Does garden lighting always look awful in the day?

Sylvia raised an interesting point, that so much of the garden lighting that looks beautiful at night can look pretty dire in the daytime. A very good point - which is why most lighting designers go to such lengths to show the effect of light whilst hiding the source.

But if you are trying to create a light sculpture, is it possible to design something that looks good during the day too?

I wonder if inspiration can be taken from Fiona Heron and her glass sculptures...

Golden Dew - Wolfgang and Heron

A range of individually-made flower sculptures. Hand blown glass heads on steel stems for the garden. £75 for groups of 5

Could these be adapted to become solar lights at night without loosing their essential translucent beauty?

I first came across the work of Wolfgang and Heron at Westonbirt Festival of the Garden 2004. I'll have a root through my photos because the images on their site really don't do the beauty of the garden justice. Blocks of deschampsia and then stipa gigantea are overlaid with a grid of silver birch - with these glass sculptures glinting in the light. It was a garden of restrained simplicity that focussed on the movement of grass, shadows and the play of light.


Further gardens from the Westonbirt Festival of the Garden can be seen on the website. The Festival is sadly no longer running although it has been replaced by a new festival Future Gardens which opens this year in St Albans.

Another designer who I think has suceeded in producing light sculptures that work both day and night is Julie Nelson

Elipse Sculpture by Julie Nelson

Her interest in ceramics, as a material for lighting, is not based on its translucency but on its opacity, the way the light bounces around and fills recesses, accentuating the form. All nelson lights serve a dual function; emitting a warm ambient light in the evening, whilst retaining their aesthetic appeal during the day.

Sponge Sculpture by Julie Nelson

I'm sure there are plenty more hit and misses out there in the world of garden lighting and would love to hear your nominations and thoughts...

Garden Art to cheer a winters day - Field of Light

A dramatic light installation inspired by Australia's Red Desert can be seen in Cornwall.

As the artist Bruce Munro explains “I wanted to create a field of light stems, that like the dormant seed in a dry desert would quietly wait until darkness falls, and then under a blazing blanket of southern stars bloom with gentle rhythms of light. One's attention is thus drawn to the nature that surrounds the installation as well as the field of light itself.”

The installation has 6,000 acrylic stems, 11 external projectors - and uses more than 24,000 meters of fibre-optic cable to create the Field of Light

It got me thinking about ways of adding winter interest in the garden - and how the short days and darkness are an exciting inspiration for my own garden. Just imagine being enticed out into the cold crisp night by a sea of lights - with the scent of witch hazel and daphne still in the air...

I love to combine the spidery flowers of Hamamelis with winter aconites and Narcissus 'February Gold' with the fluffy flowers of Cornus mas in the background - although I have just designed a planting scheme which uses the more vibrant red Hamamelis 'Diane' underplanted with Anamathele lessonia and Galanthus 'S Arnot', so that the oversized Snowdrops poke through the wispy grass in a romantic, wild gesture.

Right that's it, I am decided - I am plotting my own winter light sculpture for next year - solar powered of course...

I will let you know how I get on!

NOTE:

Munro’s Field of Light was first seen at a reduced scale at the V&A Museum in 2004. The Field of Light can be seen at The Eden Project until the end of March 2009 - when if moves to Frome in Somerset.

If you can't make it to see the exhibition there is a beautiful photograph of the installation in this Months Garden Design Journal by Mark Pickthall. (The Journal is well worth a read anyway!)

VERTICAL GARDENS AS LIVING CANVASES - PATRICK BLANC

The largest green wall in Britain had been unveiled at the new Leamouth Peninsula development in London's Docklands. Covering over 820sq metres, it covers an area larger than 3 tennis courts!

To learn about the insulating and financial benefits of installing a green wall, see my recent posting 'How your garden can help you cut down on your heating bills"

PATRICK BLANC - GREEN WALL EXPERT

The green wall is the first UK commission for French designer Patrick Blanc who is famous for his vertical planting and green walls. After training as a Botanist, Patrick studied plants growing on rock faces and tree trunks in the wild to develop his 'murs végétaux'. He found plants could do without soil and were happy to grow vertically as long as they had a steady supply of water and nutrients.

