Gartendesign

Southport Flower Show 2010 - How to build a Show Garden in 1 Week...

2010-10-04T14:14:00.000+01:00

Hi everybody, sorry for being a bit late with the news but I have been incredibly busy with finishing the course and submitting my last piece of work – the soft landscape portfolio.

As you might have read in April- Momo and I won the 2010 Student Garden Design Competition for the Southport Flower Show. The price was 6000GBP which we used to build the garden at the show (19th-22rd of August 2010). The runner up was Selma Klophaus from the University of Weihenstephan (landscape architecture), Munich.

It was a great experience and I would love to give you some details on how we did it.

WEDNESDAY, 11th of August: After we both arrived we had a meeting with Lisa Taylor (Marketing Southport Flower Show) and Ian Hunt (the carpenter we asked to help us with all wood works) and visited the site- a cute 6x6m corner spot.

THURSDAY, 12th: When we arrived most of the other gardens were already nearly finished and already in the planting process- ups, pressure was up! Especially when Ian told us he would be coming on Sunday to start working on site.

Lisa told us that the garden has to be finished on Wednesday 1pm as the judges arrive around 2pm. Ok, we thought- easy!

When Keith (angel of the Southport Flower Show ;-))) ) came to first spray the plot, take of the lawn and then digg out what we wanted to be the pond we started to be very excited as this would really bet he first garden we build from scratch with our own hands!

Ian was so nice to drive us around Southport and show us garden centers where we could find sand and stones that we still needed to order.

Also we managed to rent a van to drive down to Oxfordshire to pick up the plants we had ordered in May.

FRIDAY, 13th: Bad omen... We spent the whole day on the road just to find out that the plants we ordered were not very well maintained and look absolutely awful. They either did not grow very well, or had already flowered. We were absolutely devastated as the planting was so important and finding the right plants in this short amount of time seemed to be absolutely impossible. Driving back north we made plans but our mood was not very positive.

SATURDAY, 14th: After a short night we unloaded the van to see our neighbours at the show laughing at us...especially as the Southport mail promised to show exciting flowers and plant combinations this year! OMG.

Chris Ashcroft, a local landscaper offered help and spent half a day to drive with us to some nurseries where we found some useful plants but most of what was offered was already over or did not suit our theme: coastal.

SUNDAY, 15th: At this stage I would like to mention that we love Southport! It is beautiful, the people are incredibly nice and helpful and even the weather was not too bad.

Ian and his team started building the pergola out of reclaimed wood, we mainly used euro palettes for the fence and also for the board walk.

When Ian saw our plants he doubted the garden to look good. (Luckily he told us after everything was finished...)

So we went together to some more garden centers and finally found – expensive- but nice plants that would suit our requirements and would look absolutely awsome in the right combination. Coming back to the site the pergola was up and the ponds filled with nice soft sand before we put the liner in.

MONDAY, 16th: Time is running. We picked up the last plants at some nurseries but then faced the next challenge- it seamed to be impossible to buy grey/white or silver sand! All the sand we got offered was either yellow or red.

Massam supplies was the place to go to and Steve and his team tried everything to find the sand and pebbles we wanted. They ended up ordering sand from Yorkshire which got delivered the next day, one day before judging, phew.

The rest of monday we spend with emptying and filling the ponds to make the water look clean, which was not very easy but the guys from Tarleton Specimen Plants showed us a trick: you simply take a sheet of newspaper and carefully slide it over the top of the water. All the oily bits and pieces will stick to the paper!

Some last bits and pieces for Ian to change and prepare for tomorrow, including to wooden planters for the two shrubs we bought- oh yes, he loved us ;-)...

When it started to get dark we had no light, so I drove the van to the plot to be able to see what I was planting. But wonderful Keith gave us a hand again and installed our private moon...

We worked until midnight when it rained so heavily that we walked home.

TUESDAY, 17th: By now we ran out of clothes, all wet and dirty- yak.

Arrival of pebbles and silver sand- we do not have enough! Arg.

The pond liner shows. Ian goes to the super market to buy aluminium foil and we cover up the pond liner. It will do for 3 days of the show...

We would normally suggest the use of aluminium sheets or stainless steel. The aluminium foil bounced back the light in the water and made the silver sand more shiny. Filling up the ponds and then facing the last challenge: The Door!

I always wanted to have a mirror door and Momo and I had some discussions about it. Ian had prepared a door for us and put mirror foil on one side but then ran out of foil and have a guess: no more foild available anywhere in Southport.

We then decided to spray paint the door. In the hardware store we found a bargain door for 15GBP which we bought plus a load of spray cans and Momo stared spraying the door.

The other landscapers kept coming to watch us and to offer help, which was very nice.

Momo started with the last planting. We took out the plants of their pots- normally you would plant them including the pots- but we wanted to have them more dense. It is quite amazing how many plants you can fit into one bed!

Worked again until midnight before falling into bed.

WEDNESDAY, 18th: Judgement day! We were sooo excited!

When we came to the site the water was gone low very much and we filled up the ponds again. Putting up the hammock that I prepared with a friend at home in Germany- she had sewn it out of marquee fabric to make it water proof and then I had friends from sailing who would help putting holes and strong eyelets into the corners. But would it be strong enough to hold me? It was! And also very comfortable! As it was windy and the hammock was flying in the wind I made little pebble weights to put at the corner lids.

Alright dear judges, we are ready!

Motivated by our competitors who thought we deserve a gold medal we went back from lunch to pick up Momo’s shoes just to see the judges in front of our garden. They kicked the door!!! They tried to open it- the sculpture! We should have taped it but were so speechless that we could not think quickly.

THURSDAY, 19th: The show started. David, the chief manager of the Southport Flower Show came arund to hand us our medal: Bronze. I can not describe how awful we felt, especially when seeing who of our competitors got golds...

When the judges came around to talk to us, we received the feedback:

- The door is not functional.

