Silos to the left

The presence of the silos indicates the past use of the site as a farm. The smooth white stems of the birch contrast with the rusting silos. Log piles follow the form of the silos and this, together with under storey planting, aims to attract wildlife. (The silos also present the opportunity to add signage advertising the entrance to the site).

Walk Through

Walking along the main axis of the site. (Having a sketching break from Tom Turner's stuff).

As you walk further along the path, the canopy begins to thin and the visitor centre reveals itself to the right.



Dickie

Yesterday

It was good to get some feedback yesterday. I've found the overlay technique somewhat trying. In the past I've always spent minimal time on plans (as I find them difficult to read) and just gone ahead into axos and sketches to get a 3D feel (we live in an age of instant gratification!). I guess that I need to do a bit of work on this...

I'm going to try to catch up with the materials and planting overlays this week (and catch up on reading previous handouts!), and do some sketching to visualise specific areas within the plan.

Here's a sketch of the entrance to the site, looking towards the visitor centre. The idea is to have a grove of birches, arching over the pathway, to instill a sense of mystery, with glimpses of the visitor centre to the right, the uprights of the birches contrasting with the horizontal line of the visitor centre roof, and the brooding presence of the existing silos to the left, at the start of the journey. Imagine bird song, and noises from the undergrowth

Dickie

Insurance

If any Garden Designers are interested....

I got my insurance through Heath Lambert Group, who were recommended to me by the Society of Garden Designers.

Heath Lambert Group
Admiral House
Waterfront East
Brierley Hill
West Midlands
DY5 1XG

Tel: 01384 822222

www.heathlambert.com

Dickie

Seed Planting

Have finally got around to planting vegetable and flower seeds for this year (thanks for the Phlomis Anne!)

Have been at the drawing board all day and have still not made much progress.

Trying not to panic, but the chances of me having the overlays done by Monday are about as likely as me growing a ponytail!

Dickie

What is an 'image precedent' board?

....Is it a mood board? Who knows, I should have asked but I hadn't read what was required. It's too late now - I've done a mood board, just hope they are the same!

So. I've done the plan, two (very dull looking) sections and a mood board. Not really happy with them, so it will be good to get some feedback tomorrow.

Dickie

Perservering

Have been working on the overlays and have gone back to soft pencils - I'm afraid fat felt tips don't do it for me - I regress to a childlike state, and this is reflected in my drawings.

Hopefully, something ok is emerging from the mire!

Dickie

Wading through treacle

This week has been difficult. I think it's because I'm having trouble working out a brief that I like (I'm still working on it). I'm also finding it hard being faced with an 'oblong' on the masterplan which is part of a bigger picture - It's not like looking at a space where you know where the boundaries are - this is just one jigsaw piece within a picture, that has a wider boundary. It's difficult to focus on a space that is merely a part of a zone within the whole masterplan.

In fact I'm finding it more difficult than the masterplan, as I'm trying to deal with a fragment of a zone with borders that don't exist other than on a piece of paper!

Hope this makes sense!


Dickie

Bamboo lined road like this..

Pergola colours like this..

Memoirs of a Geisha

Saw the above last night. The scenes with the young Geisha running through an endless orange/red & black pergola, and the bamboo avenue en route to a cherry blossom party are stunning. If you see it, you'll know what I mean!

Dickie

Barrier Park 07/02/06

Thames at lowtide, from Barrier Park. Loads of Teal & Shellduck around too - Worth a visit.


Dickie

Barrier Park 07/02/06

Structural, undulating hedges looking really good at the moment

Balloon View

Helps to get a handle on the heights of things added to the masterplan and the way that this affects existing views.

Sunny winter day - Hadlow

You could be waiting for weeks!

Sketches - Existing Condition

Redwings & Fieldfares

Next time you are in Hadlow, check out the playing field adjacent to Garrad House. There were large parties of Redwings and Fieldfares feeding under the trees next to the road this morning.

We usually think of visiting migrant birds in the summer, but Redwings (light stripe above eye and chestnut flanks) and Fieldfares (like Mistle Thrushes but with slate grey upper parts) arrive in winter to escape the freezing conditions of their breeding grounds in Scandinavia and Northern Europe.

Crop Seeds

I like the idea of using the shapes of crop seeds, enlarged and carved from wood, to make sculpture and seating, scattered within the 'sustainability' themed gardens of my detailed area.

I sourced the original images of the seeds from the Mississippi State University Web Site - They have a 'Seed Ident Competition'... how lucky we are!

Dickie

Business Parks

Visited Stockley Park opposite Heathrow Airport yesterday afternoon (to look at the hedges!)

I can't warm to business parks, no matter how well landscaped they are.

Does anyone appreciate attractive surroundings outside when working, or is it counterproductive?

It just reminded me of "The Office". There was nobody about on foot, just car park after car park full of shiny new cars, enclosed by clipped hedges (albeit attractive clipped hedges) - In fact everything was clipped, the trees, the hedges, everything. Presumably it was intentional to create an crisp businesslike atmosphere? I don't know, but it just reminded me of an architects model, blown up to human scale.

If you want to disguise cars, why not just paint them in camouflage colours so they blend in, or horror of horrors, impose car sharing so there aren't so many of them?

Dickie