‘Whatever brings you joy!’
In May we were joined by Esther Wolff, a Horticultural Advisor with the RHS and Garden Coach at The Gardener’s Friend.
Esther talked us through garden design, explaining that is it all about the way of showing off a space and making the best use of the natural gifts of a landscape. Your garden creates a bridge between your home and the outside world. ‘Paira-daiza’ is the common word for enclosed space and the word that ‘paradise’ was derived from.
We were talked through the 5 key steps to garden design listed below
Genius loci, the spirit of the place
Practical considerations: units and measurement (including the golden rectangle)
Design for the winter garden
Tension, mystery and surprise
Simplicity, unity and harmony
Although considering these 5 steps are key to successful garden design, Esther stressed how important it was to do ‘whatever brings you joy’.
Esther showed us pictures of beautiful gardens from across the country, including her own! It was a fascinating input and has inspired us to get to work in our own gardens (I for one have added evergreens and fancy grasses to my plant shopping list).
Following on from Esther’s talk our Sweethearts had the opportunity to take home some cuttings/seeds/plants that were donated during our plant swish. A wonderful way to introduce some new plants into our gardens.