- When you stand in front of the door, you can nt see the garden. (???!)

- The pebble package is a japanese symbol of „no entry“ – we should consider this fort he next garden we build.

- The planting is great but does not correspond to our initial planting plan. (the one from March)

Fortunately one of the first visitors was a Supervisor from the Tate Liverpool who absolutely loved our garden and praised the harmony and balance of colours, planting and materials.

I mentioned this to the judges and gues what they said: „You should exhibit at the TATE then, shouldn’t you?“

Gavin Dermaid, one of the most famous garden designers came the next day to our garden and gave us the best advise: „Never listen to judges but stick to your ideas and your design.“

He liked what we had done and praised the garden at the Ladies Day Lunch later on.

Over all we were happy with our first garden and so were the people who visited, some liked the door, some not but on all of them I could see a change of facial expression when they came near our garden, and that was all that mattered to me! They were happy. What else do you want to achieve?!

We would like to thank the following people for their help and support:

Lisa Taylor, David Jackson, Keith, Tracy and Steve from the Ambassador Townhouse (awsome!!!), Ian Hunt and his team, Tarleton Specimen Plants, Lady Green Nursery, Chris Ashcroft, Muddy Boots, Massams Supplies.

photographs: Alex Lehne, Momo Pino, Southport Flowershow

Prunus Laurocerasus

2010-07-16T10:01:00.000+01:00

Getting closer to finish my garden design course I feel becoming very popular amongst family and friends... ;-)
Everybody all of a sudden feels the urge to have his/her garden designed, or mostly just ask for help with this or that little problem.

Last week I was asked for my opinion about a nice non-see-through hedge. I suggested anything but prunus laurocerasus which- I was then told- is very modern and "IN" in Germany these days. (Maybe because it is so expensive?)

I just remembered my tutor who said: Use anything but this plant for a hedge as it looks awful when you cut it.

Well, people say you just have to trim it then with small sissors so you don't see the cutted leaves- who has the time for this?! especially if the hedge measures 30meters...

I wonder what your experience says: Good hedge plant- bad hedge plant?

Thanks!

Chaumont Garden Festival 2010

2010-07-08T01:10:00.000+01:00

The International Garden Festival was created in 1992 around Chaumont Castle on the side of the Loire river.
Every year it offers an tribute to garden design with a new theme that changes each year. This years topic was "Body& Soul".

The gardens are made by architects, designers or artists- often strange, entertaining, futuristic or really weird but nevertheless very inspiring.
Trees are painted red, big pictures are hanging between them in the forrest, chairs are standing on top of a lake, a grand piano between an ocean of flowers while you listen to Jazz music...
Every garden is different, from very simple to absolutely incredible and unbelievable. It is worth going! And I will be back next year for sure.

End of the Year Exhibition

2010-07-06T17:31:00.000+01:00

In June we had our end of the year exhibition with more than 200 people visiting.
This years course had 16 students with all different backgrounds and nationalities. It was so interesting to see how we all interpreted the same tasks in a different way and how much each of us established an own style already.

The exhibition showed part of our sales portfolio that we can use after finishing this course for our own business. An external examiner came to judge the quality of the work which displayed a selection of all the work completed through the year: design exercises, 3 real gardens and their design including architectural and construction drawings in CAD, perspective and rendered drawings, planting plans, specifications, photography, history timeline and moodboards.

Project 1 was a tiny Oxford Courtyard Garden of a house build in the 1980's with first floor balcony, no existing link into the garden which made all of us decide to introduce a staircase that would make it easy to access the garden from the kitchen and living room.

Project 2 was a small 500square meter country garden in Oxfordshire requiring a new garage, workshop, conservatory and kitchen garden.

Project 3 was a 2.5 acre country garden in Oxfordshire with existing jacuzzi, party house and tennis court. The client requested a conservatory as well as a lake. It was a big challenge to achieve a nice and smooth link between house, jacuzzi and tennis court but I am very proud about my design (which the external examiner also pointed out :-) ) My nicest compliment was : "John Brooks would be proud of you." What else do I need?!

This link leads you to a video made by Duncan Heather, principle of the Oxford College of Garden Design:

http://vimeo.com/13062759

A big thank you to all my class mates for all their support during this fantastic year in Oxford! It was great studying with you and I enjoyed the time a lot.
Also thanks to all our teachers, guest lecturers and supporters (Garden Design Guru Duncan Heather, Vice Principal Sally Court, Garden Designer Amanda Macrae, Architect Michael Reed, Vectorworks Lady Tamsin Slatter, Famous Garden Designer John Brookes, Horticulture Expert Chris Marchant and Orchard Dene Nurseries, Architect and Construction Expert John Heather, Artist Jo Chance, History Expert Alistair McVean, Main Organiser and Powerlady in the back Carol Heather) who made the impossible possible ;-)) to change a sport scientist into a garden designer ;-).

1 acre - a combination of art and healthy thinking

2010-05-25T09:09:00.019+01:00

Interview with Johanna Braun

When I went to visit the Oxford Art Week Festival (still up until the 31st of May!) I also had a look at the Oxford Brookes University BA Fine Art Show 2010.

The first exibitor that got my attention was Johanna Braun with "1acre". I was very happy to meet her in person and funny enough she is from Freising, near Munich which is about 30 minutes from my home...
Johanna combines art with ecological and healthy thinking and her attempt of showing this was so unusual and "awakening" that I would like to share it with you.
When you got to the Richard Hammilton Building you would see a strip of fabric running away from it into the landscape. Once following it you were lead to a table with fresh homemade bread (german style and soooo yummie! -recipe further below...) and also fresh homemade butter. Apparently it was a 1 acre walk and it was interesting to actually "feel" the space and size of land that could feed you for one year.
Inside the building on her booth you could see bags full of seeds as well as handmade paper bags with prints of sprouts that belonged to the seeds that were inside. Each labeled with an important information about the actual plant. And I want to point out that everything was home- and handmade!

