Camley Street Natural Park

As part of a focus week study visit I went to the Camley Street Natural Park site. This small park is located on the southern bank of the Regents Canal at Kings Cross. Initially the site feels like an urban oasis, between the Midland and East Coast railways and opposite the huge Kings Cross development site. The ethos of the Camley Street site is to encourage and introduce nature back into the urban area of London. Information is available on some of the species which have been found on this former brownfield area. A range of activities engaging members of the public and local schools are run throughout the year and the area provides a perfect escape from the bustle of the Euston road just minutes away. The park attempts to be as sustainable as possible and makes use of processes such as composting and recycling to reduce it's waste.

Over the years the site has grown in popularity and is now looking for ways to expand further into the community through it's volunteering schemes and possibly with links across the canal to the Kings Cross development site.

Sir Harold Hillier Gardens

I took a trip with my family down to the Harold Hillier gardens in Romsey (near Southampton). The season was certainly turning quite Autumnal, yet the gardens still had plenty to offer. The gardens feature several different areas, all with the wonderful specimen trees which the Hillier name has become so famous for. Some trees looked particularly special at this time with leaves just beginning to turn to shades of yellow and orange.
Other features include an ornamental pond and several areas which have been given a more contemporary feel. There is also an ongoing sculpture exhibition throughout sections of the gardens. While this does provide added interest, and a fantastic opportunity for local design graduates to display their work, I can't say I found the installation entirely beneficial to the area. It seemed to me that the sculptures had been packed in far too tightly- certainly the feeling of 'belonging' (achieved so well with the Henry Moor exhibition at Kew) was lacking from many of the sculptures.
Certainly these gardens are well worth a visit, and are also much quieter in terms of footfall than many others such as Kew and Wisley. The gardens are owned by Hampshire County Council and managed as a charitable trust.

Jardin du Luxembourg

In contrast to Parc Andre Citroen the Jardin du Luxembourg is one of Paris' most established and most popular parks. It's layout is based on a cross between the French and English classical garden. The park boasts large lawns alongside avenues lined with trees creating a great variety of space for all Parisians as well as the large number of tourists who flock here.

The park features a large number of statues, a bandstand, several fountains and ponds including the famous medincinal fountain. The design here puts a very different focus on maintenance to Parc Andre Citroen, with planting here being the main subject of attention without high maintenance surfaces and features.

Parc Andre Citroen

During my stay in France there was little time to visit landscape projects, however I did make some exceptions, one being a visit to Parc Andre Citroen. This is a contemporary park on the banks of the River Seine by Alain Provost and Gilles Clement and one which I remember visiting some years ago on a family holiday to the city.

The two large greenhouses at the northern end of the sight were the feature I remembered best, and these still provided an obvious and beautiful focal point to the site. Other features however were somewhat less impressive- the many many water features for example, of which almost all had clearly been out of use for some time. Even the greenhouses provided disappointment on closer inspection- they were locked out of use and one of the two was completely empty.

Despite these disappointments the park has a lot to offer and appears to be well used. The large central lawn area is a wonderful space (with or without the giant helium balloon which currently occupies it and offers visitors birds eye views of the city). There are also a series of tranquil themed gardens.
It is such a shame that the park has been subject to a lack of maintenance- maybe the design was too ambitions and contained too much water initially which has made costs spiral. Either way there must surely be some cost effective solutions to bring this park back up to the standard it should be. These issues have contributed to my decision to look at this park in detail as part of my Management Plans module at University this year.

Ecole Nationale Superieure du Paysage

I was lucky to be able to attend a weeks Landscape Architecture workshop at the French Ecole Nationale Superieure du Paysage (school of Landscape), based in the former kitchen gardens at the Palace of Versailles during September. The subject of the workshop was based around the publication of the greater Paris plan, which included proposals for urbanising additional land surrounding the city of Paris. Our task was to look at a site at Rungis, close to Orly Airport to the south of the city. Currently this land is put to agricultural use, but it is clear that the city's relentless growth will make this unsustainable.

