How well do you know your Postie?

Well I have seen my postie most days for the last few years, he’s a friendly sort but professional. Always business like not stopping to chat but he’s busy I guess. Then there are the delivery guys some more professional than others. One will not leave it with anyone but the addressee, another MUST have a name and address if leaving with a neighbour and a ‘white van man’, local delivery chap who knocks on every door looking for someone to take in parcels if the addressee’s not home and isn’t worried at all who takes it. And lastly the delivery man who leaves it behind the hedge, the bin, the wall, under the side gate somewhere with a note through the door to say a parcel lurks about the property ‘Go Search!’

I have always rather preferred the ingenious chap who hides things and leaves a note, until today that is.

WRapped in plastic saves the day - Back

Grubby remains of packaging - Front

Today as I was clearing up behind my green waste bin – out of use from Dec to Feb I found a book in it’s plastic wrap and about  an 1/8th of the cardboard outer ‘melted’ onto the plastic wrap. The book is warped a little and bowing nicely as it dries,  hardly surprising seeing as it has been outside on the soil behind the green bin, in the wind and the rain since god knows when. I say that because what is even odder is that I already have this book ( Dan Pearson’s  Spirit),

I bought it a year ago. I have not ordered this book again, not for a friend or for myself. ( If some kind friend has sent it for Christmas, then Thank you, any message or delivery information was obliterated by the weather!)

So dear Postie, PLEASE put a note through the door, the addressee is not psychic and doesn’t know that you’ve thrown something behind the bins so it won’t get stolen …….but then it might just rot away from neglect!

SGD autumn conference

Society of Garden Designers Autumn Conference – What are gardens for?

For those that could not attend you missed a goodie! Annoying as that is to hear sometimes it’s just the impulse one needs to get to it next time. I missed Christopher Bradley Hole in March and kicked myself for being slow off the mark. Not this time. With Dan Pearson and Bernard Trainor on the list of speakers this was sure to be a goodie.

Bernard Trainor has not been well known to me but I did a bit of homework prior and found his designs and work to be fascinating as his background is varied. An Australian (gotta be a good bloke then!) trained horticulturalist who then made his way to California via Beth Chatto and a number of other British Garden Design luminaries (Rosemary Alexander and John Brookes). His work is inspiring in a way that reminds me I have a long way to go and much to learn about genius loci (from the Latin genius = spirit, loci =place) and how to integrate and interact with it. He is working on ‘big’ projects, ones that would daunt many of us but it is like an enormous carrot for me and I realise during this talk I want to be of that calibre. How I am going to get there is another matter but it’s good to find a clear line of sight to the potential future of my own work!

Wendy Titman followed and at first I wasn’t entirely sure whether we were to be subjected to apolitical rant or a discussion on how the government ‘could do better’ however it blossomed, for me, as she talked passionately about the children and educational clients she had worked with and for, and how the drive was to support their early development (children from 2-8ish I think) in the most empathetic manner possible.  It was eye opening to hear of her experiences with certain teachers and at time hilarious. Design aficionados may found the results a little challenging for the resulting gardens looked somewhat chaotic and there wasn’t a symmetrical line (curved or straight) in sight but that they worked for the user was not in doubt. Undoubtedly a fascinating topic and one to be researched in depth with future clients.

Jane Owen valiantly held the after lunch slot, unfortunately the MC had rather stolen her thunder in her own opening speech however Jane wove the last 30 years of garden design for us  expertly and included some Sex Pistols too which is never  a bad thing!

The highlight, unsurprisingly was hearing Dan Pearson for the second time this year, talk on his own gardens. Much of the imagery I had seen in his wonderful book Spirit but he is an eloquent raconteur and rattled through the history of his own gardens and himself with ease. He passes such a sense of wonder for growing spaces and gardens he creates, it is easy to see how clients can grasp concepts and trust his vision or their landscape. I particularly liked the idea of Japanese parents ‘learning’ to explore their parks and landscape as they searched for ‘lost’ excited children who were completely absorbed in scaling new 10m high landforms.

An excellent day, can the SGD’s Spring 2012 possibly beat it?

A Cotswold Day with Dan Pearson & Mary Keen

It was all a bit last minute to be honest and the inner cynic faffed about whether I should afford this day in the Gloucestershire countryside, wandering round the country garden of writer and designer Mary Keen along with Dan Pearson, probably just some very tolerant professionals making money for a good cause but not a great deal of content? But the lure of Dan Pearson was too much to resist, so the 3rd to last place was booked and I was en route to the deepest cotswold village of Duntisbourne.

The Garden Museum have a program of events this autumn conceived it seems by a number of people and organised by Christopher Woodward and his team. This, the Gloucestershire study day, followed a nursery visit and garden day near Henley and precedes a walk in several London square gardens in October. I must say I will be much more proactive in attending next time because these are truly hidden gems of days.

Christopher Woodward, capturing the day

These are not only places that one cannot normally visit but they are visited with people who either own and manage them or who have conceived and built them and so on both counts they understand the measure of the garden, not just the physical elements but the non-physical elements, the spirit, the atmosphere, the magic of them. At yesterdays study day I had the good fortune to be in Mary’s garden group (6 of us) and hear her talk of her garden and it’s atmosphere, to watch her interact with it as she walked through, sat on a beloved seat talking about current projects in her garden, pointing out beloved elements for us to notice and reminding us that this is a garden for her and her family not a garden made for a client. The Gardener’s Garden. Like a person’s home or library I think a gardener’s garden tells you of the person, the spaces they make, the attention that is lavished or not and where their focus is. It’s very personal to be introduced to a garden in this manner.

Mary's group discussing edits...

Hearing how both Dan and Mary work with clients was a delight and as  a new-ish  designer good to know that even the best come up against the challenge of client management and they both said this is a key and vital part of a successful practice. Both incredibly generous with their resources and information showing us client briefs, final Master plan presentations and explaining in some detail how their process works and who they work with.

Dan's garden group 'presenting ideas'

I felt mostly like a greedy sponge soaking it all up and tried not to scribble too furiously and make too many demanding enquiries, but believe me this is hard when faced with enormously interesting, widely accomplished articulate people who are keen to communicate, there is so much to ask and to know, one day is simply not enough!

The attendees seemed to be garden designers in the main, with one or two interested amateurs – as they described themselves – which made for interesting questions and conversations. In particular during our group exercise to consider options for an area Mary wants to update in her garden. Again in the afternoon discussions designers asked questions on challenging aspects of current projects, mainly about planting I must say!

Strong recommendations to stick to you guns on a plant and to wait for the right one, even if that is more than a year, to use the right nurseries, Orchard Dene got several mentions, and to start small and denser and to edit later. Indeed to expect to edit at regular intervals and to communicate this clearly to the client well in advance, to engage a ‘buy in’ so that early on, even the non-gardeners will know that their outside space will evolve and entwine itself into their hearts in a way that their shiny new kitchen never can.

The Old Rectory location was enchanting both inside and out, it was incredibly welcoming and not at all intimidating (well maybe a little) even being asked to ‘present design ideas’ to two such notables. What a marvellous day indeed and Mr Pearson if you ever consider taking on a planting design/ planty intern please let it be ME, I can WILL travel!