THE INTERVIEW

Alex: What did you do before you started studying at Brookes?
Johanna: After completing my Abitur (the German equivalent of A-levels) I cycled round the south bit of England and volunteered on some farms as part of the wwoof scheme. On one in the oxford area i liked it particularly, so the 3 months i initially wanted to stay became a year during which i found out about the art programme at Brookes.

Alex: Your work is called 1 acre - What is the main intention?
Johanna: 1 acre is roughly the amount of land one person needs to grow enough food to live from with kind of "reasonable" diet. With that I mean you wouldn't have to be vegan or vegetarian but meat would need to be consumed in a conscious way.
The agricultural land worldwide divided by all the people on the earth would give everybody a share of two acres which is more than one would need.
I am interested in the relations of what we have /what we want/ what we actually need/ what we appreciate.
I marked an acre on the ground which you can walk along to get a sense of that space that could cover all your essential needs. I think the appreciation for those essentials has become very low, they are somehow taken for granted even if they are the ones we depend on.

Alex: What was (or still is) your inspiration?
Johanna: I grew up on an organic farm in Bavaria where the connection to the food i eat is very easy to make. I am moving back there now long term because it is very important and exciting for me to see and take part in what's happening in the different seasons.

Alex: We really loved the printed seed bags, very beautiful! How did you make them?
Johanna: I made paper from hemp fibres and printed a macro picture of a seed with some information (from history, legends or its agricultural/ nutritional properties) about this particular seed. Inside two sheets of paper I sewed a few real seeds so you could see their actual size.
With that i wanted to show the power and potential which is hidden in those little seeds.

Alex: We followed your track all around the campus and tasted your bread- sooo yummie, do you have the recipe for us?
Johanna: The bread is made with a sourdough starter.

BREAD RECIPE
- Make this by mixing flour and water together to a pancake-like consistency and put in a jar covered with a cloth.
- Leave this to ferment in a warm place and add some more flour and water everyday.
- After 3-5 days you have a slightly vinegary smell coming from it- lactic and acetic bacteria which will later make your dough rise.
- You start by refreshing the starter with some flour and warm water which you leave to ferment for about five hours, until you see bubbles on the surface.
- Then mix half of this starter (the other half keep in your jar in the fridge and keep for your next batch which you start at the refreshing stage. This way you can keep using it indefinitely) in 400g flour of choice with 2 tsp salt and more warm water to make a very soft and sloppy dough.
- I added some walnuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
- Knead for about 10 minutes, then cover and let to rise at room temperature until it is about doubled in bulk.
- Shape it into a loaf and leave to rise again for about half an hour.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven on the highest possible temperature and bake for 10 mins on very hot, then turn down to 180 degrees and bake for another 25-30 mins.

I used Heritage flour from The Oxford Bread Group which consists of different ancient wheat, oat and rye varieties. It is very wholesome and lots of people with wheat intolerance have been able to have this unlike intensively bred and refined flour that is ususally available.

Alex: Did you also make the butter yourself;-))) ?
Johanna: I made the butter from cream from North Aston Organics, whose milk and cream taste amazing because the cows are being fed exlusively on the greens and grass of their meadows.

HOW TO MAKE BUTTER

English double cream is easy to use, just whippe it until it starts to get slightly yellow and crumpy and you will see water being extracted (buttermilk). You can either through the buttermilk away or drink it which is very healthy. Wash the left over with cold water until the water becomes clear. Knead the rest until the last bit of water comes out. É voilà!

Alex: How long did it take you to prepare the exhibition?
Johanna: I had about 4 months to prepare this project.

Pictures by Johanna Braun

Bread from The Town Garden

2010-05-24T08:24:00.002+01:00

Went to see my favourite shopw in Oxford on the weekend again: The Town Garden in North Parade with owner Jebs to buy fresh organic cauliflower and the yummie bread which I enjoyed this morning.

Yummie! And what a wonderful start into the day... It is a "heart bred"- makes eating it even more enjoyable...;-)

The sandwich recipe:
1 thick slice of the Town Garden organic white bread
mixed organic lettuce
1 slice organic mild cheddar cheese
2 slices of organic british ham slightly roasted in a pan
1 fried freerange organic egg
pepper and salt if you like

If you wonder why I only use organic food: it tastes better and is more healthy. If you think of yourself as a bin- think about how much junk you put into yourself every day! Food should keep us alive and give us energy. So how much energy would you get from (for instance) an animal that was kept inside only and fed with rubbish inappropriate food from suppliers from the other end of the world?
I prefer an egg from a happy chicken and not from a sad one. Because I believe the egg can not have much of happy energy... :-)

And I get always asked where my never ending energy comes from, hey people...maybe thats why?
By the way, white bread now and then does not harm you, but I generally use whole meal rye (the german style ;-) ) but the balance makes life wonderful, doesn't it?

Apparently Jebs found some new suppliers for bread in pots! :-)) Look here....

Enjoy your day!

Garden Design Exhibition

2010-05-24T07:38:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,

this years Oxford College of Garden Design Student exhibition will be held on June 17th in the new college buildings for next year - I am kind of jealous! Very nice, very old- here you get the typical "Oxford College- Feel".

And because its is another hot day today I will go and get ready so you can see all my wonderful work on the 17th...lots and lots to do. See you there!

Tree Survey at Harcourt Arboretum

2010-05-21T20:35:00.001+01:00

The final lecture (quite sad!)of this years Garden Design Course covered the topic "Tree Survey" and started with a test about the 31 most common trees in the UK. We actually all did quite well remembering common and latin names ;-) thinking for instance of Harry Potter ( Fraxinus Excelsior)...:-))) Thank you Tracy, I will NEVER forget that plant in my life, as well as the alnus glutinosa...(not telling what we thought of that one actually...)

