Garden clocks: outdoor timing for my street and local community

My garden clock faces the street. And its all to do with the sheer frustration of designing public landscapes.

Public areas are political. And political spaces are a nightmare for any designer.There are so many stakeholders and so many opinions that often the most skilled design team will create yet another blah blah space. Perhaps the mayor intervenes and removes a crucial design element or the maintenance team don’t care that the garden beds are left to invasive weeds or maybe there is no maintenance budget.

Whatever designing for the public is hard.

As a result of political shenanigans  my dear old streetscape lacks greatness. It could be so much better but alas my local council has spoken: upgrade 10 years time.

And who knows what the upgrade will really create?

With all this said I look at my front garden and wonder can I possibly upgrade the street NOW.

Can I create a design within my property boundary that contributes to the community space in some way.  Am I able to ‘lift’ the streetscape? Will others respond?

The older generation of my street are first generation Greek, Italian and Macedonian. Gina and a few others spend a lot of time in the street. The new ‘yuppies’ are out and about as well – they have been having babies. We all seem to chat.

Can my front garden contribute to the social happenings?

Well lets see.

Over the next few posts I will talk about the various design features and how each will contribute to the community.

But really I am not that altruistic. I am having fun and am exploring ideas. And of course my design also meets some of my day-to-day issues. I will talk about that too.

How nice is it to be your own client? No need to please anyone but yourself.

Stage One: Garden Clock . Adding a clock to my garden is a cheap and sure way to get the community dependant on my space. Running late for work,  no watch? No worries – check the streetscape clock. OO how good would it be to hear  ‘Lets meet at the house with the clock’.

It’s also rather handy for me too – my car clock is always wrong.

Next post: Stage two.

Garden wall art can make the outdoors snug. And so can vertical gardens.

I have been applying all types of garden wall art to my communal outdoor area in the last 12 months.

The main ‘art’ is the vertical gardens. Everyone loves them and people often comment how the living walls make the space more cosy.

We have limited opportunity to make major changes to our garden therefore we usually have a cheapish ad-hoc approach . The other day I placed a garden clock on the shed wall. Instantly the outdoor space became just that little bit more –  snuggish.

The clock is approx A4 size and it works really well in such a large scale garden. It helps to break the space into more living room scale size.

Deer heads (and other species) adorn interior and garden walls. Retro hunting art?

Did you know the musty stag head hanging on  your family’s drawing room wall has become an icon of super chic? The strong shape creates a great graphic. Garden Beet stocks this item in the garden wall art department. Ours are made of cast iron.

The outdoor british brand Anorak use the icon on many of its outdoor products (outdoor table cloth shown below)

While a very cool hip bar in Angel, London, ‘Elk in the Woods’  has a real head on its wooden walls.

And there is a vertical garden in a bar in Seattle, The Hunter Gatherer, with a couple of taxidermy heads.

There is a trend but I support the fake type. Garden Beet’s fakes are only £24.99 http://www.gardenbeet.com/deer-head-wall.html

Recycled glass garden wall art. It glows at night.

The garden wall as art – a beautiful colour and simple clean shape – made from steel mesh and recycled glass the wall is illuminated from within.

A similar concept to the Dominus Winery in Napa Valley California. The winery was clad with gabions and also glowed in the dark.

Landscape Architects (Hocker Design Group) and Architects are reported to have worked closely with the Architects (Cunningham Architects) to create this award winning project in Dallas.

Once again thanks Contemporist for the images and the info . http://www.contemporist.com/2010/06/24/house-in-the-garden-by-cunningham-architects/

Garden wall insects in the woods of Crossway Infants: fabulous art installation

Garden Beet’s garden wall art accessories have ended up in the woods!! Rachel Meaton from Crossways Infants wrote

‘We have recently put our new wall insects up in the woods at Crossways Infants. They will be used in our new woodland walk. We have tried to use different materials and are using the insects for a minibeast treasure hunt, which the children have loved. Please find some pics attached’.

A big thank you for the pictures. Its really great to see the different ways people use Garden Beet’s products. It always surprises me…I never imagined the insects in such a wonderful location.

