Taunton Flower Show 2023
'Wander' Garden.
I had been playing with the idea of designing a garden influenced by my relationship with my brother for sometime. The Taunton Flower Show presented me the opportunity to try and do that.
It was a tremendous amount of work to undertake for me and a lot to bear for those around me! But, it was an amazing experience and a lot of fun. With the help of everyone I think the picture I had in my mind came to life. I hope I created a garden that allows for a wandering moment, and has perhaps expressed to others, even a small piece of my who my brother was and his influence on me.
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Please scroll down for the design brief and images of the garden.
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The garden would not have been possible without the help (and patience!) of Will from Kookaburra Carpentry. Great expertise in advising with the swing and fence design and their construction. Professional, skilled and generally fantastic timber framers from North Devon. Click the logo or link to their website is here.
Taunton Flower Show is brilliant, we loved being a part of it. Can't wait for 2024....!!
If you haven't been then you really should! Click the logo or link to their website is here.
‘Wander’ - Design Brief.
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Wander is a garden designed to create a journey commenting on mental health. As a designer I wanted to create a garden inspired by my younger brother Mikey, who took his own life in 2019.
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The free and erratic nature of the plant forms and some species ability to self-seed, reflect his untameable personality, while his favourite colours are represented in the flowers.
Tall plants and grasses provide movement and sound reflecting his love of film. The choices made in developing and creating the garden followed his environmental ethos, everything is either sustainable or will be re-used.
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A gravel garden and hard landscaping materials were chosen for their natural yet rough textures, working with the planting to create various experiences from the front, moving through, and reaching a destination.
In some short films my brother directed, the swing was a common theme representing a final point of reflection and realisation. I use it for that purpose too showing the wild beauty of a garden and life, connected by all its elements. It’s a journey related to dealing with mental health and its different moments and emotions. We aren’t all able to recognise or reflect that we are more than the sum of our parts.
