Bradstone technical help

Today I met with Bradstones technical team at their Swindon offices and Depot. We look at samples of the Panache product that I am using as part of the design. Currently the edging that I intend to use as a wall tile comes in black, grey and white, so I request some 'specials' to be made in the paving colours of Chocolate, Fudge and Cream (see left). I am wanting the tiles to suggest tree trunks so these new colours will be much more suitable. We discuss attaching the tiles and Bod Pave to the curved wall with rapid fix tile adhesive.We consider whether the scale of these parts will comfortably fix to the curve and I send the radii of the curve to the technical department who create a mock up to try it out.

This photo shows the woods on a frosty January day - I love the way the light catches the trunks and produces so much tonal contrast. I also like the irregular spaces created between the trunks and irregular line where they meet the wood land floor. All very inspiring!

Deepdale trees

My attention now turns to trees. I make the Pilgrimage to Deepdale Trees in Cambridgeshire, having heard them mentioned frequently by designers as excellent quality. During my visit I am not disappointed, even though most trees are currently leafless. Mark Godden shows me round and I feel I have time to make careful choices of species and specimens to be tagged for a later visit in April.

I tag twice as many as I need, choosing Betula nigra as my key tree. It's peeling coral coloured bark will tie in perfectly with the Bradstone Panache product, but also because the lightness of it's leaves and growth habit will allow the ribbon sculpture to be seen as well as creating a non threatening, positive atmosphere.

Woodland Plants

Now that it is January I am getting anxious about the lack of plants for my Chelsea design and pay a visit to Chris Merchant at Orchard Dene, near my home town of Henley on Thames. We spend an extremely productive hour talking through plant combinations  suitable for a woodland setting, as well as considering the use of colour to contrast and combine with other features of the garden. I am concerned that mostly 9cm pot sizes will not have enough time left to grow on to be suitable for Chelsea in May and after failing to find a suitable place to grow the plants on locally to me I enquire with Crocus.

Peter Clay suggests that I pay Crocus a visit and I spend a happy couple of hours being shown around the extensive nursery. I get a little bit of plant envy (!) when I see Sarah Prices' Chelsea plants all growing on in the tunnels, having been potted on in the Autumn. I am relieved to be told that Crocus are happy to source, pot and grow on in tunnels and deliver to Chelsea for me. I am now looking forward to my next visit.....

Construction drawings

The plan (above) shows the interplay of the wall, seat, path and colourful ribbon. I have designed the curved wall (shown below here flattened out) to resemble the tree trunks in a woodland. For the Chelsea design I have been asked to use a Bradstone product called 'Panache' so I have used an edging section vertically, made in brown tones to evoke the look of woodland.

Below is an artist impression, followed by a more precise drawing where I am working out the quantity of a green wall idea. Here I am using 'Bod Pave' with a very shallow planting depth of just 40mm. This is usually used to protect ground surfaces from heavy traffic, so it is a bit of an experiment, but a test sample is looking good. The top of the curve is to be planted and will continue down to ground level through the path and into the planting to show a continuous flow of line. Panache is also used for the paving where a simple grid is cut to a curved path.

Chris and I meet up to look through my ideas for the ribbon sculpture, technical drawings and design development. He provides lots of good practical advice so that I feel able to answer the points raised by the RHS panel. I send off wall and seat construction drawings, new plan, artist impression and am later pleased to here that I am allocated a place on Royal Hospital Way at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2012.  

Planting and design development

The woods near my home is incredibly inspiring. Several years ago a large number of Fagus were felled and new tracts of woodland floor was flooded with light . The following year in May the woods was transformed into a brilliant sea of magenta pink Digitalis Purpurea. Stunning! People felt compelled to stop their cars a marvel at the wonder, in the way that people usually stop to take in the local bluebell woods.  It is this sense of invigorated energy which occurs when a tree falls and provides an opportunity for new life and growth that I hope to capture in my Chelsea design. I have been hunting for a suitable tree trunk and plants that would reflect this type of planting, as well as young trees and saplings.

The design is also developing - now the wall is completely curved into a tighter shape so that the design is more fluid. Here I am trying out the use of several colourful swirls but decide that 'less is more', that visually this could look too busy.

I produce my first planting plan with only native wood land plants but later introduce a broader range of plants that describe, as Dan Pearson puts it 'heightened nature' - rather than trying to slavishly replicate it. The path here makes no sense and later joins the end of the wall as a seat, giving the path purpose.

Coloured ribbon development

I am advised that the RHS are likely to require construction drawings and information on the design, so begin by working on the 'Elephant in the Room' - the ribbon of colour! Initially I think about how it might be made using a Bradstone product, but after meeting with Bradstone product developers decide it may be better produced using lighter weight materials, to give a greater sense of energy and vitality. I then start to think about how to produce to ribbon in a light and gravity defying way!

I consider leaves, similar to Andy Goldsworthys' fantastic creations but am worried about their frailty and durability over a 6 day show.

I consider paper made from plants used in the garden and come up with this paper chain idea, but again am not sure how it will withstand the weather.

I consider withies or twigs similar to the fantastic work recently produced by Tom Hare. I consider the Fresh garden brief and decide to push the idea further. Whilst walking through the woods near my home I am inspired by the life in find all around me - the ferns reaching for the light, leaves quivering, wood pigeons flapping up through the trees, Red Kites circling, squirrels dashing, deer leaping. Their movement and energy appears to be upwards in search of light, space and safety. This inspires a simple wing/ leaf shape that reaches upwards, changing its hue and form as it travels.

I now have to work out what materials it is to be constructed from and, after a lot a agonising, decide to use man made materials to contrast more strongly with the naturals appearance of the woodland setting. I investigate a steel structure with Perspex 'leaves'   

These shapes then evolve into a colourful swirl that reaches upwards from the woodland floor towards the canopy, changing hue and scale as it travels. To me this is the spirit of energy and vitality in the woodland setting.

Application Deadline

I return from the Malvern Show and start to make larger models that help me to work out the organisation of space with in the 6 x 6m garden. The garden features a large ribbon of colour, inspired by the movement of kites, but what it is to be made from is still a mystery and will be worked out over the next month. I decide on a woodland setting for the garden, as the greens and browns will contrast with the vibrant swirl of colour. I also envisage the planting taking on some of the colours of the swirl at its base. The drawing below is submitted by the deadline of 4th October to the RHS along with many other details including a design plan and indicative planting schedule.