[This is a guest blog post by Pete Johnstone]
It is always pleasing but rare these days to see new funding opportunities to support environmental and community improvements come into being. Many grants schemes have either disappeared, have been cut back, or if they do survive are often heavily oversubscribed by potential applicants. Or perhaps worse still the grant funds that do exist don’t actually fit what you want to raise money for in the first place.
Well, all is not lost, crowd funding is the new kid on the block and a phenomena that deserves further investigation. Crowd funding is essentially online fundraising, with its roots in the United States, it has over the past few years typically supported a whole range of start-up businesses and one of projects such as in film, music and art.
Crowd funding is now big business, with crowd funding platforms having raised $2.7…
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‘Curiosity Corner’ is deliberately child – sized, with a winding bark and pebble path and deep borders that sometimes rise above and fall below the path. There are living structures – a willow tunnel and two entrance arches. A ‘pebble mountain’ and a series of wooden features are complemented by a low level mirror, as well as a number of metal and wooden birds, insects, butterfly and a cat, windmills and other ‘oddities’ such as a ‘fossil slab’ set in grass and a wall mask of a ‘small friendly giant’- the idea is to provide unusual things for the the children to spot and stimulate their imaginations.
The planting is varied and includes species with interesting leaves (e.g. Stachys byzantina or ‘Lambs Ears’, ferns and grasses) and last year children planted Sunflowers which grew to an enormous height! There is also a turf seat and a half barrel water feature (complete with metal frog). The garden has now seen a full season of ‘wear and tear’ and has stood up reasonably well – it seems to have been a popular addition to the Museum. However, some adjustments are needed to prevent children accessing the inner path from the terrace, strengthening the enclosed feel of the space and replacing the turf seat which has not really withstood the wear – it has turned into a mound for running up and down rather than sitting on! These changes will be carried out soon.
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“How can we make our playground safe?” It seems a simple enough question. Yet the answer is anything but (and even the question is not as simple as it looks). In fact, managing risk in a playground is much more complex than in a factory or a workplace. The reason for this is down to a fundamental difference in the nature of the task. One way to grasp this difference is to think about a wobbly bridge.
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A successful formal garden is balanced, the design based on symmetry in its layout and a clearly recognisable ground plan or other pattern. Other features include:
Vistas – long channels in which the view is drawn towards a distant point or view
Statuary – often used as focal points within formal garden spaces or at the end of vistas
Topiary – ‘living statuary’ – small-leaved evergreen plants (Box and Yew, typically) are used to create all year round structure and focal points in the borders or spaces as well as hedges to create edges/ boundaries, parterres and knot gardens
Ornament – structures or materials are used which embellish otherwise plain surfaces or features
Natural stone – limestone, sandstone, granite, marble are all used to create a rich hard landscape which harmonises with the planting
Dramatic planting – specimen tress and shrubs are used as focal points and large expanses of single or limited numbers of species are used in mass effects
Want help to create your own Garden of Eden?
Let me know what you think makes a Formal style garden, and if you have some pictures I’d love to see them!
Other posts in the series:
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Pallet planter- see more at http://overthegate.myfreeforum.org/about24169.html
Pallet planter – useful for displaying plants for sale?
Compost bin lined with old builders bag by Liz Ackerly (and hubby)
Read about one person’s experience in making a vertical pallet planter
Nigel Boldero aka 'Old School Gardener'
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