Indoor living wall becomes a part vase for cheap and cheerful flowering Bergonia and Gerberias

Recently I installed this living wall and am waiting on some more indoor plants before its complete. Meantime I stumbled across these begonias and gerberias being sold off cheaply at the local supermarket. Am now using the vertical garden as a temporary planting bed-cum-vase. I would consider leaving the begonias in long term however am fairly sure these plants do not like being crowded. The gerbera is more about some weekend  fun.

Am seriously considering using this garden as part indoor planting bed part vase – possibly indoor garden wall art? Beware if you start thinking this may be an idea to consider – every time a new plant is installed in this garden dirt and plant debris ends up on the floor.

Garden wall art trellis: installation at Rory’s in the Brunswick Centre

Love it when customers send pictures of their Garden Beet wares. Here is some garden wall art – a contemporary take on the garden trellis

Rory says

‘wanted to share a pic of our trellis in-situ, it’s getting some evergreen Jasime. Works well with our 70s flat (Brunswick Centre)’.

Thanks Rory – it looks great. Sorry for taking so long to get it on the blog!!

Garden Wall Art. My outdoor sunburst is replaced.

A new garden wall art piece is soon to arrive at Garden Beet.  I reported a while back that some person stole my sunburst from my shed wall. Very upset and disappointed at the whole event. The old design is shown in my other Sunburst Metal Wall Art post . My blank wall is about to be redesigned with my new sunburst model. Just waiting for the delivery.

Garden art with corten steel. Pierre Le Roux Designs are adding design to outdoor accessories.

Using metal in the landscape for garden walls, screens or house numbers  is a great way to add some garden art and sculptural function to the essential but usually dull components of the garden. And corten steel is a great material for adding another dimension to the appearance of metal.  It is designed to rust and it is the rust that makes it popular. The rich colour of the rust can look spectacular and its appearance changes with the various lighting levels during the day.

Corten was developed in America and is also referred to as weathering steel. In Melbourne, Australia rusted steel first became popular as an architectural material in the 1960s but fell out of favour as the run-off stained surrounding concrete pavements.

But all was forgiven by the 2000’s and the material became fashionable again. Landscape designs were either modified to cater for the run-off staining or just ignored.

Landmark buildings and infrastructure projects such as the Craigieburn Bypass Hume Freeway (shown above) has probably contributed to this material becoming popular in domestic gardens in Melbourne.

Below are some shots of work produced by a Melbourne metal artists Pierre Le Roux Design http://www.plrdesign.com.au/. They are definitely adding art to the garden accessories department, adding interest to suburbia’s streetscapes  and producing some unique metal wall art .

Garden spider art is not welcome indoors on any walls – thank goodness for Luxebugaway a true eco gift

This is garden wall art but sometimes these garden ornaments are REAL and come inside the home and are far from decorative. What does one do when faced with a big hairy spider? I strive  to leave them well alone and try to uphold the belief that we can all live happily together.  After all they catch insects and I do enjoy investigating their cobweb art masterpieces. But sometimes mother nature’s ‘creatives’ are not welcome – regardless of their artistic contributions to my very own domestic drudgery. Garden art by spiders in the outdoors is one thing but inside I need more insect control.

Oh what fun and joy I found upon seeing this great invention by Marjolijn. Its a simple to use insect catcher – every home needs one. A great eco-gift.

She has a very funny website too – there is an insect game – all very creepy crawly but a great way to relocate garden art (all in one piece) from the indoors to the outdoors. You can buy them from her website and she may even do other colours. Maybe lime green or pink? http://www.luxebugaway.com/en-lader.htm

I think I have found wall art heaven: LTL Architects. They do more than green walls.

Garden walls are usually dull. That is OK I suppose but jeepers they could be so much more interesting.

Every garden is likely to have a minimum of three fences – why can’t we dedicated one wall in every garden to an interesting surface treatment?

I have a design proposition. It involves garden art.

What about every wall facing east have a surface treatment that is dedicated to textural and colourful fun. All materials welcome. Then when gossiping over the fence all housewives looking west will feel the dull isolation of housework.

But simply turn east and WOW –garden wall art– LSD wonder walls of excitement and possibilities.

I think this will only work where the garden walls are no greater than 1.5 metres high. The subdivision layout and topographical features will also be important considerations.