We then went to Harcourt Arboretum, part of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden- the oldest Botanic Garden in Grait Britain with a history of 380years.

The task was to survey 10 trees in hight, branch width, stem diameter, physical and structural condition and then finally grade them...poor trees were like models on a catwalk ;-) And yes, the grading is a little bit subjective as the tree can be not super healthy but if you find its structure interesting and like its character because it add architectional interest to the garden you might give it a better grade.
The bluebells were out as well as the azaleas...colours and fragrances, absolutely beautiful!

It was a great way to finish this one year course, the sun was out and I actually experienced my first hot day in England!
A stroll through the garden made this day perfect. I have seen my first Snowdrop Tree (Halesia monticola, USA) which is stunning!

They are rare and you might only find them in larger gardens and if you think we have time off now to rest...WRONG. But the bench was nice anyway...

Photography Course at OCGD

2010-05-17T10:54:00.002+01:00

During our photography course at the Oxford College of Garden Design Giles Heather told us all about the tricks in garden and plant photography. It was very intensive but a lot of fun and I got the know my camera but also realized that there are a lot more toys to buy...;-)

One task was to go to the Oxford Botanical Gardens and take several shots:

Panning Shot

"Don't give a dame" Shot

Small Depth of Field Shot

Freeze Action Shot

Slow Action Shot

Winner of the Student Garden Design Competition- Southport Flower Show

2010-05-15T22:49:00.001+01:00

Momo and I started talking about doing this competition when I took over her room in Oxford...It was not easy to prepare all documents as Momo now lives in Canada so we had to overcome the time difference. But it all worked out fine! We won and are very happy.

The topic of this years competition was COAST. Our idea was to "enlarge" the 6x6m garden by shallowed water ponds, a pergola with hammock above pebble planting and a deck walk leading from a chrome door- that reflects water and sky- to the hammock.

I am very excited to see it all finished ;-) and I am very glad to have my colleagues from school who help with ideas and searching material.

The Southport Flower Show is actually the UK's largest and friendliest, independent flower show on 34 acres with around 80.000 visitors over 4 days. It starts on august 19th, hope you all come and visit! :-)))
More information you can get on www.southportflowershow.co.uk

Here is the press release from Southport Flower Show (Chris Corfield):

STUDENT GARDEN WINNERS ANNOUNCED

A TOUCH of international class will be gracing Southport Flower Show this year.The winners of this year’s Southport Flower Show Student Garden design competition have been announced, with this year’s top entry showcasing the best in continental cool.

A team from the Oxford College of Garden Design (OCGD), consisting of Momo Pino, 32, from Croatia and Alexandra Lehne, 34, from Germany, won the competition with their design based on the show’s theme of Coast. The team of judges congratulated them on the high caliber of their entry, and praised the winners for their use of both conceptual and sculptural elements in their design.

The competition challenges design students to create an exciting and unique garden with a budget of £5,000. The winning design is then brought to life and displayed in front of over 75,000 people at the Southport Flower Show, which runs from August 19 – 22.

For one half of the winning team, it was a chance to improve on last year’s second place finish. Momo, who was highly commended for her 2009 entry, said she was happy to go one step further this year: “I made a few mistakes with my entry in 2009. It was unrealistic in terms of budget, so I made sure that this year our entry was within budget without losing any of the flair that made our design stand out.”
Momo, currently living and working in Canada after finishing her course, will be flying over to the UK to oversee the building work on the garden. She said: “I was sceptical about the design at first; it took some convincing from Alex. I wasn’t sure it was ‘showy’ enough for a show garden, but Alex had the vision and it has paid off for us. I can’t wait to see it finished and on display.”

The pair, who will also receive £1,000 in prize money, embraced modern technology to work together on the designs, often working on the same project despite being thousands of miles apart.
Alexandra said: “I am so happy we won; it will be so exciting to see the final design built and displayed among all the other wonderful things on offer over the weekend of the show. "
“You can have brilliant ideas but they don’t always work in real life, so this competition gives us a chance to show people that we can not only manage the whole process, but also that by being positive you can make great things happen. It will also give us the opportunity to start our careers as garden designers with an award-winning first item in our portfolio!”

Duncan Heather, from OCGD, said: “Competitions such as this one are invaluable to designers like Alex and Momo."
"It’s a fantastic opportunity for them to demonstrate what they’ve learnt and also gain the credibility needed to forge a successful career in garden design.”
Building work will start on the winning design in the last week of July, and will be ready in time for the show’s grand opening on August 19.

So far we got press featured here:
Horticulture Week
Garden Design Guru
Responsesource

Olafur Eliasson

2010-04-22T02:07:00.019+01:00

Today I came across another intersting artist- Olafur Eliasson: born in Copenhagen with islandic background and now running a studio with approximately 35 people (artists, architects, scientists, art hisorians etc.) in Berlin and also teaching at the Berlin University for Arts.

He is famous for his artistic works that always include physical phenomen of nature- water and light, movement and reflexion.

In his project "Green River" from 1998-2001 he coloured rivers in Tokyo (Japan), Bremen (Germany), Stockholm (Sweden), Moss (Norway) and Los Angeles (USA) green.

Imagine to colour water features in gardens a particular colour!

I also love his Ice Pavilion that he built for the Reykjavik Art Museum in 1998. I know it is spring but how "cool" is that?! Just a different kind of sculpture...

Unfortunately I am not allowed to show pictures from his homepage on this blog but if you are interested, this is the link to the green rivers: "Green River" Moss, Norway 1998

He is currently running an exhibition about Berlin in Berlin, started on April 28th 2010.
You can buy his books at Amazon:

Your Chance Encounter

Olafur Eliasson (Contemporary Artists (Phaidon))

Spring near San Francisco- Filoli Gardens

2010-04-21T00:11:00.003+01:00

Filoli Gardens and House are located 30miles south of San Francisco and got build in 1915 by Mrs. and Mr. William Bourne, who not only owned a gold mine but was also the owner and president of the Spring Valley Water Company.

