‘So you want to be a Garden Designer?’

£95 for 1 day, 4 students maximum.

So you want to be a designer?

This course is aimed at students who have just started a garden design course or are considering a career move. The day session sets out to give a ‘topline’ of ‘a day in the life of a garden designer’ and is packed full of the information and advice, including an overview of the processes that we employ here at Earth Designs. Having taken an unorthadox route into garden design, and with nearly 10 years of experience of running our company, we feel well positioned to share the benefits of our experience, mistakes and triumphs. We can give you an insight into the highs, the lows and the hard work involved in running a successful Garden Design and Build business.  To see some examples of our work please click here.

Comments from previous students:

‘Folks, if you go to any garden day out, make it the Earth Designs Open Day. It provides an introduction to practical design and small businesses, and I found it a great source of knowledge. It is superb for anyone considering a career in garden design or who has just started a garden design course. Take my advice – get to one of these days.’ - Kevin 2008

‘The Earth Designs Open Day: what a lovely and instructive way for learning, with such skills and personality as Katrina has. I came from France and can guarantee this was the best idea of the year.’ – Alexandra 2009

The itinerary:

09:00 – 12:00

           How to set up and run a company

• How to be a successful garden designer
• Creativity – where do I find it?
• Business Opportunities
• Working out your fees
• Associations and Organisations
• Networking and making connections
• Marketing and Branding a company
• Legal and Finance
• Hiring and Firing
• Health and Safety 

12:00 – 13:00

• Lunch      

13:00 – 17:00

         ‘I have the client now what do I do?’

• The Earth Designs Process
• The initial consultation
• Site surveys and budgeting
• Specification and Scope of works documents
• Sourcing materials
• Presenting to a client
• Contractors, suppliers and staff
• Running a successful site
• Managing clients expectations
• After Care and recommendations 

To see details of the other courses offered at the Earth Designs Garden Design School , please click here.

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This London garden design was for a large semi-detached house split into two levels, with a tired terrace patio adjoining the house. A low wall in need of some repair splits the terrace from the garden below, with a single central step providing access from one area to the other. The drop from terrace to lower garden is approximately 35 cm. The lower garden is laid mostly to lawn, with a concrete path running down the middle of the space to a large concrete garage at the end. The boundary to the right of the garden consists of mostly sound fencing – the left boundary is to be replaced by the client. The main brief is to create a dynamic and inviting space suitable for entertaining on a fairly large scale. 

This design utilises a circular motif to tie the two levels together into one fairly fluid space. 

The terrace and sideway will be re-laid with Indian sandstone paving in a random lay pattern. The terrace wall will be removed and replaced with an L-shaped railway sleeper raised bed, approximately 50cm wide and 75 cm high (from terrace level), running partway across the space and along the right side of the terrace. As well as demarking the boundary between the terrace and garden proper, the bed will form the back of an L-shaped railway sleeper fixed bench. Measuring approximately 2m long on both sides and complimented by a large freestanding railway sleeper table, this area will provide ample seating for alfresco entertaining. 

To the left of the terrace, three circular terraced steps, decreasing in size from 2.4m diameter to 1m diameter, lead one from the terrace to the garden below. The two larger steps will be laid with Indian sandstone paving in a circle cut pattern and edged with a ring of black granite setts. The bottom, and smallest, step will be constructed from a single sandstone centre stone edged with three rings of black granite sett. The centre stone from the top step will be omitted to accommodate a Celtic Slate monolith water feature, to provide an attractive focal point to the upper section of the garden. 

The lower garden will feature a centrally placed circular lawn, edged with a 50cm wide ring of black granite sett paving. A 2.4m diameter circular sandstone patio in the bottom right corner will be ideally situated to make the most of the afternoon sun. The existing garage will be hidden from the rest of the garden with the construction of a sculptural screen comprising a curved line of vertical railway sleepers snaking across the back of the space. A total of 20 lengths of sleeper will be installed, each spaced 25cm from the preceding sleeper and increasing in height by 7.5cm increments rising from 50cm at one end (right) to 2m at the other(left). 

