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Spaced Out UK
Spaced Out - A garden of observation and discovery
Designers: Ann Picot, Pasquale Pascucci
Sponsors: Spaced Out UK in partnership with The Royal Astronomical Society, BBC Sky at Night Magazine & Tobermore Concrete Products Ltd
Contractor: Peter Gregory Landscapes
Click on the image to view a hi-res version
This garden celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Space Age and aims to promote space awareness and astronomy education in the UK.
The theme of the garden is observation and discovery. By incorporating an element from 1957 - Sputnik - suspended over a 2007 garden, it links observations and discoveries on Earth to those in space.
Sputnik contains small circular holes that interact with sunlight to create a 'star show' on the granite-paved observation area. The inner component is open to provide a sky window for observers. Four antennae extend outwards, protruding over the garden and linking inner and outer spaces.
Planting is divided into three sections: the Earth, its atmosphere and space.
Earth: Grass laid as a lawn.
Atmosphere: This is created by the form, colour and texture of species
comparable to cloud formations. Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea 'Transparent',
Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' and Agrostis nebulosa run
through Sanguisorba, Thalictrum, Trifolium and Ammi major.
Outer space: Buxus sempervirens as spheres represent the orbital motion of Sputnik and the regularity of its radio transmission 'beeps'. The coarser texture of utility-grade turf represents the fuzz of background noise. The turf blends into the field grass of Tatton Park, emphasising the vastness of space beyond - Spaced Out!