Did someone forget to water? Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show 2011. Warning I was at Chelsea last year.

I so can not help comparing Chelsea 2010 with Melbs Garden Show 2011 . Here it goes.

Comparison one: there was a fab little idea for wall planters tucked in a corner of a Melbourne show garden and the plants (strawberries) were drooping with thirst. Its only Day 2 in Melbourne   – Chelsea plants do not know the horror of  ‘The End’ until the last gate shuts firmly.

Comparison Two: Designers in Melbourne took the podium with gusto and confidence (one chopped designer above). They explained what inspired them without a hint of embarrassment. Told us what life is all about. Hellaleuja brother. I felt the awaken earth mother spirit leap with  joy.  The quiet pause ridden modesty of the British designer perhaps aint very Australian.

Comparison Three: Children. None at Chelsea. Guess how many lost children announcements I heard today at Melbourne’s International Garden Show? Four in 3 hours.

Children exist. And its them who cause visual havoc in our gardens. Children was not a strong topic for Chelsea 2010. It was more about gardens for someone who has no kids in their life at all. Not even once a year.

So me was very happy to see the above cubby houses looking funky and somewhat under polished. Very suitable for my oh so terribly ordinary child centred life.

Comparison Four: Garden Design. Both Chelsea and Melbourne have great design and some rather less great. The main difference is Chelsea has way more budget to flaunt its design possibilities. In turn the finishes and detailing at Chelsea are often exquisite. Whilst there was some great finishes in Melbourne there is less of a high polished concrete satin glean.

The Flemings sponsored design was one of the few Australian designs at Chelsea 2010. Fleming’s Chelsea design was reproduced at Melbourne’s show  but on a lesser scale. Does that says something about Australia? ….Would Kylie Minogue spend less money on her Aussie tour than Europe? I wonder?

By the way Flemings created a great design in both countries, nevertheless designing a spectacle complete with bikini clad chicks, and your oversized frontage, does little for raising the awareness of Australia’s design maturity.

So you want something designed? always look at previous experience

Garden Beet has re-learnt a very very old lesson. If you are going to engage a designer or anyone for that matter- always always do your homework on the professional’s BUILT experience.

It is so god damn easy for people to say ‘YES’ i can do that. People do that don’t they?

You can do anything as long as the client is willing to pay.

But guess what sunshine? You just dont know what you dont know.

And if there are problems – when are the problems going to surface ? Well after the designer has hot footed away. Its hard pinpointing liability 6mnths down the track . And then try 5 years.

Yes there are insurances.

But jeeze major headaches and pains could be saved if people were willing to be less ‘ego’ and more thoughtful. Gosh its not hard to say I dont know.

 

Garden Centres and Advertising. Girly shots, advertising and moulds

Oh its christmas and all I can think about are glorious garden images. Frolicking through the webimages available at istock and various other image stores around cyber world I stumbled across this image.

Girls are always used to sell stuff. But not gardening stuff.

Gardening corporates usually steer clear of the girly phenomna and go for an organic homely apple in a wooden bucket look. Or beautiful floral sweet gloves and matching digging set – simply gorgeous.

Now the almsot soft porn  pink perfumery aesthetic with the latest gardening product – this is new .

Outdoor spaces could often do with a bit of ‘coco-channelling’. Its nice to think  that garden designs and all things associated with gardens can be shaken up, stirred and reconfigured.

Dont get me wrong – I like the organic wommery look too-but its nice to jump out of one mould and into another – at least for a second? no?

Will there ever be a Flagship Garden Centre somewhere on Regent Street, London?

Floral and Hardy Garden Design Reveal The Top 10 Easy to Grow Herbal Remedy Plants.

As summer officially ends, cold and flu season approaches, why not try remedies grown by you instead of venturing to the chemist for expensive medicines.

This guide from Floral and Hardy Garden Design will show you how by presenting 10 easy to grow plants that can be used for traditional home remedies. So not only can your garden be beautiful, but also a delightful extension to your medicine cabinet.