Planting in the space will be lush and architectural, concentrating principally on leaf colour, shape and form, and spiced up with a few ‘hot’ coloured flowering plants for the summer months. Climbers will be used extensively to (eventually) cover the boundaries and encouraged to climb the sleeper ‘spiral’ to help mask the existing concrete garage. Plants of note will include 3 x Dicksonia Antartica (tree fern) situated in the lower garden, with shade loving ferns and soft foliage plants running down the right side and spiky, sun loving, architectural plants along the left (sunnier) side of the space. 

The garden will be finished with an assortment of ambient lighting to lend a magical aspect when the sun goes down. The lighting scheme is designed to create mood rather than offer overly functional illumination, and will comprise a selection of low voltage, low wattage fittings. Low voltage spots placed throughout the beds will produce a general wash across the space, whilst highlighting individual specimen plants and illuminating each upright of the curved railway sleeper screen. Pea (fairy) lights will be strung throughout the existing tree to define its main branches, while white rope lights will be used to delineate the fixed bench seating. Finally, micro LED lights set into the riser of each of the circular steps will safely guide the garden user on their journey through the space. 

Earth Designs portfolio can be viewed by clicking here.  Alternatively, for information on garden design consultations and postal garden designs – available worldwide please click here gardenpresents.co.uk

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On Thursday my students and I continued our studies in art and design with a trip to the Victoria and Albert to look at decorative arts. After a brief meeting at an Internet Cafe to look at www.babylonshager.no,  we jumped in a London Black Cab with sketch books in hand.

The girls were blown away by the building alone. The  museum had an exhibition on about Grace Kelly and her style, but with over 5 floors and thousands of exhibits to look at, we didn’t need to immerse ourselves in that. We begun with a look at fashion through the ages.

I adore fashion and costume – I always have.  If I didn’t do gardens, I would probably do something involved with fashion or costume design. My first job was as a costume stylist at the iconic Laurence Corner near Camden. I hoped to impart some of my passion for costume to my students. I began by outlining the social climate of the time, and they compared the fashions here with those of Norway. They were engaged with the exhibitions, and after an in depth chat about underwear, I felt now was a good time to see how they got on with direct insipration from one of the exhibits. We had walked round the whole exhibition, and they had seen all sorts of costumes from 1715 to present day, so I let them choose the exhibit they were most inspired by. Kari Mette chose a corset, Wenche a 1960s dress, whilst I plumped for a satin frock from the 1930s.

I explained to the girls that they could either take inspiration literally in the form of the lines or structure of the fashion, or they may prefer to be slightly more abstract with the interpretation, instead deciding to draw inspiration from the atmosphere the piece evokes or how it empitomises a period in time. They got the idea - the slide into thier creativity had been steep but they loved it!

After lunch, I decided to try and narrow down the options and concentrate on the 20th centuary galleries, hoping the Babylon girls would be able to draw some parallels with the the modern art they had seen at the Tate Modern a couple of days earlier. We were limited for time, so we walked round briefly charting the changes from Art Nouveau to Art Deco before moving across to view the modern and post modern exhibits from 1945.

They were delighted they had begun to recognise art movements and make connections with some of the artists and movements that we had touched on previously. They started to analyse the shapes and materials as well as the historical context and begin to draw down ideas to transfer into garden design. Their time was limited, as they needed to catch their flights back to Norway, so we moved to their final task – to pick an

item from each 20 year period in the 20th century (1900-1920, 1920-1940, ect) and draw a garden based on that object. They flew back to Norway before the task was complete, so I have yet to see the results. However, mine is available below – I felt it only right that shows that she the teacher practise could practise what she was preaching.

 Jam dish Place of origin: England (made) Date:1900-1901 (made) Artist/Maker: Ashbee, Charles Robert (designer) Guild of Handicraft Ltd (maker) Materials and Techniques: Silver and enamel, set with a cabochon

Garden Design Place of origin: London or England Date: May 28th 2010 Artist/Maker: Kieffer-Wells, Katrina (designer) Earth Designs (maker) Materials and Techniques: Concrete, Garden Deck planks, Dry stone wall made with decorative gabions, black slate path, wildflower meadow, specimen tree, fixed bench seat and table.