If my garden walls were like those found in many of  LTL architects projects I think I would be in garden wall art heaven.

I have been waiting for more examples of green walls where hard surface treatments are combined with the vegetation. Lushe (an excellent blog on up to date green wall design) found the indoor green wall map of Manhattan designed by LTL architects. Which only led me to their other projects.

So you want to buy metal art for your garden walls? Must consider these 10 points.

If you are going to buy some garden wall art made from metal here are some points to consider before you make the  purchase.

1. There are many websites that sell reasonably priced metal wall art. The designs are OK and the prices are very reasonable but the cheaper designs are not intended for outdoor use (that is why they are cheap).

2. If you want a to ensure the metal art is able to endure the elements it will need to be constructed from a material that can withstand weathering, such as stainless steel or copper. That will be expensive. Double dandies and Make a Wish are examples.

3.  It is possible to use the cheaper metals outdoors however they must be regularly maintained. They will need a coat of sealant designed specifically for outdoor metals.   Be aware that a little scratch to the protective layer will allow  the rusting process to commence. If rust does set in the metal it must be cleaned and treated thoroughly before re-applying the sealant. Painting over rust will do nothing. Rust will spread under the painted coat.

4. If you live close to the sea the oxidisation process can happen quickly (due to the sea salts that are carried in the wind). It is advisable to purchase durable metal art (such as copper) in these harsher conditions.

5. A metal that has been galvanised and powder coated is likely to withstand the elements. However not all galvanised and powder coated treatments are the same. Be aware these process require a skilled metal worker.

6. Some artists choose to allow the oxidisation process to occur as it adds character. That is fine as long as the buyer is aware that the art may look different the following year.

7. It is possible to purchase garden art that rusts but does not corrode. This type of metal is referred to as weathering steel (also known as cor-ten). The material develops a rusted surface that protects the remainder of the steel. The structural integrity of the steel is not affected.

8. It is possible to purchase garden art made from zinc such as the floral stool (below) however do not leave zinc outside without a protective coating, otherwise it will go milky.

9. It is harder to get a quality powder coated finish on galvanised steel than it is on zinc.

10. The reflective quality of some metals (ie polished stainless steel) creates a light which is useful in dark garden corners.

For the full article please refer to garden wall art news

Bye my super metal wall art sunburst fun – you were not really for unprotected garden walls .

Sunburst supplied me with hours of garden wall art entertainment. Last night some creep stole my sunburst. Humph. And the suppliers ain’t got anymore.

Streetscape and Garden Walls in London are lying. Urban designers move with your art culture.

What the F*k is this? Its a FAKE garage door.

Forget the fact that it is not being used as a garage – lets just pretend its a garage and everyone will be happy.

Mr and Mrs Blah Blah restored their wonderful garage but they can not actually use it.  Never mind a streetscape is never ruined by a car parked outside the house.

I think the theroists call this type of thing ‘facadism’.

Anyway, there is no streetscape design excitement in East Twickenham, London.

But quick over here . Oh thank god a teeny weeny bit of inner joy on my daily walk. A bit of anti-heritage street art by the local hooligans c. 2000.

Urchins and Hairy Garden Wall Art. Fantasy Garden Light Mosaics by Helen Nock

THIS IS GARDEN WALL OFF

THIS IS GARDEN WALL ART ON

The two pictures above are of Helen Nock’s Light Urchin. The Urchin is a light cover that can be placed over most indoor or outdoor garden wall lights.

Measuring 30cm diameter these hairy glass buttons are part of my favourite garden wall art pieces and are now firmly in Alice’s Garden (my imaginary garden and is currently being morphed with see through concrete and glass green wall jewels – click through to see related articles).

Helen has made these using reclaimed glass and hot-forged stainless steel bars. Helen explores new ways of working with mosaics and is interested in using mosaic glass that takes on a 3 dimensional quality. While these urchin’s are part of her more experimental range she also designs and creates  glass wall mosaics that can be inserted into any garden wall.

Stained glass windows have been gracing the walls of church gardens for centuries. Helen can make this concept a reality for the domestic garden. Glass offers plenty of opportunity to play with light in the garden and rather than just hanging art onto a garden wall there may be opportunity to incorporate art into a garden wall itself.