If you are a headache sufferer, Chrysanthemum parthenium, commonly known as ‘Feverfew’, can help ease the pain as it acts as an inhibitor of serotonin, stemming the inflammation of blood vessels within the brain. Feverfew has also been used over the centuries to aid digestion. Use only the dried leaves to make a tea, as fresh ones can cause skin irritation and mouth ulcers. With daisy like flowers and citrus-scented leaves, this plant thrives in full sun, spaced at 40-45cms.   Source: NcWildFlower.org

The easy to cultivate ­­Calendula or ‘Marigold’ can be used as an anti-inflammatory as well as an anti-viral remedy. This golden bright flower has its uses in treating skin conditions such as eczema, burns, boils and abscesses when used fresh as a rub. Marigold tea also helps ease stomach ulcers, sore throats, menstrual cramps and conjunctivitis. To make the tea, pour 200 ml of boiling water over one-two teaspoons of calendula and let sit for 15 minutes. This colourful annual performs best in well drained, sunny environments to flower in spring, also timing it wonderfully for use of the petals in salads as the weather starts warming up. Source: Plantcare.com
The attractive Achillea millefolium is one of the most versatile plants in the garden. More commonly known as ‘Devil’s Nettle’ or ‘Yarrow’, this immune system boosting plant contains 25 beneficial chemicals which can be used to treat a variety of ailments including joint pain, colds, eczema and influenza. To make a cold busting tea, take a teaspoon of dried leaves, add boiling water, then strain. To treat eczema and joint pain, crush the flowers to make the essential oil and mix with water to make a useful anti-inflammatory rub. Rumoured to have been used by Achilles himself, Achillea should be planted in sunlight, 30-40cms apart in well-drained soil and dead-headed regularly to prolong flowering.

Hypericum perforatum, or ‘St. John’s Wort’, has enjoyed a reputation as an anti-depressant for many years. This powerful herb can help in combating SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and symptoms of menopause without many of the side affects associated with other chemical treatments. Pick the flower buds with some leaf just as the first flower cluster is about to open, allow to dry out, then steep 4-5 teaspoons in 500ml boiled water. Drink 100ml of the infusion two to three times a day. Easy to grow in any soil, just keep slightly shaded for floral longevity. Due to its potency, please seek medical advice before taking it.  Source: IsabellaCounty.org

Acting as a natural sedative, Valeriana officinalis provides a remedy for bouts of anxiety. The roots can be made into a tea to treat anxiety, or alternatively steep the dried or fresh leaves in boiling water to make an infusion to ease insomnia. This versatile plant can grow anywhere, from damp sites to rocky soil. For best results you should trim newly flowering heads to encourage growth of new roots and expect a perennial third generation flowering around mid autumn.  Source: Dipity.com

Known for its immune system building properties, Echinacea angustifolia, also known as ‘Coneflower’, is an immunostimulator from which can be made raw Echinacea. It was used by American natives as a method to help treat coughs, colds, sore throats, ear and urinary tract infections and to alleviate pain from arthritis. Make into a tea by pouring one cup of boiling water over quarter cup of fresh roots, stems, leaves or flowers, or two teaspoons of dried plant material, covering and steeping for five minutes and then straining. It also acts as an active repellent of mosquitoes and house flies. Avoid clay soils as this plant will thrive best in hot, well drained conditions, with some initial watering to help it to establish.  Source: Viable-Herbal.com

Symphytum officinale, also known as ‘Comfrey’, has long been employed in healing sprains, arthritis, burns, insect bites, bedsores, acne and other skin conditions. Not recommended for internal use, instead make an ointment by chopping stems, leaves and flowers and placing into a jar for 3-4 weeks. Be careful when harvesting as the hairy stems and leaves can sometimes irritate the skin. Comfrey will grow in most soils but is nitrogen hungry so should be mulched with well-rotted manure or good compost every year. The first flowering should be trimmed back to encourage further growth of stems, however this herb requires a well-weeded plot with at least 60-90cms of space between each plant.  Source: EnergyFarms.net

A perennial grass, native to Northern Europe and America, Arnica Montana, can help combat sprains and is proven to increase the blood flow to affected areas and speed recovery. The plant is best utilised when harvested for its roots’ rhizomes at the beginning of autumn once the leaves have died down. Prepare a tincture by adding 2 or 3 tablespoons of crushed flowers or dried and powdered root to 2 cups of alcohol and allowing it to steep for two weeks. Dilute a teaspoon of the tincture into one cup of warm water and apply to bruises and sprains. Alternatively, grind two tablespoons of dried flowers and add to 8 tablespoons of melted petroleum jelly. Thriving among woodland, it is best to recreate the conditions with part shade and well-drained, acidic soil. Dead-head regularly to encourage further blooming. Source: GreenChronical.com