Tea service Place of origin: London (made) Date: 1933-1934 (made) Artist/Maker: Murphy, Harry George (maker) Materials and Techniques:  Silver with kingwood handle [teapot]

Garden Design Place of origin: London or England Date: May 28th 2010 Artist/Maker: Kieffer-Wells, Katrina (designer) Earth Designs(maker) Materials and Techniques:  Black Slate tiles, steel mesh, steel tiles, curved wood, hardwood decking, mosaic tiles, lavender, stipa gigantica

Espace Object: Furnishing fabric Place of origin:Germany (made) Date: 1954 (made) Artist/Maker: Kupferoth, Elizabeth (designer) Pausa A.G. (manufacturer) Materials and Techniques: Screen printed rayon

Garden Design Place of origin: London or England Date: May 28th 2010 Artist/Maker: Kieffer-Wells, Katrina (designer) Earth Designs(maker) Materials and Techniques: 

Olive Tree (standard), Photinia (standard), Corian, Lawn, granite Setts, Yellow Balau decking, heuchara, buxus, thyme, Festuca Elijah Blue, Vinca.

Garden Egg Chair Object: Chair Place of origin: Germany (designed) Date: 1968 (designed)
1971 (manufactured) Artist/Maker: Ghyczy, Peter (designer) Elastogran GmbH (manufacturer) Materials and Techniques: Lacquered, moulded polyurethane with synthetic textile upholstery over polyurethane foam padding

Garden Design Object: Garden Design Place of origin: London or England Date: May 28th 2010 Artist/Maker: Kieffer-Wells, Katrina (designer) Earth Designs(maker) Materials and Techniques:  Outdoor cusions, metal arbour, fireglass spheres, hardwood decking, Stainless Steel Balls, Pebble Mosaic, Garden Office, Ball Chair, Globo Lights,

Cut, Slash & Pull Object:Pair of shoes Place of origin: Britain (made) Date: 1990 (made) Artist/Maker: Westwood, Vivienne (designer) Materials and Techniques:  shoes covered in satin with regular cuts in the fabric.

Garden Design Place of origin: London or England Date: May 28th 2010 Artist/Maker: Kieffer-Wells, Katrina (designer) Earth Designs(maker) Materials and Techniques: 

Pebble Mosaic, Buxus Hedging, Slate Paving with large cobbles, sedum roof, love seat swing, water fountain (rose shaped), Pearl hanging curtain, heuchara, hebe, peony, black iris,

To read about our visit to the Tate Modern 2 days earlier please click here

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I March I received this email from Sam in Oxfordshire:  

 Dear Katrina   

I came across your website today and I have left a rather garbled message on your voicemail this afternoon – sorry for that!  In the meantime, until we have the opportunity to speak on the phone, I thought I might drop you a note to tell you more about what I am looking for.   Your website and style used in the portfolio of projects has inspired me and and I am very excited about the prospect of a professional planning such an important part of our home and would welcome your thoughts on what is possible.  We have been thinking about a garden design for some months now and in an ideal world it would be wonderful to have someone visit but I’m afraid that I don’t think our budget will not extend to that and as we are keen (and capable DIYers) I am mostly interested in the postal design planning service as featured on your website.  The garden is 33m long by 12m wide.    The patio area is a little lower than the lawn and flower beds – at the moment is accessible by two steps and is very traditional in layout and not very imaginative.    We have lived here for about 4 years and in the meantime I made some attempts with the end of the garden but despite spending endless weeks trying to work out how to fit my ideas together I cannot come up with a plan.  A attach a couple of photo’s of our garden to give you an idea.  The two sheds are quite important as we have no garage and would be cumbersome to move (I wonder whether you could work around these) – it would be good to hide them.    I built a live-willow wigwam when we moved in (shame to loose it now as it has become quite established) and included a bark circle around the swing/trapeze and tree house.  I would like a contemporary looking garden, and admire the “rooms” that you have created in gardens for other clients using wooden structures/walls.   I don’t like the shape of our patio or the shape of the steps but do like the size (we have a very large patio table) but its current location is not particularly in the best place so would be good to have two seating areas. We plan to put in glass bi-fold doors across the back of the house (6 metres) so should give you an idea of the style we are after.   Features I would like to see in my perfect garden would include lots of different textures (decking, paving, bricks, low walls, wood, pebbles, sail shades, and plenty of things that bring the inside out (and the other way round)). A path from the house to the sheds is also essential.  We do have two children (12 and 9yrs) – so garden toys are becoming less of an issue but it is important the style and design are quite robust!  I have been collecting pictures of things I like from articles, magazines, Internet but do of course appreciate that not all of these ideas might be possible or even appropriate for our garden and am happy to be guided by an expert – I am not sure if this makes your job easier or more difficult! Sam’s and her family live in an 18th century cottage in Oxfordshire. Whilst their garden is perfectly serviceable, they wanted to add structure and breathe life into it to bring it to the same standard as the contemporary refurbishments planned for the interior of the property.  

