GARDEN DESIGN GARDENS AS ART I
am often asked how, given a blank sheet of paper, I go about designing a garden. What is the start point and from where do I get inspiration or
the ‘big idea’. It would be too simplistic to quote a single source but I do find that art, be it two or three dimensional, can often be a good starting point. This can be anything from the colours used to the actual form, or design of the piece.
Part of the joy of creating a garden, no matter what its size, is the planning and dreaming phase. Beautiful pictures of perfect herbaceous borders and plumptious vegetables are a wonderful way to while away a wet day. However, dreaming about the overall plan and layout of your garden can be just as rewarding.
Many moons ago when I was at college we were
taken to Tate Britain and told to find three works that we liked and to turn them into layout designs for three gardens. This is not as daft as it might sound. What we were looking for was form and shape, how the design of a piece could translate into a ground plan. So whilst the galleries were full of art students faithfully copying assorted pieces we were stalking the building looking at everything from a somewhat different perspective.
It was a very useful and enlightening exercise.
When you design the ground plan for a garden it is a bit like using a giant colouring book with only five different colours available. You can either have lawn, water, hard surfaces or planting beds. There are no other options that you can put on the ground. Bearing this in mind find an artwork that you like. Then transfer the overall pattern onto a piece of paper and colour it in keeping to five colours. You may be very surprised with what you end up with.
Conversely would you be happy to hang the design
for your garden on the wall as a piece of art? If not, then perhaps you need to re-think. If you are looking to create a formal garden then the works of Piet Mondrian can be a good starting point. This type of layout would work well in a smaller town garden or perhaps for the areas closest to the house in a larger garden. If you wanted a more fluid design you could perhaps look at the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh as I did. Find a piece of art you like, have a go and see what
you get.
colette@charsleydesign.com
www.charsleydesign.com t: 01803 722449. m: 07774 827799. Follow me on Twitter @ColetteCharsley
Piet Mondrian
Charles R Mackintosh
Torbay Hospital Rose Garden Plans Professional Landscape and Garden Design
Creative and beautiful designs for village, town and country gardens
Colette Charsley PG Dip OCGD 01803 722449 07774 827799
colette@charsleydesign.com www.charsleydesign.com
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