Marrubium Vulgare, or ‘Horehound’, acts as a cough soother when made into a syrup to treat the common cold and asthma. Pour boiling water onto 1oz of fresh or dried leaves per pint, a glassful may be taken three to four times a day. The leaves can also be used to make sweets by boiling down until the juice is extracted, then add sugar before boiling again until the consistency is thick enough to pour into cake cases and cut into squares when cool. It thrives in poor, dry soil and can be cultivated from seeds sown in 23 cm spaces, from cuttings or most commonly through root division. Source: Bfs.Claremont.edu

Most familiarly the final plant we have is Lavendula, or ‘Lavender’ which is a beautiful  fragrant shrub used for centuries as an aid to sleep and as an antiseptic when placed directly onto cuts and bites. Simply harvesting the flowers, drying them out and placing them in a pillow is a simple and effective way of easing yourself to sleep. Grow lavender in a sunny position and ensure you trim once flowering has finished in order to keep its shape. Source: TheFlowerExpert.com

As with all herbal remedies, it is essential to speak to your doctor or a knowledgeable practitioner before commencing any treatment, especially if you are pregnant or taking other medicines.

100% Design. Vertical Gardens Living Walls: the next generation are framed. Du Pont Corian 3D Math Series.

Photo Credits: At 100% Design at InsideOut by KWI&POM, DuPont and Biotecture launched a stunning new solution for living walls using the 3D Math collection of decorative panels made from DuPont™ Corian®  hi tech surfaces. Photo by Jon Tonkin for DuPont and KIWI&POM

Natural gardening types sometimes argue that growing gardens vertically is a fad, its unsustainable, its commercial trickery, its a gimmick, lets get back to terra firma. Meanwhile those who know that vertical gardens can work are busy exploring its potential.

At the 100% Design Expo (London, Earls Court 2010 September) product designers have morphed plants with cladding. An architect can now cost planted cladding by the square metre. Wow. That could not be done 2 years ago.

Does it work?

It depends on many factors but so does every garden bed. No need to dismiss an entire garden bed typology just because it’s a bit different. Yes it may need a bit more water but if it helps to consolidate urban sprawl perhaps it aint so evil  (see this post for further discussion on vertical gardens and urban sprawl)?

The cladding: what is it?

The product designers at DuPont have created ‘Corian 3d Math Serious’. Patterns based on mathematical equations.

Patterns such as Fibonacci, Voronoi and Gauss are used by the designers to create 3 dimensional forms for walls.

Mathematical equations have influenced the design of  surfaces before (such as the South Eastern Freeway Noisewalls, Melbourne, Australia) but DuPont have used these patterns to create a frame for vertical gardens. This is certainly a new concept (to me).

DuPont enlisted the help of Biotecture to create the green wall. The cladding is then placed over the living wall or vertical garden to create a beautiful rhythmic frame for the strapping foliage of the vertical garden behind.

The possibilities are endless. Garden Beet will certainly be experimenting with this material at play time.

Big mama wind chimes. For the giant in you.

I like a tinkle or deep dooong in the garden. But really – do we need to see the chime? In the Welsh Garden created by Anne Wareham the chimes are in a woods – not visible except when the visitor is underneath the tree canopy. I like that secret location. It added depth to the garden and also psychology reduced the garden size. Chimes enable a friendly hello to transfer from boundary to boundary without much effort.

If you are going to see the wind chimes I would argue – if you must – can someone redesign the wind chime – failing that –  lets see the wind chimes as big as possible. How about an oversized 4 metre wind chime?  Now that is a fun-‘ish’ way to deal with an ordinary design in a largish landscape.

Garden trellis is a home – for vertical gardens and Mr and Mrs – architects are in the garden

Architects are truly in the garden. Garden designers may only be colouring in the planting beds soon.

Architects Tham & Videgård Arkitekter have just designed the home owners into the garden trellis …  in ya go mr and mrs – with the snails, spiders and rootballs – can’t get much indoor outdoor living than this ? have the architects done it all ….

to me this project is redefining the garden and home – very funny

BBQ Garden Accessories are integrated – David Coleman Architecture

Thanks to Contemporist for this image.

