End of the Year Exhibition

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 ;-).

Garden Design Exhibition

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!

Photography Course at OCGD

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

Lighting

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."

First week of Post-Graduate Diploma Course in Garden Design

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? ;-))