You can find out more about Patrick Blanc and his Vertical Gardens by visiting his website

The idea of green walls and vertical plantings has really taken off, and green walls can now be seen all over the world.

HOW PATRICK BLANCS GREEN WALL WORKS

Plants are rooted in a layer of felt laid onto PVC sheeting, which is then stapled to a metal frame attached to the wall. Water and nutrients are delivered from the top, spreading by capillary action to all the plants on the wall.

ABOUT THE GREEN WALL AT LEAMOUTH

The planting shcme for the green wall at Leamouth uses 160 different varieties of plant. These range from tough shrubs such as Buddleja and Berberis to Patrick's trademark Iris japonica and Corydalis, planted in drifts across the surface of the building. To install the planting scheme, it appears the design was simply spray painted on to the wall, and then planted up.

Work on a second green wall in the UK designed by Patrick Blanc, at a nightclub in Kings Cross, is due to begin next year.

To learn more about the work of Patrick Blanc, I would recommend his excellent book,The Vertical Garden: In Nature and the City

MORE INFORMATION ON GREEN WALLS

To learn more about Green Walls and Living Walls, I would highly recommend Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls by Nigel Dunnet

Or to learn about the insulating and financial benefits of installing a green wall, see my recent posting 'How your garden can help you cut down on your heating bills"

* all images are reserved Patrick Blanc

Species tulips are not just for rock gardens - add some to your planting!

Species tulips may be smaller than hybrid tulips, but they are also tougher - and create a stunning show year after year. In a recent article for The Times I wanted to show that there is a species tulip that will be happy in every garden (even clay!) so there is no excuse not to add these lovely bulbs to your planting scheme.


Tulips are often considered ephemeral in the garden, and it's true that many hybrid tulips decline in vigour after the first year, whilst others seem to keep going indefinitely... Species tulips, however, are reliable year upon year, often naturalising and setting seed to produce drifts of flowers that actually improve over the years...

...Rock gardens have typically been the best place to grow species tulips because they emulate their natural habitat in the wild, but they are not the only situation in which these diminutive gems will flourish.

Species tulips for Pots and containers
Tulipa greigii starts flowering in March. The dwarf flowering habit and large decorative leaves make for stunning displays in window boxes and containers. Try combining Tulipa greigii 'Red Riding Hood' with winter pansies and trailing ivy for a late-winter show stopper. I also like T. humilis 'Persian Pearl' and T. kauffmanniana 'Heart's Delight'.

Tulipa clusiana 'Lady Jane' is an april flowering tulip I can only get to grow in a pot but I have seen them growing in garden borders in combination with silver leaved shrubs and perennials, thymes and lavenders - which looks brilliant

This spring I planted my copper windowbox with: Tulipa 'Hearts Delight', Viola 'Penny Red Blotch' and a variegated trailing ivy

Species tulips for Clay soil
Tulipa acuminta is an usual and exotic-looking tulip with needle like pointed petals of red and yellow. It is a surpise hit in clay soil, flowering in May, and is excellent for cut-flower arrangements.

Tulipa turkestanica is one of the easiest species tulips to grow, and deserving of a place in almost every garden. The elegant creamy-white flowers have a rich yellow centre, and really brighten up the winter garden.

Tulipa turkestanica
These tulips will spread gradually and reliably to form dense patches of small starry flowers.

Species tulips for Woodland edge/semi-shade
Tulipa sprengeri is the exception to the rule: flowering in late May and early June, it actually prefers slightly moist soil - and even a bit of shade. try including it in woodland-edge planting schemes, or use it to underplant deciduous trees and shrubs.

Don't be put off by its price: Tulipa sprengeri sets seed widely and will soon become an established accent in the garden.

All rounders
With its sturdy stems, broad leaves and huge bright red flower which can be 15cm across when fully open - Tulipa fosteriana is one of the most popular species tulips. it adapts to a wide variety of soils and situation, relishes neglect and reliable each year.

I'd be interested to know your favourite varieties and planting combination, as well as the bulbs which seem to break the rules in your garden!

Planting on inverted turfs for a worm friendly garden

Why is it that when clearing a garden lawn, so many landscapers feel the need to dig up the lawn and cart it away to a tip, only to import tonnes of topsoil for the new planting beds?


