelling and planting plans crammed in.

Interesting to see a thriving practice on a day to day basis how hectic it is and how much work goes into all those fabulous looking gardens not to mention the PR & marketing of the brand.

Great to learn some SketchUp tips from Tomoko and also to be able to pass some on!

Seeing gardens that have yet to be photographed was a treat sadly my camera card decided to develop a fault so I lost all my images :( I will have to wait to see them in print sometime in the coming year.

Are herbaceous borders still PC?

The day after a big downpour of rain is not usually the best day to visit a garden full of herbaceous borders however we have had so much sun and heat of late that my thinking was they would be perkier and less wilty than they have been laterly.

After a cool start the sun battered down in the huge circular herbaceous gardens at Angelsey Abbey. Not a spot of shade to be had on any of the benches. It looked, as a whole fabulously floriferous and he budding Hemerocallis (day lily) and Crocosmia (montbretia) promising great things to come later in the season. But really, on closer inspection it is somehow odd to find every plant so ferociously staked and tethered into place. Each delphinium had a pole, the Thalictrum flavum subsp Glaucum staked similarly. Others with more stamina, Echinops, Achillea and some monstrous Cephalaria were un-bound and none the worse for it. With such dense plantings it seems a laborious task that fetters the view, does it really need to be like this?

I can hear the head gardeners railing that it must look good at all times and the only way to stop delphinium flop is to bind them mercilessly to a pole. Indeed at well over 2m I suppose their weight would make them susceptible to sharp gusts of wind though shelter from the thick 3m high Fagus sylvatica hedge must provide some protection?

It just seems too much somehow. I like my delphiniums un-hampered and elegantly swaying in the breeze although truthfully mine (also pacific giant) rarely last in the garden for long and are cut for floral gestures and grandeur inside the house

SGD Photo competition

Each year the Society of Garden Designers hosts a series of competitions for students to show off their work. This seems to be aimed at final year students in degree courses given time scales but some of the OCGD year of 2010 will be entering examples of their work this year.

The Photographic section is due today, 30th June, and I sent of the required CD (well DVD in fact) yesterday with almost all the competition information filled out!

The night before we had an exceptional downpour of rain followed by weak early morning sun. Perfect for flower shots. So in my PJ's I pottered in the garden at home currently burgeoning with floral offerings and shot a fabulous Philadelphus which has lurched to my side of the fence from next door. They have hacked it into submission on their side, on mine it flops and flows with abundant white blooms.

I often shoot in the garden in the early morning, camera and sometimes tripod in hand. I sit on a chair waiting for the sun to pas the big Bay Tree and filter over the roof tops for just the right amount of light on a subject. A south east facing garden turns out to be delightful it terms of good morning light!

planting plans ...DONE

Planting plan around the hot tub deck, 1 of 12 plans for project 3.




Final straight is in sight amazingly. Planting plans completed this evening and VW sheets all tarted up beautifully to look elegant and professional.

It did occur to me that whilst I am struggling away vociferously through the course and the trials it has brought, I have in fact learnt and ENORMOUS amount and am incredibly proud of the work I have achieved, ok so it's not perfect but it's first stages of a new career, it's not likely to be perfect, just yet anyway. I suppose that is something else I have learned how to let go of being perfect and to prioritise enough to get things complete.

The exhibition preparation might even get a whole 5 days...maybe 4 is more realistic though.

last legs?

As I head into the final week of the course, well the course before the Exhibition I am realising there has been no down time to speak of since December. The garden, mine that is, is looking a bit bedraggled. Plants flopping where they want, things in need of pruning lolopping wildly wherever they find some light and seedlings (weedlings!) spreading madly. NO TIME NO TIME. I have sat staunchly at my lovely new iMac for about 2 weeks now producing key plans, setting out drawings (curvaceous HELL), cascade drawings, a specification document. Amidst all the fiddling with found errors and fixing found problems.

I resolve to find some work in the coming months to make me practice practice practice all the technical sides, something possibly uncreative but where I can hone my skills, my experience so that this all becomes second nature and not a dive for folders and files from college lectures.

I am pleased with some of the results although tbh atm I have no idea what the whole will look like as Friday is the day for printing it all out and collating. (Thus leaving myself 5 WHOLE days for exhibition prep).

Planning permission, finalising letters, finishing mood boards, finishing planting plans - doing the drainage (does a chalk slope really NEED drainage I keep asking!?), title blocking it all and making sure the cross referencing matches up. As I found out in my first design career the job is much more about execution than creativity...and I used to think I was good at execution, not so certain now, but more practice will help that I am sure.