When I see landscape and buildings working together – I love it.

A more unusual garden accessory suspect –  the BBQ/open fire – is not an afterthought. It is integrated into the building’s decking which is acting like a plinth for the house. The excess rock on site has also been reused to build the gabion walls which are designed to create privacy and spatial division.

This landscape response seems to makes sense with the site.  I am left wondering if it is finished? Perhaps the architects felt the plant material bit of the design was not needed – or perhaps not their skill set?

If you get around to asking them before me here is their website http://www.davidcoleman.com/

 

Perching, jumping and micro climates for gardens by Scape Studio

Look at the fun you can have when creating micro-climates for plants and people.

Scape/landscape Architecture PPLC are playing around with the ground and cantilevered salvaged ship timbers to increase varied planting conditions and opportunities for humans to jump, perch, hop and climb.

This design makes me want to start wedging timber posts into my garden for the children to play on. Better than the usual off the shelf garden playgrounds.

For more details on these designers in New York go to their web site  http://www.scapestudio.com/

Best in show and me

Photo: Ryan’s Garden

There was a little discussion happening on twitter today….was the particular garden above worthy of best in show? Well if it was my show …no…

but best in show is such a funny event anyway…. …nevertheless I jumped off twitter to find current gardens that would get my vote …and here are a few shots I found …the first one is at the Milan Furniture show 2010 by Lucatrazzi …he is playing around with gardens and light and letting the user influence the spatial patterns …whatever …..its experimental and gives me ideas

i also like the next design…not its final form …but I like the fact that it questions what does a windmill have to look like?….for god-sake we are about to be invaded by windmills …may as well get them looking good, diverse, different …why do all windmills look the same …perhaps there is only one way?? no surely not …  (image taken from inhabitat )

anyway I think it illustrates that I want something different from gardens/landscapes compared to the judges who voted the 1st image best in show

…. i like new ideas …new ways of doing things ….and I like to think we are responding to the demands, needs of today not the 1900s……..really I just like clever visuals …its all about me….

The subversive gardener is Vanessa Harden. Covert seed dispersal design agent.

I could not believe what Vanessa Harden was doing when I first spoke with her in 2009. She was at the very back of the student/fringe section of the 100% design show in London and I was on the hunt for interesting garden items. She was showing her redesign of a major gardening tool used by Guerilla Gardeners, the seed bomb. She had redesigned its size, shape and delivery to make it easier for the Guerilla Gardener to secretly inject plant life into public spaces.

Why would Venessa try to redesign the seed bomb?

She is a designer interested in exploring mainstream design processes and applying them to subcultures.

I was intrigued. Up until speaking with Vanessa I was oblivious to an actual Guerilla Gardening movement. Nevertheless I could identify with the desire to take public planting matters into one’s own hands. Preferably my hands – could i really trust someone else to get the seed mix right?

For further details her website is here http://vanessaharden.com/?p=570 and http://seedpillproject.wordpress.com/

Loop.pH are pushing at the edges of garden design in the UK. Vertical gardens knitted for wall-less spaces.

This post is for those convinced that garden design in the UK is lost in the 1920’s.

Check out these vertical gardens being built by London designers Loop.pH. This design team are using biological molecular structures to create a frame for climbing plants.  These are sublime gardening accessories –  innovative, beautiful and very useful.

Growing beans without a good support system is a total pain. The difficulty of securing plant supports when there is limited soil depth can be challenging. To overcome this problem  Loop.pH have developed a ‘knitted’ free-standing frame or wall. Deep soil is not required to stabilise the frame. Plants can happily climb and produce in planting bags of limited soil depth. This is great for those who are surrounded by concrete surfaces.

The system has been used on MetaboliCity (a project involved in transforming London’s unproductive east into urban farms) and is scheduled to be shown at London’s ecobuild in 2011.

According to Icon Magazine March 2010

its so easy and effective as a building system that the designers are going to open source the instructions so others can develop it

Loop.pH’s website is http://loop.ph/bin/view/Loop/WebHome

A Quick Garden Design Idea with 200 Objects, Not Much Money and Loads of Creativity

No money? Stuck for ideas on how to liven up your garden design?  Arrangement of the most everyday items can create a striking effect.