The Bournes originally came from Irland, so house and gardens were designes with many elements you would recognise belonging to an English Country Estate.

The house itself measures 4000sqm (!!!) and sits in 654acres of land, a big part of that being beautifully landscaped by various designers, architects and artists.
The house, the garden and the grounds were planned as one unit: the formal garden, starting with the terraces and the sunken garden, following the construction of the house. The entire garden was built between 1917 and 1929.

The strength of the garden's design is its long links to the house and its compartmentalized character defined by its hedges and walls. It remains remarkably preserved as one of the few surviving and best examples of an English Renaissance style garden. Despite to many of the original prototypes in England its design survived through out the years and can be visited now by the public.

You can now visit the Sunken Garden, the Walled Garden, the Rose Garden, the Knot Garden, the Dutch Garden, the Fruit Garden, the Meadow and various other places all located on about 10 acres. Although I was late for spring I could still take some beautiful pictures of spring flowers, the tulips were just about to leave.

Filoli Estate is a California State Historic Landmark and listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
It was given to the National Trust by the second owner Mrs. Roth, so when you go into the house everything is still there as if she just went for a walk...
Ongoing events and exhibitions as well as new seasonal planting make this place worth a visit!

The new way of ecological gardens

2010-04-13T19:41:00.002+01:00

If you don't have the money to buy a plot then you might think about doing the same like Richie Sowa, an english artist and musician who built his own island in Mexico out of more than 250.000 recycled plastic bottles! :-)))

He collected floating plastic bottles, tied them together in nets and placed them underneath a bamboo and plywood structure. The original island (before getting destroyed by a hurricane in 2005) measured 66x54 ft and offered space for a two-story house, solar oven, self-composting toilet and multiple beaches...

After Spiral Island was destroyed Richie slowly build another one (Spiral Island II with app.100.000 bottles so far), in a more safe spot near Isla Mujeres, Mexico and opened it to the public in 2008 where he meets with friends, supporters and turists.

Spiral Island II has beaches, a house, 2 ponds, a solar-powered waterfall/river, and solar panels.
The government treats the island not as an island but as a boat because it is floating. if you want to know more, go to the Spiral Island Community and become a Fan or Supporter.

The Treehotel in Harrads- a unique collection of hotel rooms

2010-03-29T12:21:00.001+01:00

Sweden is famous for their forrests and beautiful nature. Some years ago architects developed the Ice Hotel- now the Treehotel in Harrads will be opened on July 3rd. The treehotel in Harrads is a new concept based on a cooperation between well-known designers and architects around the world to blend hotels into nature. It also shows a beautiful way of design and architecture combined with nature.

Hotel rooms in the canopy of trees give you a new experience and new dimension, created in harmony with nature and ecological values (manly wood, one with glass).
At the moment there are 6 completely unique themed Tree Houses including a sauna of course ;-)), created by 5 separate architects. This will be the first Tree Hotel in the world with a Sauna!
The rooms have 15 – 30 square meters, between 4-6 meters away from the ground. Set up in beautiful Pine Trees the trrhotel will give you a memory for life.
Prices for each Tree House: 360 Euro per night, single 190 Euro per night, both prices include breakfast.

It's all about scale and proportion

2010-02-26T09:29:00.002Z

Working on project 3 I realised how difficult it is to adjust my brain to a larger plot. We have 4 acres to fill and make look artistically beautiful. And not to forget: blend the building into nature which seems to be mission impossible.
By strolling through the internet I found a great scale project: "Little people left in the city to fend for themselves" by London Artist Slinkachu started in 2006.

The unwanted ones, Westferry, London, 2008

They're no pets, Susan- Primrose Hill, London, 2007

You can get the greatest shots in a book through Amazon. Have fun and watch out when you walk through the city, you might see some weird little things...

Shop of the Month

2010-02-12T08:08:00.002Z

On my way to the OCGD masterclass with award winner Andy Sturgeon in St. Hugh's Oxford yesterday (which was great- we finally looked at gardens again, no technical drawings ;-) ) I passed a beautiful little shop in North Parade, Oxford: THE TOWN GARDEN.
Steve, former Marketing Manager at British Airways, decided that there was not enough balance in his life and started to do what he loved and developed this beautiful and healthy concept.

It is small, it is cute and it is full of things that make you want them, including fresh veggies from farmers max.20miles around, or products produced by friends and family.

If you need a gift- that is the place to go. And if you are hungry- there are some nice pubs around too.

Definitely worth a visit!

Winter Wonderland

2010-02-09T15:00:00.001Z

late January at Lake Starnberg, Germany

It's hard work to make people enjoy life. JEAN TINGUELY

Some people always want what they don't have.
A lot of people either live in the past or future.
Most people very rarely enjoy the present.

Lighting

2010-02-08T15:29:00.000Z

If you get your garden designed you might want to enjoy your garden all year around and all hour around. Using light will help to add another dimension to the enjoyment of outdoor living. It adds another character and can make your garden look completely different during night times.

When you are thinking about (re-)designing, think about lighting too and preverable at the beginning of the poject so you don't have to make compromises at the end.
With everything else "less is more" also applies to the topic of lighting. Do not try to light everything, leave some areas of mystery to make your garden exciting and dramatic.

And for all people that think about environmental issues, luminaires from HUNZA landscape lighting (made in NewZealand) operate on low watt. A luminaire with a 20watt lamp works on a lower and safer temperature, uses 60% less energy and is therefor cheaper to operate plus requires low maintenance and lasts longer.

Would you like to get more information? Contact the Oxford College of Garden Design for their Masterclasses or John Marriott of "Lighting for Landscapes Ltd."

