Exhibitors
SHOW GARDENS | COURTYARD GARDENS | CHIC GARDENS | CITY GARDENS
PLANTS | FLORAL ART | LIFELONG LEARNING | MARKET PLACE
Chic gardens
Alistair Kirt Bayford
Caged
Designer: Alistair Kirt Bayford
Sponsors: Lighting for Gardens, Stockscape (Hardscape Products), Much Hadham Landscapes, Specialist Aggregates, Liz Lake Associates, B + B Belgravia
Contractor: Alistair Kirt Bayford and Much Hadham Landscapes
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The contrast between the organic and manufactured elements within Caged aims to challenge how we take in and consider the typical aspects of a garden. The vision behind this space is to encourage the interaction between the user and the natural environment both in visual and physical awareness.
The bold simplicity, illustrated by the rigid structure of the cage, is eclipsed by the soft elements of the scheme and strives to portray how nature cannot be confined. The garden is generated from a rigid grid, which splays out across the space, installing order, geometry and scale.
The planting is selected to tolerate the variable conditions within the restricted environment of an urban garden. Soft elements within the garden are used to illustrate how nature cannot be confined. In reference to this the soft landscape pierces through the hard, providing constant encroachment.
A mix of native plants and garden cultivars has been selected for their ability to attract wildlife. The use of a dominant green and white planting palette acts as a foil to the accent reds, oranges, purples and burgundy; these splashes of colour complementing the wall of sand that surrounds the space.
Three Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’ AGM are positioned to hold the garden’s form and are a dominant vertical feature in the garden. The planting aims to illustrate how native flora can fully engage with their cultivated cousins and ultimately how plants act as an engaging link between us and the natural world.
Alistair says that he always knew what he wanted to be when he grew up and horticulture has been his career path since he was 13. He graduated from Writtle College with a 1st Class BSc (Hons) degree in Landscape and Garden Design in 2004; in the same year he was also awarded Best Student in Garden Design.