Planting Research

I have been doing some research into shrub and herb communities, planting in nature consists of colonies, meaning species that grow together en mass as that is how they are seeded. The groups of plants are often inter mixed with other species who in turn colonize. Grouping and massing are used in planting design where a more natural or exotic display  are sought after. In my design i am looking for a more exotic display. We can reproduce the patterns of planting we find in nature by over lapping them, giving the bed a spontaneous, informal appearance as opposed to a contrived or artificial one.

The chart above, (top) shows just a few of the plants i am using in my scheme, (there are several other pages). The chart helps me as i can see the species, when they flowers and the colours, the form and structure are just as important if not more so as this is what we shall see for most of the year. When the plant comes into flower it is for such a short time so the colours the flowers produce are an added bonus. Foliage, bark, stems and seed heads can be just as dramatic in appearance as a flower if not more so and last a lot longer.Visual impact and harmony are also important so planting giving visual accent in groups of 3-5 species will form a harmonious grouping.

The other chart (again, there are several pages) gives me all the information i need to know such as Latin and common names, Exposure, hardiness, soil type, height, spread, when it flowers, the planting spacing's, the size and approx cost of availability. All the planting i have had to make sure is suitable for the harsh coastal environment.

My 1:50 is going slowly but surely, should all be done by the Hadlow pin up, got a feeling it;s going to be a very stressful few weeks, not that it hasn't already, i cant believe we're almost there.

I apologize for not pinning up on Monday i know i am only shooting myself in the foot as no feed back. 

My web site is nearly done which is a huge relief. So much to do, so little time.....

bike ride

I hope you had a good Easter break? I had family round for Sunday roast in between doing uni work.
 I couldn't sleep this morning so got up at four a.m all raring to go to get some more work done. I thought i would resolve my 1:200 structural planting plan and as it was only saved on my memory stick, i accidentally deleted it :(  Moving quickly on and not dwelling on my unfortunate event i started to resolve my 1:100 and 1:500 Concept Sections, i have saved them in more than one place and i am really quite pleased with the outcome.

I'm still here!

Good Morning,Hopefully it will be when morning dawns. It's Good Friday and i'm excited. My work's going well. still not on target but getting closer everyday and optimistic for the future. I have been working on my 1:500 sequential sketches, don't worry too much guys, i'm all over the place but i am in control.

These are just two of them! The woman above with the two little girls is me. The two little girls are my daughters, Clare(now 29) and Sarah (now 27) both married with children of their own! 

These took me ages to do, i'm really hoping to get a lot quicker at them. It's so exhilarating seeing my work develop, from concept through to the design, i can't wait to see the final drawings of my 1:50 site.