Richmond Garden Club Wednesday 13th April 2016 Town Hall Helen Hays ‘ Designing a Small Garden’ There was an excellent response to this month’s lecture, with ten guests, including a couple from Suffolk, holidaying in the area. Helen Hays has been a garden designer for fifteen years and writes for many prestigious garden magazines. Her talk was detailed and the principles of garden planning carefully explained; there was as much relevance to small areas in large gardens as there was to small gardens per se. Her principles for professional garden planning are easily adapted by even the most inexperienced amateur. Key Design Principles • Genius Loci or spirit of place • Unity: of style, materials and planting • Simplicity, particularly important in small places • Balance: Mass and Void/ Density of planting • Proportion: keeping elements in scale • Rhythm and Repetition • Focal Points First Steps in Design Process • Imagine • Plan the Plot • Plot the Plan • Survey • Wish List DRAWING UP THE WISH LIST This might include obvious choices like herbaceous border, patio, lawn, veg. plot, pond, seating, containers etc but probably needs to be pruned. PRUNE THE WISH LIST Consolidate: seating/containers/patio. Grow veg. in herbaceous borders. REMEMBER - small is beautiful- less is more. SITE ANALYSIS Look at character, soil and aspect, climate, access for materials and machinery. DRAW LAYOUT Keep it simple, include generous spaces (1m x1m table needs space 3mx3m). Don’t skimp on paths (need to be 1-2m wide). Balance mass and void Mass =Planting Void = lawn or water. Balance both - 50/50 well balanced 75/25 balanced for open space. Keep shapes and structures in proportion. DECIDE ON A STYLE (unity) Eg Cottage garden, formal garden, Japanese garden. Make sure it suits the house. Formal Gardens – symmetrical, generous paths, low hedges (box?) to edge beds, water. Can be traditional or contemporary. Design from the inside out, discrepancy at edges can be disguised by planting. Modernist Gardens- asymmetrical, Bauhaus influence, use of man-made materials, make good use of space/light/ shade . MATERIALS (unity) Match or complement the house, don’t use too many different types (2 or 3). Remember front gardens now have regulations on paving. BOUNDARIES When planning vertical surfaces use shrubs and climbers but think about maintenance. Balance privacy and shade. Green walls fashionable, but need a lot of irrigation. Hedges good for wild life but take up space. Borrowed landscape ideal if available. Remember height regulations on boundaries on public highways. 1m on highway, 2ms between properties. STRUCTURES AND DECORATIONS Add height with pergolas or screens, buildings like sheds, disguise or make into a feature. Use obelisks to divide space and create rhythm. Use screens to divide garden so that not everything is revealed at once. Steps and levels need to be even and equal. Steps 6” height 12” tread. Position focal points at end of garden to draw the eye. Remember that large sculptural features can create a sense of space. No mirrors- death traps for birds! Keep to the style or theme. Rationalise any collection of containers, big as possible to retain water and nutrients and remember big pots look well in small gardens. LIGHTING - for safety, security, to make the garden look bigger BUT avoid light pollution. Good website - lighting for gardens. co.uk WATER Formal gardens – pool, rill, water features. Informal gardens – pond PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE Start with structural plants, trees, shrubs , grasses. Think what it will look like in winter. Use see -through plants to create mystery and intrigue. Remember hot colours shorten and pale colours lengthen. Use repeat planting to create rhythm and coherence. Tall plants alongside paths make you hurry, small plants create a more leisurely approach. Remember green roofs need to be maintained and weeded, consider this when planting. Always try to be realistic about maintenance, avoid over complexity and avoid using invasive plants. Don’t be tempted by impulsive buying of individual plants, always consider the overall scheme. Helen completed her talk with a question and answer session and she had brought along an interesting selection of books for members to peruse, titles are listed below. This was a fascinating and very informative presentation on the principles of garden planning, carefully explained and well illustrated , with much that was useful for those planning a new garden or simply wishing to update an existing one. Recommended Books Andrew Wilson The Book of Plans for Small Gardens RHS Small Garden Handbook Sellers and Yeatman Garden Rubbish .