Matt and I visited the property in April. Sam and I discussed their likes and dislikes – she was very clear on what they wanted – and she stressed that they planned to do it as a self build. With this in mind, it was important to angle the complexity of the design within the couple’s skill level. They are both keen DIY-ers and they fancied a challenge, so we thrashed out a concept based on their various practical requirements with a dollop of inspiration from the mood boards they had compiled prior to our meeting  

Once we had agreed the layout, and Matt had finished the garden survey, we left ready to complete the tailor made design service.  

In the interim, we sent her and Neil some dimension drawings, so they could be sure of the layout of  the space.  

After few tweeks dimension-wise and some clarification on certain areas and materials, we were ready to proceed with producing the full drawings and delivering to Sam and Neil a garden they could not only build themselves, but be proud of.  

The garden creates a space for the whole family. The patio area directly from the back of the house will be laid with Indian Sandstone in a stretcher course pattern. A cut-out planting bed in this space will be filled with either Elegia tectorum, Equisetum hymale  or Elegia Capensis.   

An ‘outdoors room’, constructed from railway sleepers stained dark brown with occasional shelving for the client to add accessories and other object d’art, will be constructed to the left of the space. The structure will offer ample room for an exterior table and chairs with the option to add a canvas sail for shade and privacy. To the right of the garden a curved tapered wooden wall will allow the addition of extra seating and provide screening from the garden beyond. Long walkways constructed from hardwood decking bisect this area and become a recurrent motif through the garden. Two large circular lawns will divide the garden into two sections. The garden steps up at the corner of the pergola structure to accommodate the existing level difference, onto a pathway which lead the user down the garden through the existing children’s play area. The pathway will lead to a third seating area, positioned to make the most of the morning sun. This area will benefit from a circular decked patio, again bisected again by a decked walkway, which will allow for sun loungers or a cafe style table and chairs. Mesh screens will help to hide the two existing sheds while serving to frame the attractive wall at the bottom of the space.  

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• After last week’s meeting progress on the wildlife garden continues. Site survey completed, I have begun the initial layout drawings and drawn up some objectives based on he brainstorm exercise Matt and I started last week. Now that the brief for the project has been submitted it is time to break the garden down into areas and get the project team moving forward on securing contributors, volunteers and donations. Click here to read more about it.
• Kari Mette and Wenche, my lovely Norwegian students, visited again last week. They have their own garden design company, called Babylon Hager, in Norway and have travelled to London several times to study various aspects of garden design in my open tuition days. For the full range of garden design courses you can study with us please click here. This week we spent three days flexing our creative muscles with a trip to the Tate Modern, a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show, and finally a day at the Victoria and Albert Museum to look at all aspects of design through the ages. To read all about ouor trip please click here.
• Completed the family garden design for Sam and Neil from Wallington in Oxford. To see the full design package and garden case study, please click here.
• Daniel Leon from Square Feet Architects contacted us with regard to some advice about a client’s property in London NW5. We worked together on the concept some time ago and Daniel came back to us to get some ideas for the planting scheme based on the plan he had created for the garden.
• Matt completed a 2 day job in Wanstead for some clients who had previously used us for our One Day Attack service. Mr and Mrs Friend had a tired lawn which suffered from waterlogging. We replaced it with a curved artificial lawn with log edging. The transformation to the space was superb and the clients were delighted to the point that Mrs Friend was brought close to tears of joy when she first saw what we had done. Their reaction was particularly lovely as they were rather dubious when Matt first suggested artificial lawn as a viable alternative to real turf.
• Cheryl Franklin confirmed she would like to go ahead with her garden design package and Matt travelled to Harlow to complete the garden survey.
•  Matt returned to undertake some remedial repairs on a few landscaping pole arches for a client from around 5 years ago. Despite being pressure treated the posts had deteriorated more than would be expected and needed some work to ensure they last for a few years yet. Here is what Peter said about the return visit

