29th October 2010
After designing, building and maintaining gardens in the city for many years, the opportunity to apply these skills to a large rural holding is an invigorating change. Two such opportunities have presented themselves in recent times, one in the Warwick/Stanthorpe area and one in the beautiful Brisbane Valley. Both projects have involved constructing gardens around newly built homesteads and in both cases gardens built from scratch.
Both owners are highly motivated to create gardens of real distinction so the process has been highly collaborative which I really enjoy. In each case the gardens are being completed in stages so there is the opportunity to play around with different concepts and approaches and to take a more "organic" approach to the design. The approach has involved formulating a broad design concept, prioritizing the areas to be completed and filling in the fine detail as we progress.
Over the next few months I will take you with me as these projects develop and give you some insight into the design process, what informs our decisions about what goes where in terms of both planting and built structures and the design detail which will hopefully give these country gardens their distinctive appeal. Each posting will be acompanied by pics of the maturing gardens.
(You will also hear about the inevitable frustrations and complications that can often occur)
I will also update other d.i.g projects as they develop and keep you informed of new products in our retail outlet in James St. In fact everything and anything of interest to those who love gardens and smart interiors.