Chelsea 2009

The 'Future Nature' Garden featuring

Pictorial Meadows at Chelsea 2009

 We are plased to announce that this garden won a SILVER GILT Award at Chelsea

 How do we ‘future-proof’ our gardens in an era of dramatically variable and changing climate? How do we maximize the potential of nature and wildlife and incorporate them in our high density cities? How can we make buildings and their surroundings work positively for the environment? How can we make gardens exciting and educational for future generations? This garden demonstrates innovative solutions to these questions.

It is a garden that looks to the future, but not in a ‘space-age’ sense. It relies on the richness and beauty of planting and vegetation to achieve its goals. It proposes realistic solutions for small constrained urban spaces – the starting point could be any urban garden or roof terrace, where it demonstrates how a small space can enthuse and educate about nature in the heart of the city. Such a garden could be anywhere - not only in a private space, but crucially in a public space too – in a school, hospital, factory, office block, or public housing rooftop. No artificial irrigation is required, and maintenance is low. Many features of radical nature gardens in Holland and Germany, and of ‘biodiversity roofs’ are included, as are the key elements of the new concept of ‘rain gardens’. This is an outdoor classroom in the widest sense, where beauty, and the needs of people go hand-in-hand with the strong environmental message.

 Learn more about the garden here inc photos of it being constructed

A key feature of the garden is the relationship of garden to the sloping green roof, supported by a timber-framed ‘building’, which bounds the garden on two sides. This conveys the intimate association between building and garden (symbolized by the passage of water from roof to garden), and also indicates the high-density built urban nature of the context. Within the garden there are three small and one large sculptural ‘creature towers’ – these are high-rise habitat structures that, within a small space cater for the widest range of organisms. A ‘stormwater planter box’ runs the length of one of the walls (450mm high), with a seating edge.

The garden is in full sun, with a South-facing aspect. This is a highly engineered site – raised above the ground on a roof terrace. Conditions are therefore harsh in summer (hot, windy and relatively exposed). There is no irrigation available. All soils are engineered and artificial. Several different substrate types are used: A standard green roof substrate (crushed brick mixed with green waste compost, pH neutral); and demolition rubble (ph alkaline); crushed waste lightweight concrete. All substrates are free draining.

The hard surface is permeable – joints are not sealed so that water drains through it rather than being shed off in heavy rainfall, and the paving units are crisply cut reclaimed concrete slabs. The gaps also enable plants to colonise  the paving. A connected series of mini-pools captures runoff from a roof above, and contains aquatic plants growing in short recycled containers. Low walls composed of stacked reclaimed materials, such as bricks, pipes and tiles, provide many habitat opportunities for invertebrates and snake their way amongst planted mounds. The planting mounds incorporate blocks of concrete in linear retaining wall structures and illustrate new ways of making rockery-like structures.

LATEST NEWS

Green Estate, Pictoral Meadows parent company, has been sucessful in its' bid for funding to re-create The Future Nature garden  at its Manor Oaks farm site on Manor Lane. Sheffield S2