Hi Matt
Thank you very much for doing the job yesterday, I was pleased to see it done and fully understand your logic.
Don’t worry about coming back to finish off as I am ok with the unskilled bit of filling the holes.
Do let me know what I owe you for materials.
I very much appreciate your commitment in returning to remedy the problem.
Good luck, as the economy picks up.
All the best
Peter

• Callum, the secondary school pupil whose work experience finished last Friday, sent us this lovely letter

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‘Can you teach us to be creative?’ They pleaded. ‘Where do you get inspiration from..?’ 

You may have read elsewhere on the blog that I run a series of one- and two-day courses here at Earth Designs on a variety of garden design related subjects. This week I held a three day course for my 2 regular students from Babylons Hager in Norway. They have visited many times before to study various aspects of Garden Design and Landscape Build here at Earth Designs in London. This time they came to do a creative course and get those juices flowing. 

I was began thinking visually at a young age. I grew up in an environment surrounded by niknaks and object d’art. The Antiques Roadshow was obligatory in our house, and by the age of 10 I had a deep rooted interest in all things vintage from across the arts, including decorative arts. So it came as no surprise when I chose Creative Arts for my degree. 

Art and Design has always been part of my DNA. Don’t ask me to add up, or understand anything scientific, as I will crumble… but ask me about colour, form, line, shape and I am in my comfort zone. Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means an expert, but it is something in me, something instinctive, so I imagined that pulling out my creative spark, analyzing it and imparting it to students from the ground up should be something that I would find easy… Wrong! 

Given I have a degree in Art, and have been in the design industry for over 15 years, this should be the area I feel most confident in, but when you try to teach someone in 3 days the secret of  ‘how to be creative’ it is not so easy. 

So where to start? I emailed the students a design quiz to try and understand their knowledge and background on design and how much they knew about art movements and trends. I think they would agree that their comprehension of anything design related was not good, so it appeared we were headed back to basics.

I decided the best thing to do was a crash course in Art History and the decorative arts – simple… or not!

 Figuring they may have some knowledge of history and that the 20th century might present less of a challenge, I decided to focus on this period. To condense the social, economical and political impact history has had on the world of art and design its not easy. Meeting at the Tate Modern, we had a coffee and explored a timeline of art history from about 1880 to present day. Wrinkled brows and bemusement aside we began to embark on their first ever visit to an art gallery, starting with ‘Poetry and Dream – Surrealism and Beyond.’ I tried to fumble my way through explaining Marcel Duchamp’s urinal and Joan Miro

Salvador Dali’s 1937 ‘Metamorphosis of Narcissus’ should be a winner I thought but i had ‘pushed 2 non swimmers in at the deep end without armbands’. Kari Mette commented frequently how ‘she could do that..’ They focussed on the aesthetics of the pieces, and had difficulty understanding the concepts behind Modern Art, how it should be viewed in terms of the social, economic and artistic context it was born from. Monet’s water lilies raised a smile and so did Marguerite Kelsey 1928, Meredith Frampton 1894-1984 but not because they understood Realism, more because they could tell what it was.

I was losing them – we needed to employ a different tack. Time to get the drawing books out and step things up a notch. So off we went to explore further. ‘Pick one. Any one,’ I said. ‘We will be drawing a garden design inspired by the picture you choose.’ They weren’t convinced. So I chose something easy (I thought), something they can interpret literally. As I turned the corner the perfect piece presented itself:  Perspex Group on Orange (B)  1969 by Mary Martin. 

