Sheffield University’s Landscape Department is a world focus for work on naturalistic planting design. Professor James Hitchmough has his own site. Piet Oudolf’s website has details of garden openings.
Along with a growing number of others I am keen to promote discussion about gardens and gardening – their culture and philosophy. Not just something to keep the chattering classes busy over their chardonnay but something to try to make gardens better. Thinking gardens is a website which aims to encourage more of us to make the intellectual leap. Anne Wareham and Charles Hawes have been trying to provoke more of us to do this, and to voice critical thoughts, with their very inventive garden at Veddw House in the Wye Valley. By inventive, I don’t want people to think it is full of ‘installations’, it manages to be a relaxing as well as a thought-provoking place to be.
Hadspen Parabola. Remember Hadspen, and Nori and Sandra Pope? They have gone back to Canada, and rather than try to replace them, owner Niall Hobhouse has done something much more dramatic – to clear the site and create an entirely new garden. At the time of writing (June 2007) the search is on for a gardener/designer who will have a free hand in implementing their conception. The project is called the Hadspen Parabola and it has a website which acts as an on-going forum for discussion about the site – and hence about the whole process of garden design. Some fascinating material here.
I used to run one, so I know what I am looking at! There seem to be so many now, far more than when I was potting up, writing a catalogue and piling plants into an old Initial Towels laundry van, to get to plant sales up and down the country. Yet few really push the boat out with new plant selections. Here are some that do:
Jonathan Garratt is a very imaginative potter who works with terracotta made in a timber-fired kiln. In recent years he has branched out into the field of ‘garden punctuation’ – terracotta pieces which can be used to create surprise and witty effects in the garden. Don’t expect ‘safe’ or ‘tasteful’ – his work can sometimes be quite edgy and spiky.