Last night as I was put the finishing touches to a construction drawing (above) and in true multitasking form chatted to my great friend Ju in New Zealand (it was 1am)I realised I was quite pleased with the result.... I might even say it looks quite professional!

Chelsea Flower Show 2010

Half way down the motorway I discover my ticket is still pinned to the kitchen notice board. That scuppers my pre-Chelsea supper plans and means a very early morning on Tuesday, 1st day for RHS devotees.

There is always a buzz and even though I know RHS Chelsea Flower show is a humongous marketing, self-promotion and selling event not to mention gross waste of money and other resources in the name of, well I am not sure in the name of what, possibly not good design(!) but that said I am still excited about attending.

It's busy even at 7.35am when I arrive and I begin snapping (photos here) as I wait for my Chelsea companion to battle her way through rush hour after a late arrival at Paddington. I hate being jostled and having only a few minutes to see the gardens so arriving early seems like a good plan. Gardens take time to get to know, to inspect, to touch to smell to engage with. 5 mins jostling with the crowd is not my idea of 'seeing' the gardens, but it has to do as there is no other choice. Being greeted by Roger Platts traditional garden is pleasant if not challenging, beautifully executed and perfectly planted (he gets gold unsurprisingly). Apparently his last garden some 8 years ago was much the same, though I cannot comment as I didn't actually see it.

Tom Stuart Smith wow's the crowd, well he wow's me that's for sure, I want to climb the barrier and wander into the woodland and discover what plants are in there, then dangle feet in the york stone clad pond.

Andy Sturgeon wins best in show which surprises me. Not because I don't like the garden, bits of it are great but having heard much about it pre-Chelsea it feels like a bit of a let down in the flesh (or maybe that should be 'in the cambium'). It is also the first sighting of the ghastly brown/purple bearded Iris.

side note: I feel strongly about it for some reason, possibly because it is SOOOOO tasteless and the fact that there are near 2000 TB's to choose from makes it's appearance almost unforgivable - if anyone gets the impression that I hate this variety, they would be right. It appears several more times in show gardens and stands, though never in quite such an offensive way.

Robert Myers' immense cloistering structures are pleasing except that they turn out to be an almost direct copy of the Australian pergolas, which were put on hold from the year before due to financial restraints in 2009....this makes it somewhat passe not to mention a direct crib.

James Wongand David Cubero's Malaysian Tourism garden also wow's in an understated perfection kind of way. Taking less is more to a perfect execution and filled with really useful plants, if only I knew what they were at the time, I would have been even more impressed. It is fun to watch the BBC filming him on the terraces all of there feet clad only in socks.

We tramped through the entire exhibition missing only the floristry marquee. Loving the Eden projects 'Places of Change' for shear size and statement factor not to mention that the grower and planters were groups of homeless people thus making it less of a money pit and more of a learning and 'growing' experience for those involved. More of this at Chelsea please. We bump into Elspeth, one of last years students doing the showground the other way and pause for a 15 minute comparison of what we have seen so far.

Was I inspired by the designs? frankly? not really. Did anyone break boundaries? well, no not really, was some of it inspiring, well yes of course. Would I like much more information on the day? yes please. Will I try to do it differently when I do a Chelsea garden....well lets see when that happens!

I very much enjoyed Ann Marie Powell's comment that what she wanted to do next year was 'a big garden', it seems to me that most of the successful, visible garden designers are men where as most of the students are women. Glass ceiling anyone?

And of course my real reason for attending is that the plethora of nursery men and women from all corners of the country who bring their finest for our delectation, not to mention endless seeds and big glossy plant catalogues. I could spend a great deal more time wandering the floral pavilion picking their brains

iMac i5 !

After a little more research and a few helpful hints from the Vectorworks forums I have taken the plunge and committed myself to an iMac i5 with a bit of extra RAM.

It feels like more of a commitment than just buying some hardware and no I am not talking about the whole Apple lifestyle meme thing either :). It is symbolic of committing to a design career in the garden industry. Thrilling if daunting.

Business Linking...for FREE!

Business Link - A well kept secret, well probably not but it was news to me. Charlotte Rowe told us this was one of the best things she did on finishing her OCGD diploma. In need of cheering up and spending NO CASH I just booked myself onto 4 of the 6 courses starting the week following then end of term 3. Exciting and hopefully enabling and I am resigned to remaining an eternal student.

Does modern Garden Design have longevity?

