‘Urban Clearing’ is an interpretation of an urban landscape clearing. It is an abstract, stylisation of the primary elements – the enclosure, the ground plane, the sky and the clearing. People have an intuitive connection with clearing type spaces, they can placate, disarm, offer escape, warmth, promise and solitude. The intended use of the garden is to escape from the urban jungle for rest and solitude.
Visitors to the show will be engaged with the garden by their own curiosity. Curiosity about what lies inside the enclosure. Where the path leads to. A couple of openings in the clearing will allow a glimpse of what lies beyond. Not revealing everything but just a little will be more intriguing. Curiosity and imagination can heighten the experience. Another engaging factor will be the detail of the planting colours and textures working in contrast and harmony with each other, eg: the colour of the Prunus serrula bark is picked up by the Aquilegia, reddish hued ferns and other detail planting.
After a long career in finance, I decided that my real passion lay in art, design and nature. In 2009 I successfully completed a part-time Royal Horticulture Society course with the DHS in Dublin which was very enjoyable and confirmed to me my interest in gardens. When I left the bank I had the opportunity to study something that I really had a passion for. I have now almost completed a Higher National Diploma course with Senior College Dun Laoghaire. Last year our SCD group garden won silver at Bloom. I decided that to do a garden at Bloom this year would be a great way to end the course and begin a new career in garden design.
Source: Bloom – Urban Clearing | Concept Gardens | Bloom 2013