Inverting turfs to create soil and planting areas is a traditional method of gardening that seems to have been forgotten.

If you are stripping a lawn, perhaps to include more planting, or to make your garden less work to maintain, you want to try and reuse your turf within the garden.

One of the simplest ways to reuse your spare turf is to invert it in the bottom of a planting bed and cover it with soil. By doing this, you will allow the turf to break down under the soil to form lovely humus.

You will save money
(as you will not have to buy in topsoil)

but most importantly, you will not loose your lovely garden worms.

Disconnect your downpipes

Garden Designers are always looking for ways to return water to the ground naturally through infiltration back into the ground, rather than sending it off into storm drains.

Many are taking up the challenge to 'disconnect the downpipes' to prevent water ending up in underground drains. By disconnecting your downpipes, you can store water in a rainwater butt for use in the garden, channel it off to top up a water feature, or use it to irrigate your garden planters directly.

One of my favourites tricks is to use a traditional Japanese-style rain chain, or kusari doi.

Lily Rain Chains are one of the most popular designs

Rain Chains break the fall of the water from the roof, guiding it visibly downward to the ground, or into a rain barrel for storage.

Image courtesy of Re-nest.com

Rain Chains are usually made from copper as this doesn't rust, and acquires a lovely verdigris finish. Copper rain chains are an elegant and functional alternative to traditional closed metal or plastic downspouts and are becoming increasingly popular in the UK and USA

There are an excellent selection of Rain Chain available at UK Garden accessories supplier Garden Boutique and at RainChains.com or Gutter Supply in the USA

Rain chains can be beautiful as well as useful in a garden scheme
RainChains.com

Simple link rain chain
£119.95 Garden Boutique

Permeable paving for front gardens avoids planning permission

From 1 October 2008, new planning legislation for front gardens has come into place.

Anyone wanting to cover more than 5 square metres of their front garden with a non-permeable surface will have to obtain planning permission.

This new legislation has come into force to try and tackle the problem of flooding in the UK.
In many urban areas, homeowners have removed hedges, grass and plants and replaced them with some form of hard-standing to provide a parking space, or to reduce maintenance requirements. In some places whole roads no longer have any front garden, just paving for cars.

Climate change scientists predict an increase in the number and intensity of extreme storms over the next few decades and the flooding in the Midlands and north of England in 2007 highlighted problems with estimates as high as two thirds of the 55,000 homes being affected by surface run-off water.

To avoid the lengthy and costly process of applying for planning - and to prevent problems from flooding, why not choose a permeable option for your front garden. Grass, or reinforced grass, gravel, permeable blocks or porous asphalt are all good compromises - providing a hard surface whilst allowing water to percolate through.

Just look how this front garden was redesigned to include flowers and a large parking area whilst still keeping to the permeable paving guidelines

If you are looking for ideas on how to create attractive permeable parking in your front garden, the RHS have produced a great guide to Front Gardens which you can download from their site

There are also some great ideas from garden designers at many of the garden shows:

Full Frontal - designed by Hadlow College

RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2007

Hadlow College’s garden design illustrates that it is possible to have flowers and plants as well as parking space in a front garden without the need for concrete.

The Full Frontal garden uses materials which will minimise surface water run-off, help prevent flooding and improve the water table by allowing water to permeate through and benefit the planting.

The result is an aesthetically pleasing garden which is not only practical but encourages wildlife and improves the look of the neighbourhood.

The Porsche Garden - designed by Piece of Green

RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 8th - 13th July 2008

The Porsche Garden demonstrates how an environmentally conscious urban dweller could combine a contemporary front garden with secure off-street parking.

Located in front of a typical London home, the garden hides a surprise - underneath its surface lies an underground parking system. The design comes to life as a section of the garden is raised in the air, and a car emerges from the earth ready to be driven away. The garden also features innovative living walls to reduce dust and noise levels, and log stack walls to offer a home to local wildlife.

This garden highlights the continuing disappearance of urban front gardens, so many of which are being paved over to provide off-road parking. We have lost an area estimated at around 12 square miles (or 22 Hyde Parks) in London alone. This affects the appearance of our streets, increases the urban heat island effect, raises the likelihood of subsidence and heightens the risk of localised flooding due to excessive water run-off.

For more information on the planning requirements see the government planning website