Working in groups amongst students from many parts of the world with different skill bases a number of schemes were developed to incorporate this agricultural land into the urban plan for Paris. The group which which I was involved would aim to preserve the current landscape of agricultural fields by lifting the land and placing housing units beneath it, thus preserving the use of the land above and the view down the fields. The proposal not only created an interesting space but also instigated a new idealistic image of life in the fields without cars and with outstanding sustainable credentials- precedents for the project included the BedZed development near Wimbledon, London.

Giverny- Claude Monet's Garden

Less than a week after my return from Canada I found myself driving towards Paris with three of my student colleagues. We were on our way to Versailles to take part in a weeks Landscape workshop- more on that later...

It occurred to us that a natural place to stop on the journey was at Claude Monet's garden, Giverny, on the outskirts of Paris. Despite a slow drive giving us less than an hour to enjoy the spectacle of this site it agreed that it was all well worth the effort.

These gardens are spectacularly maintained despite the huge number of visitors who flock here. The gardens are arranged either side of the main road through the town of Giverny, on one side are the formal gardens, while the other side of the road are the more famous 'water Lilly ponds'.

For me personally the formal gardens had to be the highlight of the visit, particularly with the huge blooms sunflowers which dominated the garden. The combinations of vibrant colours, all of which were meticulously placed, made this sea of beautiful flowers quite special.

The Walled Garden at Scampston

While on a break in Yorkshire the opportunity was taken to visit the contemporary walled garden at Scampston Hall, near Malton. The gardens here were designed by Piet Oudolf in 1999 and present quite a contrast to the surrounding landscape which was created by 'Capability' Brown some centuries earlier. As soon as one steps through the 18th century walls it is clear that this garden is something quite different. There are tall grasses and groups of vibrant foliage clumped together into both curvaceous and geometric shapes. Even the garden furniture is to a very sophisticated contemporary design. Plans are used here which would never have been found when these gardens were originally planted, many are chosen for their striking foliage or shape rather than the quality of their flowers.

Not all traditional elements have been forgotten however, there are still a number of vistas through the various 'rooms' of the garden as well the beautifully restored traditional greenhouse.The gardens are not cheap to visit- however they are certainly something quite different which are really worth making the effort to see.

Allen & Ovary Roof Gardens

In 2005 Law firm Allen & Ovary moved into their new headquarters at Spitalfields. The building, designed by Foster and Partners also incorporated three roof terraces which were designed by Townshend Landscape Architects.

Roof gardens are becoming an ever more important aspect of landscape and the built environment, yet because they are almost always part of private buildings it is difficult for the public to experience them. Fortunately I was able to arrange a special visit to one of the roof terraces of the Allen & Ovary building.

Perhaps the most striking thing about the gardens here is the view- looking down over Old Spitalfields market and the low rise buildings of London's East End and also towards the city with it's iconic structures such as the Swiss Rae Building (The Gherkin). The gardens themselves offer some tranquility from the office environment and flow out from a cafe on the 6th floor. The space has numerous tables and chairs and also features parasoles enabling the space to be used more flexibly. Planting is fairly basic (there are limitations on the types of plans suitable for use on roof gardens) and watering is carried out by an automatic system. Light weight paving material is used which is similar in design and quality to that used elsewear in the area.

RHS Garden- Wisley

Sometimes it is great just to get outside and experience beautiful environments. One such place close to my is the Royal Horticultural Societies garden at Wisley.
I don't think there can be many better times to visit than a lovely warm sunny day in spring when the entire site seems to be overcome with literally thousands of bulbs and the trees are riddled with blossom (thought it does happen that my favorite plant- the Gunnera Giant Rhubarb is far from impressive this early in the year). This also happened to be my first visit to the garden since the opening of the new glasshouse on the site. This expands the collection of plants which can be housed here by artificially creating tropical environments.
As well as these 'false' environments within the glasshouse there are many different settings for plants which are more common of southern England including orchards, vegetable patches as well as the more traditional English flower borders. The gardens here also include features such as sculpture both in a more traditional style with wicker fruits and the contemporary with a large piece by Henry Moore.