Project 2

2009-12-17T15:21:00.001Z

Unbelievable...just finished the drawings for our second project. A small country house with garage, work shed, kitchen garden, pond and two patios.
The major issue for me this time was to get the architectural blanks copied...I have to admit that the english print quality is a lot better than here in Germany, and half the price ;-(((
And then the worst thing happened: when rendering sheet number 1 one of the stupid pens sort of exploded and spilled the ink all over the nearly finished work. It ended in a big scream with my cats and husband disappearing and getting out of my way. I was ready to kill.
Then: yould somebody introduce a non-expensive way of shipping goods to England? To send 3 A1 sheets cost me 120 EUR!!! Not a bargain...Anyway, just waiting for Mr UPS, he better be nice and quick.
Then I will start feeling like Christmas, before getting to the next homework...
Did someone said this course is easy?!?!

Mood Board

Site Analysis& Conceptual Diagrams

2D Perspectives & Sketch Plan

Section Elevations, 2D Perspective& Shade Diagrams

Historical Timeline

2009-12-07T00:06:00.001Z

One of our major projects was to develop a timeline for the last 3 centuries and showing the relations between GARDEN, ART, ARCHITECTURE and SOCIO-ECONOMICS of every decade...
I started at the beginning of October and just finished.
The 20th century was really fun working with, so many beautiful buildings as well as art and gardens. Too many wars but.
It was difficult to decide who is in and who is out, it ended up being a mixture between people and happenings that you can not deny and between the ones that are just important or interesting for ME. Then it came to the point of RELATION and some had to go again. Finding nice pictures making this dry topic more attractive was another hurdle...
At the end it was fun, very interesting and made me look especially at art and architecture with different eyes. And I have learned a lot.

Go green and be environmentally responsible- how aware are you?

2009-12-05T10:49:00.003Z

Last weeks topic of Duncan Heather "Are you an environmentally responsible designer" made me think. How many resources of nature do we use each day without a need? We as designers are responsible as we have it in our hands, what we plan and what sort of materials we use. (e.g. wood by Paul Ridley) And WE are working with nature, we want to make landscapes to look more interesting, more beautiful and worth living in them.

Isn't our whole life a life in luxury and mostly on the costs of other people and our environment? And if it is not our close environment, it is the environment of others, far away.

How many products do you buy each day that are manufactured somewhere else? It starts with food and ends with cars. Why do you buy apples from New Zealand? Why strawberries in winter from South Africa? Think healthy, be more healthy! Eat the seasons! Eat organic! Because you are what you eat. And you can afford it- just think about how much food you throw away every day, if you spend a bit more, you will be more aware and careful- I bet!

The fashion and shoe industry is big, hey ladies- how full is your wardrobe? A man once asked me- do you need all this? He is right! I don't! What do you really need?
Whatever we buy, it is mostly produced in the far east. If you buy something really cheap, it doesn't matter if a piece of cheese for 1 EUR or a T-Shirt for 5 EUR...do you think it is made with care and love?

Lu Guang, a photographer from People’s Republic of China made a documentary “Pollution in China".
Have a look, it might change your way of thinking, buying and spending.

Guiyu, Guangdong province, rivers and reservoirs have been contaminated, a woman is washing in a seriously polluted pond.

Shanxi Province is the most polluted area of China and shows the highest rate of birth defects.

“In Some areas of China people’s lives were threatened because of the environmental pollution. Residents suffering from all kinds of obscured diseases, the cancer villages, increase of deformed babies, these were the results of sacrificing environment and blindly seeking economical gain.”
(Lu Guang)

Just live your life with a little bit more awareness and think twice sometimes!

Whatever you do, do it with love and passion, without hurting anyone- people, animals, nature.

Stress and not enough time? Gonna love this book...

2009-12-04T00:18:00.001Z

I did not expect studying and running my normal business as well as moving to a different country leaving my family behind would be that hard, but it is.
For all people who find it difficult to manage time, work, fun and life ;-) I can highly recommend the book "The Four Hour Work Week" by Timothy Ferriss. Easy to read with some good and practical advices before getting a Burn- Out...
His blog is a burner- Experiments in Lifestyle Design- how to learn a language in 3 days, speed reading, time management, online marketing etc. etc. check it out!

IGPOTY International Garden photographer of the Year Award

2009-12-01T08:54:00.000Z

As our principle Duncan Heather pushed us to join this competition I entered yesterday, 3hours before final ;-) We will see, you never know...

You can see the competitor pictures on the IGPOTY website.

Project One

2009-12-01T08:37:00.001Z

Finalized project one, our first client- late but I am back on track.
Thanks to my class for help and support, you are great guys and it is great fun working with you!

traditional moodboard

contemporary moodboard

conceptual diagrams

Sketch Plan and Sketch Up D2 Perspectives

Planting plan, Section Elevations and 1 Point Perspective

I took pics with my camera from A1 sheets, that might explain the wide angle look... ;-)))

Art in the Garden

2009-11-24T23:18:00.007Z

Visited this years Art in the Garden exhibition at Hillier Gardens.

Interesting sculptures!
Art in the Garden celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and showed the work of over 70 new and established artists, graduates and local Hampshire artists with over 150 pieces of purchasable art and design. All the sculpture was displayed in a beautiful outdoor setting of the 180 acre Hillier Gardens.

My favourite as well as the annual featured artist 2009 is Sara Machej with her big, white cement organic 'growths'. The sculptures sit on the banks of the pond creating beautiful reflections in the water.

Art in the Garden is curated by Elizabeth Hodgson of Underground Art + Design which is an arts organisation to promote the work of artists and designers. For information on how to participate in 2010 you can contact Elizabeth at: underground_artanddesign@yahoo.co.uk.