‘Come along,’ I bustled in my best school ma’am voice. A quick photo to remind ourselves of the piece later, then pens at the ready we held our noses and jumped in. They swam… boy did they swim. They both sat, totally absorbed in the task, looking at the piece and back at their paper whilst they immersed themselves in the garden that was leaping from their imaginations onto the page. They were somewhere else, they didn’t look round, speak to each other or get distracted in any way. And when they emerged – wow, what faces, what smiles!

After lunch I felt Energy and Process (one of the galleries themes) needed to be imitated in life, (“Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life” – Oscar Wilde) and sought to infuse the rest of the day with energy and progress. We headed off to Level 5. Kari Mette was now into Cubism and revelled at George Braque, whilst Wenche was browsing at the Lichtenstein (or wow pow man as he became known). Andy Warhol brought a smile as they had heard of him and had had a photo taken of themselves somewhere in a Warholesque manner. More drawing, discussion, history, exploration, a bit more drawing, theming, rationalising and a bit more drawing, and the day came sucessfully to an end.

To read what happened on Day 3 of the course when we went to the V&A please click here

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Garden Design Sketchup Perspective

Earth Designs was built from scratch with no funding and with no formal landscaping training to hand. I just had a vision and a passion. Having an art degree and having exhibited at several international exhibitions upon graduating before starting a career as an event producer, I have worked across a variety of industries and it is this experience that I bring to the Earth Designs Garden school. Now in its 8th year, we have designed over 200 gardens and built over 75 of those designs, please click here to view some of our work. I have been a tutor now at the Institute of Garden design for over 5 years and have some 80 students on my books from varous walks of life and stages in their career. 

As a designer who entered the industry via an unorthadox path, I know how difficult it can be when you decide to undertake a career in garden design whilst juggling your family and existing job. Often the commitment and cost of a full- or part-time course can make studying preclusive, so I devised a series of short courses to help bolster aspects of your emerging career. Garden designing can be a lonely profession, so making connections and seeking advice from a practising garden designer is something I found invaluable when I set up my business. I have been running a series of tailor made short garden design courses to assist people wishing to work in the industry, both from a business and design point of view. 

I aim to keep the classes small so that you have intensive tuition with plenty of opportunity to ask questions. Previous students will testify that the amount of information you get is comprehensive and invaluable. 

We have undertaken a host of courses from one day courses to week long sessions.  Below is a list of each course that I run – just click on the name of the course that might appeal to you for further information. Enquiries can be made direct to me at katrina@earthdesigns.co.uk. All our courses are run at our base in London – for more details on our location please click here. We have good transport links (Zone 3 on the Victoria Line) and are near to Tottenham Hale station (Stanstead Express service). Parking is available at our office. Walthamstow is just inside the North Circular (A406), at the bottom of the M11. 

Details of local accomodation can be provided on request. 

 THE COURSES 

‘So you want to be a Garden Designer?’: £95 for 1 day (4 students maximum.) 

So you want to be a designer?

This course is aimed at people who are considering Garden Design as a profession. It looks at the typical demands of  ‘a day in the life of a garden designer…’ Ideally suited to someone who has just embarked on, or is considering, a career in the industry, this one-day crash course aims to give you a good grounding in the realities of the job. For more information please click here. Please contact us if you would like information on the next session.  

’3D Google Sketchup and 2D Layout drawing course’ : £250 for 2 days (2 students maximum. There is also the option to purchase a Designer’s Drawing Kit for an additional £250). 

Garden Design Sketchup Perspective

This course is aimed at new garden designers and students of garden design who wish to master the essential skill of 3D drawing using Google Sketchup and its 2D counterpart Layout for assembling your 2D plans, elevations and perspective drawings.  Now widely used across the industry of garden design and architecture, and rated for its usability, Sketchup is a highly effect tool capable of producing polished visual presentations of every aspect of your project from dimension drawings  through to 3D visualisations of your garden designs which can be printed or viewed as a slide show.  For more information on this day please click here. Please contact us if you would like information on the next session. 

‘So you want to be creative’:  £300 for 2 days, plus half day study at home (2 students maximum.) 

Garden Design Inspiration Concept Sketch

This course is aimed at students who are possibly already practising garden designers or students that want to nurture their creativity further. Having done an art degree, I am well placed to find technique and stratgey for finding creativity in your imagination. This course has an introduction which is completed online and then the two days spent in London visiting some of the great institutions and learning how to gather in a scrapbook of ideas as well as placing design styles in their context. For more infomation on this day please click here. Please contact us if you would like information on the next session. 