I am mid research on an essay about longevity of land art but it strikes me that, as a designer, I should be aiming for longevity in my garden design, although modern families move relatively regularly (in approx 5-10 year periods - source: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Product.asp?vlnk=2639&More=Y 29/3/10) the number of years that equate to longevity might be a discussion point. So with this in mind should the aim be for a more relative longevity? one that is in relation to how long the client will reside in the house?

Of course under the OCGD philosophy the design anchors the house in it's environment so if this is successful, then the longevity might expect to be greater as new owners will enjoy the well designed gardens as much as the person moving. In theory!

Gardens Illustrated featured Timothy Mowl, Professor of History of Architecture and Designed Landscapes and Director of the MA in Garden History at Bristol University he is in the process of writing about the gardens of each county. A slow process by all accounts. So he is setting the scene of garden history before talking about the modern garden. The focus is apparently on gardens with potential longevity but that are falling in to disrepair. Is this because they are gardens and require constant attention? or simply that they are gardens and therefore not fixed entities but living breathing ever changing creations and is that not what makes them so appealing and compulsive?.

I am also surprised by the number of people following MPil and PhD's in and around garden design and I am inspired.

You tube gets the masterclass

Extracts of the Brookes masterclass are now available on You Tube. Oxford College of Garden Designers now leading, not just keeping up with, the 21st Century!

Meet the Designer masterclass with John Brookes

Oxford College of Garden Design is hosting a series of meet the designer talks on Thursday evenings at St Hughs, Oxford. This week the Garden design legend John Brookes was the speaker. The mentor of our Principal, it was clear why such strong friendship and professional admiration has developed between them. John Brookes is undoubtedly one of the most influential garden designers of the late 20th century, renown for his design work, his teaching and his numerous books and writings. Brookes in person is a delightful and knowledgeable speaker, with a charming, understated humor flowing easily as he recounts stories of projects, clients and beloved gardens.

As he talked about his work over the last half century it struck me that what makes him a legend is probably his ability to work with people and transform their dreams into something universally elegant and appropriate to the building in which they have made their home or their professional workspace. Once can imagine that he is a consummate diplomat in the face of awkward clients and suppliers.

An uplifting and inspiring evening that has inspired me not only to examine his work and philosophy in more depth but also to get out there and design, write and photograph as much as possible, to be seen!

Trip to France

The class is taking a trip to France to see some of the chateau gardens and festivals. The first rendezvous post exhibition is Chaumont with visits to Amboise following. Teach has proposed including Villandry in the tour and one more whose name escapes me...maybe Marqueyssac

I have put these in my plan for coming years as this year I am focusing on another long trip in September so won't be making this trip.

What is a Hard Landscape Portfolio?

I was asked this lately and realise I have skirted around the details in previous postings.

The task was to prepare full construction drawings from Plan, Elevation and Section through to the Detail. Enough to allow a contractor to build each project successfully.

Furnished with some plans, some photographs and some written material the level of detail was up to each person to decide upon.

For some of the students, me included, this meant learning the 'how' of what to build i.e foundation width, depth and content, how does a retaining wall retain, what are the components of a decking structure and how do they fit together, how deep is a pond? and what sits beneath it? how deep is a step riser?, what are the dims of a brick?, a concrete slab? and even a roof tile? plus endless beams, joists, noggins, hoggin, mortar and sub-base components. This detail fathomed, how to brace, hang, support and wedge (!) together. Lastly to gather it all elegantly and efficiently into the CAD program of choice, Vectorworks 2010 which turned out to be stage two of the steep climb to knowledge.

Stage three was printing it all out with perfect titling, positioning, labeling and the right amount of information. Each requiring detailed knowledge of printer performance, features and why DPI might be relevant.

The learning aim was clearly about getting the written construction material off the page and into heads. Then from heads and sketch pads into Vectorworks. Upping skills in both areas, pronto. Having a real project is, for me at least, a blessing, something to actually 'do' rather than play at doing.

I leanrt more than I needed to in some areas and not enough in others.

The final part was a Bespoke portfolio of 12 pieces drawn with enough detail for a craftsman or woman to build for our clients. A creative exercise and most enjoyable although some of my crafts people will need to be magicians as well!

All in all my HLP and bespoke took me 192 hours (curtesy of www.tickspot.com) to complete. That's sitting down at the computer hours, not faffing about making tea, reading, researching, getting help, discussing with peers, tutors, sending 'help' emails, completing Vectorworks tutorial book, deciphering VW help text (bad, really bad!) and the many other tasks that surrounded it. For that, Tickspot reckons another 40 hrs, give or take.

All will be on show at the end of year exhibition in June (16/17), of course updated per instructions from those marking them in the coming weeks.