Water Gardens and Vectorworks

2009-11-24T22:24:00.000Z

Sorry for being late with posting this but I had been busy with keeping up...been sick and the Garden Design course at OCGD is really timeconsuming. But we learn so much, it is incredible. First results- the finished project 1 you can see at the Blog of our principle Duncan Heather. My delayed hand-in date is thursday, still have to render one sketch...
Last Friday we had one of the best lectures ever: Pond Construction and Water Plants by Martin Kelley- Fairwater Ltd., one of the leading pond construction experts of the UK. Interesting and really fun listening! I definitely like the idea of natural pond ecosystems or natural swimming pools. Fairwater Ltd. is working hand in hand with BioNova from Germany- based in Munich ;-) so will go and have a chat to the guys...

Today we got introduced to Vectorworks, the CAD- Software. Cool. Lots of things that you can do and lots of things to learn but just a great tool to work professionally. Lecture was done by Tamsin Slatter, the Vectorworks specialist. If you want to book a training or purchase her book about Vectorworks, just go to her homepage. It is really worth it!!!

Inspirations

2009-11-10T12:54:00.002Z

The class took a trip to the TATE last week which I unfortunately could not attend as I was in hospital ;-(.
I try to keep up now by searching for art and inspiration in the internet. By doing this I found a nice homepage about a sculpture exhibition in Australia. http://sculpturebythesea.com/

It is definitely worth looking at!
Some of my favourites:

Rollercoaster by Lene Desmentik

Inside spoken things by Tim Macfarlane Reld

She thought by Mark McClelland

Autumn shows colour

2009-11-10T12:37:00.001Z

DSC_2053
Ursprünglich hochgeladen von Alex Lehne

Have been off for a while...sorry for that, I am back now.
This autumn I went to see several gardens, my most favourite ones were Knoll Gardens, Hillier Gardens, Heale House, Waterperry...
I found out that you can find something stunning in every garden, just make sure the sun is out and gives a little bit of light.
Various acers are the highlight in a autumn garden, they give such a nice colour range. You can find a wonderful japanese garden in the garden of Heale House.

Sketch Up lessons

2009-10-27T17:43:00.002Z

Played with Sketch Up today and had Tamsin Slatter to give us explanations and help. It still keeps doing strange things after a while...my eyes are sort of square now too after 7 hours of drawing ;-)

Homework

2009-10-21T23:07:00.001+01:00

After 3 full days of 14 hours each my back hurts and I am longing for fresh air and sunshine!!!

Sketch plan, Section levels, Sketch Up 3D model and mood board...I had arguments with my new printer as well as with Sketch Up, still a pretty good program for free...We will get the crits tomorrow...the red pen is waiting ;-)))

Visit to Knoll Gardens

2009-10-21T21:43:00.002+01:00

What a beautiful 4 acre garden in the south of England! It is meant to be one of the nicest gardens to visit in autumn. For RHS- members free...students 4,50.

I became a grass- lover!!! For special events such as Free Plant Club (10% discount for all plant orders, join on www.knollgardens.co.uk), Garden Tours and Masterclasses run by Neil Lucas, the UK leading authority on grasses...also Masterclasses for professional garden designers!

That was last sunday, the reason why I am late is that I was stuck with LOTS of homework, I did not think it would be that hard to go back to school...still not finished, more tomorrow...

Best Autumn Gardens in England

2009-10-15T22:30:00.000+01:00

Sheffield Park Garden www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Hergest Croft www.hergest.co.uk
RHS Garden Wisley www.rhs.co.uk
Exbury Gardens www.exbury.co.uk
Knoll Gardens www.knollgardens.co.uk
Winkworth Arboretum www.nationaltrust.org.uk
The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum www.hilliergardens.org.uk
The Savill Garden www.theroyallandscape.co.uk
Castle Howard www.castlehoward.co.uk
The National Arboretum, Westonbirt www.forestry.gov.uk/westonbirt

First Client

2009-10-08T18:33:00.002+01:00

Oh my god, three weeks at uni and got the first client already... It is a quite small plot of a town house garden we have to re-design so we ended up in measuring the garden which seemed to be a little chaotic with 16 students and 3 tutors running around...
Correct TRIANGULATION is the secret!
Went to Angel and Greyhound pub afterwards for weekly get-together.
Will look for some safety boots in pink as this was the main issue in class today...ah, and not to forget the hard hat and high-vis jacket ;-)))

Greystone

2009-10-07T21:11:00.001+01:00

Went to Greystone for Picasa lecture today to find out that my computer misses some RAM ...

Took some more shots for the Plant Portfolio - Greystone's Garden is SO BEAUTIFUL!!!

Riding home by bike in pouring rain ;-((( and finished my first garden (design homework), will get the crits the day after tomorrow...cheers!

The Evolution of modern landscape

2009-10-01T22:23:00.000+01:00

Had a big lecture today on the evolution on modern landscape.The funniest answer of the first tutors question "What are gardens for?" was "putting the washing out" ;-))) For some people that might be actually it!
Then we went from the stone circles in Stonehenge and Callanish (that one is VERY nice- Isle of Lewis! been there...) to Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia and back to Europe. I liked the Gardens of Villa d'Este and Villa Lante in Italy - like paradise.
All those pictures around the world - I was waiting to see a garden in Germany ( wanted to be proud...), finally there was ONE example - and that one I did not know ;-/ (Heidelberg?!) We can definitly do better than that!

Got familiar with names like William Kent, Charles Bridgeman, 'Capability' Brown - they have been the leading english garden designers. They designed Stowe, Chiswick, Rousham, Blenheim...
Oh ha, lots of things to read and lots of things to learn...

The evening class was very relaxing and enjoyable - drawing exercise... got first impressions on final exsams and 3rd semester homework...oh my god. A LOT.

Trip to Blenheim Palace and Rousham Gardens

2009-09-30T21:53:00.005+01:00

Went to Blenheim Palace ( home of W. Churchills family) and Rousham Gardens today.
The first day without sun! Not so good for taking photographs ;-(

Blenheim Palace is seen as a masterpiece of English Baroque architecture and was a gift (!) by Queen Anne to the first Duke of Marlborough (must have been Winston Churchills grand grand grand ... father...).
The famous british garden designer 'Capability' Brown landscaped 2100 acres of parkland (850ha!!!) including beautiful lakes, different formal gardens and lawns lawns lawns.
I liked the gardens although they are VERY formal and I think it looks a lot nicer with the sun out.

