Land Mass with Plants and Colour

Some native plants, like foxglove, arrive in the garden on land winds, and the seeds are allowed to grow. Dead-heading is not done in summer or autumn, allowing the bold brown vertical stalks to blend and contrast with stone colour and natural angles of the stones, steps, and stone walls.

The continuation of the plants' life cycle in harsh reality contrasts with soft stone colour. The plant tops are left on the plants till spring, when new growth shows, protecting plant crowns from the winter weather and providing over wintering habitat for ladybirds and other beneficial insects.

Following the patterns of nature, the winter frosts (frost free by the sea) and rains to make the stems soggy and weak, and then March winds blow most of the debris away, replacing the winter interest with the joy of new spring growth.

Native plants are allowed to seed and grow

Vertical stalks blend and contrast with stone features

Fantastic views from the garden

Houses in the distance blend with plants in the garden

The garden enjoys fantastic views, St George's island southwest, some of which can be 'borrowed'. The details then become part of the garden, for instance, the white houses in the middle distance across the town and harbour reflect back to the immediate garden, to the clump of Oxeye daisies in the photograph foreground.

St Georges Island

Exciting land forms of mass and volume, rock and sea, mould with plants' colour, leaf and flower, ever changing with sky colours, blending and contrasting with taller shrubs that lift the buffeting southeast winds over the central steep narrow strip of mixed garden plants and rock.

Sunrise over the garden

The design of the garden has taken advantage of the natural land formations, where any use of shelterbelt planting to break the wind would have meant loss of the stunning views. Through an understanding of the way the wind and rocks interact, and how the wind behaviour creates sheltered areas, the garden has been developed subtly and creatively, making full advantage of the amazing position on the hillside above the sea, and where in a designated 'Outstanding Area of Natural Beauty' O.A.N.B. costal planting profiles for shelterbelts may not be allowed by the Local Authority.

 

Designer/Authors Footnote Gardens are specific to site geology, design should be sensitive to nuances based on local and professional observation.