‘Putting yourself out there’: £250 for 2 days (2 students maximum.) 

Earth Designs Publicity

This session is about how to market yourself to the public. From harnessing the power of Google page rankings to how to build a web-site, what advertising works and how to put together a marketing plan, this 2 day session is great for business start-ups as well as practising garden designers who wish to reach a wider audience. We explore brand identity and communication and look at how to create a graphic identity. The aim of this session is to review what you currently have in place for promoting your business and see how we can enhance that across a variety of disciplines. For more infomation on this day please contact us. Please contact us if you would like information on the next session.

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These days wildlife sanctuaries are commonplace, which means a garden needs something special in order to draw the crowds. Whilst the central philosophy of WSYP is a good one,  we believe that in order to be successful in its aims it should bring something more to the table. Through a series of interactive installations which take the visitor on a journey through the space, the WSYP garden will seek to educate visitors in an inclusive manner by immersing them in habitats specific to a range of wildlife, delivering facts in an accessible, fun environment. The concept and design aims to offer opportunities for media attention, while involving schools and the wider community in both initial and on-going projects. The main objective of the project is to introduce wildlife habits to audiences who may not have visited such an attraction before.

 You can be wild in many ways, so let’s bring something unique and dynamic to the area with which we can create a real buzz.

The NestžThe central ‘roundabout’ of the space from where you can reach all areas. The Nest is an area from which to feed and observe birds as well as a ‘ large area in which small groups can congregate for  education. This area will also provide a platform from which ‘bird hotels’ can be viewed. The ‘bird hotel’ (title to be considered) is the hook of WSYP in attracting not only birds but also visitors who previously would not have visited a wildlife attraction WSYP will liaise with 10 top architects to commission a bird theme, great PR opportunities

Jurassic Bog The history of etymology, the study of insect, museum like, with sound bite facts, This will place bugs in their historical and environmental places. Get up close and personal with a cockroach, compare a dragonfly from 3000 years ago to one today magnification, exploration and fascination with emphasis on bugs from other countries .

Flutterby, Butterfly Me Beautiful - Beautiful : – Pretty, airy, floaty and flying high we will explore butterfly habitats, what their markings mean, and how their wings are made up. From, how do butterflies see ? A metamorphic experience that plots the lifecycle of butterflies through interaction and personalization.

Bee Amazing - Float like a butterfly sting like a bee as you negotiate the ‘waggle dance’ maze. Bees are excellent communicators, and we communicate by speaking and listening through the speaking pipe, reminiscent of the whispering gallery. Journey through the ‘waggle dance’ maze packed with bee loving plants and resting boxes assert your  hierarchy or stop and sit a while on oak cubes oak topped gabions that line the way, wear the crane lens as you see the flowers as bees see them. Who will be the first to reach the honeycomb hive?

Bug Boulevard – žBugs like crevices some are ordered critters who decide on mass when to nest we help them make that nest via a collection of found items assembled to make to make nooks and crannies, bug boxes, log piles and gabion seats help you wind your way down bug boulevard whilst passing under a giant exoskeleton bug body, much like a dinosaur body

Wiggle like a worm – žWiggle your way down the worm tunnel, act though the mound and witness via through Perspex walls the worms in action as they compost. Fed from above via trap doors, and harvested from the bottom, the ivy covered tunnel displays worm facts. The tunnel of course is the length of the longest worm on record.

The House – žThis pulls all the knowledge together to demonstrate how wildlife can be encouraged at home. Sited against the existing electricity building , then front garden takes take on an auditorium like quality allowing for demonstrations, lectures, as well as the opportunity for performances. Grass mounds, concrete sofas, and giant chairs allow visitors to have an auditorium with a difference. The side garden demonstrates in an attractive urban style how London gardens can attract wildlife with a kitchen her garden and various containers and vertical garden maximizing space. The garden shed allows you to pick further literature about wildlife and the project. The grow your own sunburst and geodesic dome greenhouse can become the focus for all thing horticultural and can be used by the C&G students

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