Future Gardens Garden Designers 2009
Future Gardens is the first phase of the Butterfly World Project; it encompasses
twelve competition designer gardens and seven permanent gardens. When viewed from
above, the site takes the shape of a giant butterfly
Designer Gardens
The 12 designer gardens will change each year. This year features a line up of some
of Europe’s best known garden designers as well as some new faces to the gardening
world.
The chosen garden designers responded creatively to the brief to acknowledge the
fragility of our environment, promoting ideas of conservation, sustainability and
preservation of green places.
Designers were chosen from almost a hundred applicants around the world by a distinguished
selection panel.
A 13th designer garden – Harry’s Garden; a charitable link to the project, will
be chosen on an annual basis by Founder Clive Farrell. In 2009, Harry’s Garden is
designed by landscape, garden and horticultural designer, Fern Alder
Jane Hudson & Erik De Maeijer – Nest
Husband and wife team; awarded silver medals at the Chelsea Flower show four years
in a row (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005). Jane is an RHS judge, Erik is a senior landscape
architect.
The theme of their garden is based around the creation of a home, a place to nurture
and keep their young safe. Having four children of our own, their inherent desire
to protect them has been the main inspiration. Willows form a large part of their
planting scheme which provides a beautiful range of stem colour, growth form and
crown architecture. They have chosen to include Coppiced Willow in a bid to protect
the children of the future as it grows over a short period of time and can be used
as a renewable energy source.
Paul Dracott - The Exoskeleton
A writer for the Garden Design Journal, Paul has recently had one of his garden
designs chosen to be constructed at RHS Wisely.
Inspired by one of nature’s oldest and most successful bodily structures, his design
combines modern and natural sustainable materials that blend with a collection of
robust perennial plants such as reed grasses, smart weeds and select Asian herbs.
Paul’s design is a garden borne of the insect for the insect.
Fiona Heron - Nature's Artistry, Autumn's Edge
Fiona is a well known artist and landscape architect, regularly lecturing in art,
urban design and landscape architecture. She often sits on the Nottingham Urban
Design Review Panel and is a judge for the Lord Mayor’s Urban Design.
Inspiration for her design is taken from poetry with the design concept based upon
nature’s shifting patterns, fragility and temporal artistry. Fiona’s garden reflects
the beauty of nature’s seasonal flow seen through the way autumn hints at new beginnings.
Her talent as a sculptor is evident in her nest and bulrush creations highlighting,
that in nature, some elements have a lifespan of change and others are resilient.
Greenwave Design, Michelle Wake & Chloe Leaper - Release Garden
A visiting lecturer at the Inchbald School of Design, Michelle won a silver medal
at RHS Hampton Court in 2006. Chloe is an award winning sculptor and senior lecturer
at the Inchbald.
The theme of their design is based on the narrative and emotional structure of Richard
Wagner’s abstract musical ‘Mild und Leise’. They are creating a journey through
emotions which is split into three parts. Visitors begin their journey by experiencing
tension as they pass through a tightly woven area with low and dense overhead branches.
They will then enter the area of release - full of uplifting and colourful orange
daylilies and yellow flag irises before progressing to a calm, tranquil area with
a reflecting pool.
Hugo Bugg & Maren Hallenga - Narratives of Nature
Emerging young designers Hugo & Maren both studied garden design at University
College Falmouth and have worked collaboratively on a £22M lottery funded project.
Their design is inspired by the richness of natural environments and their ability
to provide food. The layout of their garden shows that a conventional kitchen garden
is not required to achieve this and emphasises the need to look towards more sustainable
and ecologically sound living. Hugo and Maren achieve this by using many edible
plants such as brambles, wild ginger and wild strawberries that naturally occur
in British woodlands and hedgerows.
Roger Phillips - The Chalk Garden
A renowned photographer and writer, Roger has written and presented gardening programmes
on UK television and has had around 40 volumes of his books on plants published.
He has been inspired by his love of chalk hills and visits to the garden of the
Silver Pavilion in Japan. Roger has used plants which are exclusive to chalk hills
and that create a perfect environment for special kinds of butterfly such as Horseshoe
Vetch and Lady’s Bedstraw.
Tony Heywood - Anthroscape 3
Previously head gardener at Hyde Park Estate in London for 14 years, Tony has had
his own successful design companies for almost 10 years.
Inspiration for his design is taken from his perception of the current vision of
nature as rarely sourced first hand but as a piecemeal view from TV, films and magazines.
Tony’s design incorporates a diverse range of garden styles that question the definition
of landscape - using plants such as Salad Burnet, Heart-of-the-earth and Ragged
Robins.
Peter Thomas - Metamorphasis
Australian garden designer Peter is a visiting lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire
and chairman of The Society of Garden Designers.
His design is inspired by Phillip Dick’s novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’
and the Electric Sheep screensaver concept. Peter’s garden highlights the process
of natural selection as his garden is designed to evolve. In his garden, a wild
flower meadow environment is juxtaposed against brightly coloured artificial flowers.
Visitors are encouraged to vote for their favourite flower and the most popular
flowers will replace the least popular choice.
Andy Sturgeon - Urban Greening
A journalist, television presenter, best selling book author and garden designer
- Andy has won gold medals at Chelsea Flower Show 4 years in a row (2005-08).
Andy’s garden intends to highlight the need for better landscape design in cities
to increase biodiversity and raise the quality of people’s lives. His garden demonstrates
that it is important to have an attractive balance between cityscape and nature
and he uses a lot of native and perennial planting to achieve this.
Marcus Green - For Cosmo
Emerging designer, Marcus is a graduate of Inchbald School of Design and in 2007
built his first conceptual garden at Hampton Court.
Inspired by his dog Cosmo’s physical movements and the contours and shapes of rural
landscape, Marcus’s design intends to highlight resilience and beauty of native
species in the field margins and the diversity of wildlife they support. All plants
are native to his local area of Northamptonshire and are designed to attract over
40 different species of butterflies and moths.
Rosita Castro, Isabelle Fordin and Anomiastudio Architetture - Welcome
Chilean-born garden designer Rosita Castro has come together with French/ Italian
visual artist Isabelle Fordin and landscape architects Gianluca Nucci, Domenico
Simone, Tiziano Testa of Italy and Eduardo Blanes of Spain.
Welcome is a garden that is inspired by the fragility of mans relationship with
nature. Visitors will view their design from a metal cage in the centre of the garden
which is intended to symbolise the freedom of nature. The design is a tribute to
the inspirational world of the butterfly using a variety of lavenders, grasses and
ivy to attract them.
Bruno Marmiroli - The H Garden
French landscape architect Bruno has previously been involved in garden festivals
around the world including Chaumont Garden Festival and The International Festival
of the Garden at Westonbirt UK.
Inspired by the Greek gardens and mythology, Bruno’s design reflects the links between
myths, sacred areas and gardens throughout history. The garden urges visitors to
re-consider their relationship with nature by offering a perfect viewpoint where
visitors can absorb the contrast between pink plantations and the golden heart of
the garden known as the sacred area.
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