We finally bought a day ticket which gives us access for a whole year (bargain!) as we might come back in winter and spring. And guess what: Karl-Heinz got a adult ticket as well! He just looks a little fat on the picture...

Rousham Gardens have been one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. They were designed by William Kent (1685-1748) with temples, pond, beautiful flower garden with lots of DAHLIAS ( I never liked them because they are a hussle to digg out in autum and put back in spring, but I changed my mind today) and of course a vegetable garden. If I talk about gardens here, I mean probably "park", even the vegetable garden is nothing sizewise I have seen before... its huge.
It was great, stunning and so amazing that even the sun decided to give us a glimpse. Great relaxing and inspiring day!

Pusteblume (blowball)

2009-09-29T13:49:00.007+01:00

Pusteblume
Ursprünglich hochgeladen von Alex Lehne

German: Löwenzahn

English: dandelion

Latin: Taraxacum sect. Ruderalia

Pusteblumen (von Annegret Kronenberg)
Was gestern leuchtendgelb hier stand,
ich heute weiß und flockig fand.

Ein Meer von Pusteblumen steht da, zum Flug bereit,
und eine leichte Brise, trägt übers Land sie weit.

An jedes Schirmchen hänge ich meine Sehnsucht dann,
damit vielleicht auch eines dein Herz erreichen kann.

Autum plants and weed beds

2009-09-29T13:47:00.002+01:00

DSC_0456
Ursprünglich hochgeladen von Alex Lehne

A lot of people think once summer is over everything dies...well, a lot does ;-)
But even autum weed beds can look very attractive if you take a close look...see more on my flickr autum album.

First Homework

2009-09-28T23:43:00.000+01:00

Finished today part 1 of first weeks homework...made a relief à la Ben Nicholson ;-) well sort of...
Cutting cardboard- watch your fingers!!!
Finally got the glue off my hands, poor Tom put glue on the wrong side of the cut-out and had to cut it again- Scheisse! :-)))
He was NOT very happy.

Where to eat in Oxford

2009-09-27T22:45:00.011+01:00

After walking a long way last Thursday without knowing where to go for dinner, here probably the best places to eat (please tell me if not so ;-) as I have not tried all of them yet (a former student suggested):

Noodle Nation - fastfood but nice Noodlebar
100-101 Gloucester Green, OX1 2DF, Tel: 01865 201400
Al-Shami - great Lebanese food - I like HUMMUS!!!
25 Walton Crescent, OX1 2JG, Tel: 01865 310066
Loch Fyne - Scottish, super fish restaurant
55 Walton Street, OX2 6AE, Tel: 01865 292510

I had to remove Jamie's Italian...nice attempt to cook italian but not even close! And BAD service!!!

Tootsies - finest burgers in town, yummieh!
Unit 2, B Wing, 41 Oxford Castle, OX1 1AY, Tel: 01865 791715
Turf Tavern - coolest historic pub outside Oxford city walls, Shakespeare thought so too!
between New College Lane and Holywell Street, not visible! Tel: 01865 243235
Head of the River - traditional pub, nice for lunch on sunny sundays- got a little bit sun burned;-)
1 Folly Bridge, OX1 4LB, Tel: 08721 077 077
Mamma Mia Pizzeria - Pizza for everybody!
7 South Parade, Summertown, OX2 7JL, Tel: 01865 514141
Bangkok House - Thai at its best!
42a Hythe Bridge Street, OX1 2EP, Tel: 01865 200705
Greek Taverna - authentic greek food, Have you seen the WOG-BOY yet?
272 Banbury Road, OX2 7DY, Tel: 01865 511472
Las Iguanas - delicious and authentic Latin American food
40-41 Park End Street, OX1 1JD, Tel: 01865 263150
La Tasca - best tapas in town, hey Luis, let's have a go!
The Old Govenors Office, 5 Oxford Castle, City Centre,Tel: 01865 246464
Wagamama -nice Thai and Japanese!!!

some inspiration- the work of Ben Nicholson

2009-09-26T18:31:00.002+01:00

Ben Nicholson
Ursprünglich hochgeladen von Wolfiewolf

found some of his beautiful work here:

Artnet
Tate online
Picsearch
Flickr

First week of Post-Graduate Diploma Course in Garden Design

2009-09-25T21:17:00.002+01:00

I am currently studying Residential Landscape Design at the Oxford Brookes University - Oxford College of Garden Design, which is regarded as one of the top contemporary garden design courses in the world.

We worked so far on "Geometry of Shape". The best outcome of this first week is:

- nasty corners in paving create dead space and are the weakest point of any design
- wiggly lines do not look natural, nature (planting) can make it far better than we do

You don't have a wiggly carpet in your living room, do you? So why in the garden? ;-))
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Ich studiere derzeitig Landschaftsarchitektur und Garten Design an der Brookes Universität in Oxford- Oxford College of Garden Design.
Dieser Diplomstudiengang wird als einer der besten modernen Gartendesignkurse der Welt angesehen und ist aufgrund der Intensität, des hochqualifizierten Lehrpersonals und der geringen Studentenzahl sehr zu empfehlen.

Diese Woche haben wir am Thema " Geometrie der Formen" gearbeitet, hier die beiden wichtigsten Erkenntnisse:

- spitze Ecken von geflasterten Bereichen kreieren toten Raum und sind Grundlage für ein schwaches Design
- wacklige und kurvige Linien sehen nicht natürlich aus, die Natur (Bepflanzung) ist dazu viel besser in der Lage

Hast Du einen kurvigen Teppich im Wohnzimmer liegen? Nein? Warum dann im Garten? ;-))