You have 30 minutes to liven up a drab garden. Lets apply the lessons being taught by artist Stephanie Imbeau outside London’s Channel Four. Repetition and Context.

Grab some household items that have the same shape and colour. Arrange these items and shapes in various ways, over and over again to create a pattern.

PLUS.

Take the items out of their normal setting and use them for a purpose for which they are not usually used or locate them in a setting where they are not normally found to create visual intrigue.

Voilà – a no dig amazing garden art program and a show stopping outdoor space.

Home workers: would a rectangle of orange at the bottom of the garden help if you get caught in eeyore’s gloomy place?.

I had captain shite day yesterday in the world of internet business

1. Some dude tried to strike a ‘deal’ that was a total sham (I have waisted well respected suppliers and shippers time with organising the mother of all orders)

2.  Some other dude rang me trying to convince me that I needed his search engine help – he would not got away – and then when I told him I was already on the first page of Google he hung up on me! Right. Thanks for that.

3. Then a marketing letter landed in my inbox which set me off about the lack of transparency in internet business.

Then I went to Sam’s and sat in her back garden. And there it was. Her kinetic garden art. The 4.10 train. The beautiful speed of orange made me feel better.

Could this be a design solution for the home worker with no water cooler mates to debrief ? Ensure you have some type of colourful movement that changes the view momentarily in case you get caught in eeyor’s gloomy place. I think it works for me.

Modish About has a great garden design – check her cheerleader style

This post is all about garden art.

Love this front image of a great blog Modish About .

Wall planters – Hey designers could there be art in them gardens ?

Given that walls take up so much space they really need to become more multi-functional. Wall planters can be a type of eco-shelf and their form is currently undergoing some transformation.

The wall planter above is called Brick Habitat and was submitted to the re-urbia competition run by inHabitat. The bricks provide bird habitat and places for plants to grow.

They remind me of the swallows nests that use to be a permanent feature of our carport when I was growing up. I am sure there is a whole raft of issues with the idea (ie. not enough growing depth for plants, the weight of the soil and plant) but conceptually its great.

You may/may not be aware that there has been a guerilla gardening movement happening worldwide. These people or groups often insert plants in the most unlikely places. They are a new breed of garden designer – they work with the urban fabric, have a huge political motive and are saying something to all of us – does it resonate? For me it does – so I call this garden art.

I do not know who took these photos of this garden art street-cred wall planters. If you know please let tell me so I can give them a link .  Fantastic. Even better who did them?

Garden Art vs Garden Design. Can the home owner really do better than a designer?

Conversations about whether a garden is art and what is art vs design can all seem very tedious. As Anne Wareham – the webmaster of Thinking Gardens – suggests in Gardens as Chick Lit it may not be useful to discuss whether gardens are art. Why should we limit ourselves into an ‘either’ ‘or’ situation?

I raised the topic with the Thinking Garden’s website as to whether green walls are a new type of garden. I was trying to understand why this group felt so strongly that gardens in the UK were not being treated as ‘art’ works.

To some degree I felt annoyed with their views.

Are they just defining gardens as a space surrounded by four walls? What about Flora Grubb’s work in the US: surely there must be a UK equivalent. What about all the great developments going on with urban gardens, green walls, green roofs etc. Is there no one in the UK worth mentioning?

I had a look at Thinking Gardens iconic garden examples and it seemed to me that a whole ‘type’  had been dismissed. The small garden or urban gardening is pretty much disregarded by one of their contributors as bad design. What? All of it? Why isn’t anyone saying anything?

Maybe I do not understand – I need to go back to basics.  Stay with me while I get up to speed on this issue. But first I need to work out whether art and design are the same thing. Maybe my whole understanding of art is different from the Thinking Gardens definition. Perhaps I have been too exposed to design magazines.

Thankfully I found a fantastic blog that documents a debate on  this very issue. The blog started in 2006 and the last response was made in January 2010.  http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/art-vs-design . They don’t know the answer – no-one does. Good so I’ll take that as meaning a designer or an artist is quite capable of producing art.

I then stumble into Rachel Mathews blog who is surrendering the good garden as ‘art’ award to a well versed garden owner. mmmm

What about an excellent garden designer who has the technical knowledge and years of research who  interacts meaningfully with the owner – and together an overall message is delivered.